terraholm

Yes it is. They do not sentence someone to jailtime and probation without a conviction.

It was a plea bargain. He was charged with felony **** and he plead it down
to 'gross misdemeanor's attempted ****. The alford plea is legally a guilty
plea. The only difference is it can not be used in a later 'civil' case as proof.


You still claim you are innocent but with the Alford plea admit the DA has
enough evidence to convict you and accept the punishment for that
conviction. Does not have to be a jury trial to be a conviction. =)
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http://www.hhs.gov/dab/decisions/cr-570.html
Initially, I note that the record reflects that Petitioner entered an
"Alford plea" on October 1, 1997.(2) I.G. Ex. 3. It is well settled that an
Alford plea is a guilty plea. See North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25
(1970). Prior decisions of the Departmental Appeals Board (DAB) have
unequivocally held that an "Alford plea" to a criminal charge satisfies the
requirement that a petitioner have been convicted.

http://www.mcacp.org/issue39.htm

A prosecutor will want an Alford-based conviction to be valid for purposes
of future enhanced sentencing. Is a defendant who pleads guilty to a felony
on one occasion, by means of an Alford plea, eligible for predicate or
persistent felony treatment when convicted anew? Yes.

http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:FJg_PIvqjAsJ:www.courts.state.va.us/opinion/1436021.pdf+%22alford+guilty+plea%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

The so-called "Alford plea" takes its name from North Carolina v.Alford, 400
U.S. 25 (1970). An Alford guilty plea is one where the defendant refuses to
admit guilt, or even protests his innocence,but, nonetheless, wants to enter
a guilty plea. The Supreme Court ruled that an admission of guilt is not a
constitutional requisite to the imposition of a criminal penalty. The
so-called
"Alford plea" takes its name from North Carolina v.Alford, 400 U.S. 25
(1970). An Alford guilty plea is one where the defendant refuses to admit
guilt, or even protests his innocence,but, nonetheless, wants to enter a
guilty plea. The Supreme Courtruled that an admission of guilt is not a
constitutional requisite to the imposition of a criminal penalty


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After looking at the alternatives while reading about the Kobe case I for
the first time give RP a slight benefit of the doubt, as he would have been
dumb to risk a trial on felony **** with this offer.

--
Laurel T
"How should we Democrats select the next presidential nominee?
Smoke filled rooms? Brokered convention? National primary?
Personally, I prefer jump shots from the top of the key."
--Bill Bradley