Kennedy plea

English

Etymology

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

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

• Alford plea