What is a Nolo Contendere or No Contest Plea?
What is a Nolo Contender or No Contest Plea?
In Florida, a Nolo Contendere plea is similar to a guilty plea or a conviction when calculating the recommended sentencing for criminal convictions.
Sentencing would depend on the defendant’s prior criminal record, especially when a Defendant has a history of crimes including the use of firearms.
Nolo contendere is a legal term that comes from the Latin for “I do not wish to contend.” It is also referred to as a plea of “No Contest.”
In criminal trials, and in some common law jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of guilty or not guilty.
A no contest plea, while not technically a guilty plea, has the same immediate effect as a guilty plea, and is often offered as a part of a plea bargain.
