Kennedy plea

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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From the case of Kennedy v. Frazier, 178 W.Va. 10, 357 S.E.2d 43 (1987), in which the procedure was upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Noun

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Kennedy plea (plural Kennedy pleas)

  1. (US, law) A plea in criminal court in which the defendant does not admit guilt, but concedes that the state has sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction.
    • 2014, WSAZ News Staff, "Jerel Garner Enters "Kennedy Plea" in Donte Newsome's Shooting Death", on WSAZ.com, 9 Sept. 2014:
      The Charleston man whose conviction for the shooting death of a former Marshall University football player was overturned, has entered a "Kennedy Plea", rather than go through a second trial... In a Kennedy Plea, the person does not accept guilt, but accepts the punishment for the crime.
    • 2014 December 2, Wendy Holdren, “Don Dicken enters Kennedy plea to voluntary manslaughter”, in The Register Herald:
      To avoid a lengthy trial and possibly a harsher sentence, 34-year-old Don Douglas Dicken entered a Kennedy plea to the voluntary manslaughter of 46-year-old Glenn L. Farrow... When a defendant enters a Kennedy plea, he or she does not admit committing the criminal act, but believes a plea deal is in his or her best interest instead of taking the case to trial.
    • 2016 February 2, Courtney Hessler, “Man sentenced to 30 years in 2014 armed robbery ring”, in The Herald Dispatch:
      Williams previously entered a Kennedy plea to second-degree robbery. Williams denied he knew anything about the crime and was not a lookout, as accused...

Synonyms

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