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- n. in criminal procedure, a negotiation between the defendant and his attorney on one side and the prosecutor on the other, in which the defendant agrees to plead "guilty" or "no contest" to some crimes, in return for reduction of the severity of the charges, dismissal of some of the charges, the prosecutor's willingness to recommend a particular sentence, or some other benefit to the defendant.
legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/plead guilty
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Pleading guilty means that you admit you did the crime. If you plead guilty, the court will decide what should happen next. This could be a fine or prison sentence, or a community sentence.
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- At Your Trial
You will be asked to say whether you are guilty or not guilty of the offence. If you plead guilty The prison officer who put you on report will read out a statement about what happened.
If the person is prosecuted, they become a defendant in court. If they either plead guilty or are found guilty by magistrates or, for more serious offences, a jury, they become an offender and will be sentenced by the court.
A sentencing hearing is when the judge or magistrates decide what punishment an offender will receive. If a defendant pleads guilty or is found guilty by a court, they will become an offender and will need to be sentenced. Sometimes the offender will be sentenced immediately after the trial.
Pleading guilty. If you plead guilty at the outset your case will not go to trial and you could be sentenced immediately in the magistrates’ court. For more serious offences you will have to go to the Crown Court to be sentenced. Find out more about sentencing hearings.
Going to court. The plea. When a case gets to court the defendant is asked to plead ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ to the offence. Guilty. If the defendant pleads ‘guilty’ they are...
Hundreds of thousands of defendants will be able to plead guilty to minor offences online under plans that have raised fears about secret justice.