On Thursday, Hunter Biden was set to stand trial for tax crimes in federal court in Los Angeles, California, in a case brought by Special Counsel David Wise. The proceedings were quickly derailed just before jury selection began, however, when defense lawyer Abbe Lowell advised Judge Mark C. Scarsi that Biden wished to change his plea from “not guilty” to an “Alford plea” and thereby avoid a trial altogether.
An Alford plea is one in which the defendant maintains his innocence but agrees to plead guilty anyway and accept punishment just as if he had been found guilty by a judge or jury. The constitutionality of such a plea was confirmed by the Supreme Court in the case of North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970), hence the name “Alford plea.” In an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit that he is guilty, but he accepts legal guilt for the charged offenses and submits to being sentenced for them.
The Supreme Court explained that, “while most pleas of guilty consist of both a waiver of trial and an express admission of guilt, the latter element is not a constitutional requisite to the imposition of criminal penalty. An individual accused of crime may voluntarily, knowingly, and understandingly consent to the imposition of a prison sentence even if he is unwilling or unable to admit his participation in the acts constituting the crime.” Pointing out that sometimes simply not going to trial could benefit a defendant, the Court concluded that
