送交者: HunHunSheng 于 2005-9-30, 12:16:18:
回答: By the way, an entry of no contest plea is better than a guilty plea 由 HunHunSheng 于 2005-9-30, 12:10:52:
Pondering the future effects of a no contest plea
Can a No Contest Plea Bite You Later in Life?
QUESTION:
When you plead no contest to a misdemeanor, will it go on your record -- and can you be charged in civil court for the same crime?
ANSWER:
A no contest plea -- known often by its Latin name "nolo contendere" -- means that you agree to accept the punishment without formally acknowledging that you are guilty. It does go on the record, in the sense that the court record for the case will indicate a no contest plea. A credit or background reporting agency and anyone who looks at the public court record will see and can report the plea.
Where you nearly lost me was over this business of being charged with a crime in civil court. A civil case does not involve a "charge." In civil cases, individuals sue each other, usually over money -- which rather makes you wonder why they are called civil cases.
If you are sued in a civil case over the same incident that also involved a criminal charge, a guilty plea or verdict from the earlier criminal case could be introduced against you in the civil case as proof that you did the deed. But if you have entered a no contest plea, that can not be used as evidence of guilt at a civil trial. In fact, that's the main reason people have for entering a no contest plea.
The plaintiff in the civil case will have to produce other proof that you are responsible for the event -- and will have an easier time of it than the prosecutor in the criminal case, since the standard of proof will be simply a preponderance of the evidence and not beyond a reasonable doubt.