# Copping a plea. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811 "2011-07-13T00:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/1 "2011-07-13T00:01:58Z")
If someone pleads no contest to a crime and goes to jail, then a ADA later proves that someone else did the crime, could the first person be charged with perjury? When you do plea this, you’re still under oath. For whatever reason, people do sometimes admit to a crime thet did not commit. My guess would be yes, with some other charges added. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/2 "2011-07-13T00:43:56Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > If someone pleads no contest to a crime and goes to jail, then a ADA later proves that someone else did the crime, could the first person be charged with perjury? When you do plea this, you’re still under oath. For whatever reason, people do sometimes admit to a crime thet did not commit. > My guess would be yes, with some other charges added. > Peace, > mangeorge I’d guess yes as well but somehow I doubt it’s going to be worth the DA’s time to pursue. Letting it go is probably best for everyone involved. The DA doesn’t look like fools for maliciously prosecuting innocent people and the perjurer keeps their mouth shut and goes free. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/3 "2011-07-13T00:48:31Z")
Not a chance. Purely for political reasons though, not legal ones. It would mean the prosecution would have to admit to _both_ sloppy investigative work _and_ to the hypocritical nature of plea bargaining itself (and how often they do it). Lose-lose. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/4 "2011-07-13T00:52:09Z")
Perjury is used as a means of punishing witnesses the prosecutor doesn’t like. He doesn’t have any reason to dislike someone who helped him pump up his conviction rate. He also doesn’t want to highlight his unjust prosecution of someone by charging them with perjury. And besides, finding that someone else commited the crime doesn’t make the first person convicted innocent. Remember, justice is a process, not a result. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/5 "2011-07-13T01:06:20Z")
That’s too bad. Our criminal justice system needs _something_. And part of the problem is plea bargaining as it is used (sometimes). But nobody how to fix it. Certainly not me. Thanks, my question is amswered. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/6 "2011-07-13T01:07:36Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > If someone pleads no contest to a crime and goes to jail, then a ADA later proves that someone else did the crime, could the first person be charged with perjury? When you do plea this, you’re still under oath. For whatever reason, people do sometimes admit to a crime thet did not commit. > My guess would be yes, with some other charges added. > Peace, > mangeorge Nolo contendere simply means that you do not dispute the charges against you. You’ll usually be found guilty and be subject to the fines and penalties of criminal court, but the plea does not admit guilt so the judgment itself can’t be used in civil litigation to prove guilt or liability (i.e., malice or negligence). State law determines when a plea of “no contest” may be entered and is usually part of a plea bargain. The beauty of a nolo contendere plea is that you’re not lying; you’re just declining to dispute the charges. I can’t see where perjury would come into play unless it can be proven that your plea was made to thwart justice (i.e., protect a guilty party). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/7 "2011-07-13T01:23:52Z")
> [@Cillasi](#): > > Nolo contendere simply means that you do not dispute the charges against you. You’ll usually be found guilty and be subject to the fines and penalties of criminal court, but the plea does not admit guilt so the judgment itself can’t be used in civil litigation to prove guilt or liability (i.e., malice or negligence). > > State law determines when a plea of “no contest” may be entered and is usually part of a plea bargain. > > The beauty of a nolo contendere plea is that you’re not lying; you’re just declining to dispute the charges. I can’t see where perjury would come into play unless it can be proven that your plea was made to thwart justice (i.e., protect a guilty party). Are you sure? I’m not sure he was telling me the truth, but a friend of mine (back in the day) plead “no contest” to shoplifting. He had several proirs and his atty advised him to. Anyway, the judge, after reminding that he was still under oath, asked him if the charges against were true and he said “yes”. More important, Judge Judy says pleading nolo is the same as pleading guilty. Are going to dispute Judge Judy? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/8 "2011-07-13T02:04:56Z")
[The Master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2220/whats-the-difference-between-guilty-and-no-contest) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/9 "2011-07-13T12:40:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > [The Master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2220/whats-the-difference-between-guilty-and-no-contest) Am I worthy to bathe in The Master’s wisdom? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/10 "2011-07-13T12:42:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > [The Master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2220/whats-the-difference-between-guilty-and-no-contest) No, that’s one of his minions - still good stuff, though. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copping-a-plea/588811/11 "2011-07-13T16:19:37Z")
Those who enter no contest or guilty pleas are not placed under oath in any Ohio courtroom I’ve ever seen. They may be sworn in if the sentencing judge or magistrate then wants to ask them questions about what happened, but that’s rare. For that matter, perjury prosecutions are very rare. It can be pretty hard to prove, and it’s usually not worth the trouble. I only handled one when I was a prosecutor; it was for pretty flagrant lying by the wife of a defendant in an earlier case, but the judge dismissed it, saying, in effect, “Of course she was going to lie to help her husband!”