Unlike other states, Indiana at present does not allow for a mechanism to allow one to plead “no contest” to the criminal charges against them. In the case of what is often known as an “Alford” plea, defense lawyers elsewhere are able to implement a pragmatic approach to the resolution of criminal cases. Where case resolutions can be bogged down over principal, potential civil liability or other reasons, such a plea resolution allows for a defendant to not surrender their ideals in pleading guilt for something he or she does not concur with, yet still take advantage of a punitive sentence that can best resolve a case to his or her positive benefit.
The “Alford” resolution can be a beneficial option to not only defense counsel and client, but to the prosecution as well. For example, in the recent release of the “West Memphis Three,” national media publicity and growing public outrage as to what many believed to be the continued wrongful incarceration of three young men accused of satanic killing years earlier called for an expedited legal response. An Alford plea became a legally recognized option for the parties that allowed the prosecution to save face yet still allow for the release of these men from prison. In implementing the Alford plea both parties were by no means pleased with the result. The three men were forced to give creedence to the legal fiction that the state could legally substantiate the charges of murder, yet in doing so were able to secure their release from prison with the Arkansas prosecutor’s approval. I believe had such a case occurred within Indiana, it is entirely possible that years could have dragged on before these men would have been released, if ever, without this legal alternative that enabled the prosecution the cover to move forward in allowing these men their freedom.
As our legal system takes longer and longer to effectively render justice and finality to criminal cases, all options that can allow for criminal accusations to be resolved in my view need to be placed on the books. Indiana tends to trail behind the actions of other states in taking a more conservative approach to adapting new legal approaches. Whether it be the acceptance of novel legal defenses that can otherwise provide a defense to criminal conduct to implementing no contest resolutions to criminal cases, Indiana’s response to alternative means of furthering justice has often been slow in coming.
Unlike other more populous states, Indiana has not had to reckon with urgent calls to action in addressing overbearing criminal case dockets. Many rural counties within Indiana actually have manageable criminal caseloads that don’t compel foreword thinking as to the legal means to efficiently handle growing criminal case filings in years to come. In fact, many such counties are actually facing diminishing populations and in turn lower caseloads. These polulations are migrating more and more to the bigger cities and surrounding communities of Indiana. Marion, Hamilton County in central Indiana, Lake and Porter County in the north, and Monroe County in the south are just some of the counties with the potential for delayed justice with ever increasing criminal case filings in the near future. For these court systems and in anticipation of the growing populace in years to come, I believe it is time for all options such as “Alford” pleas to be a needed tool of furthering justice in Indiana for both state prosecutors and criminal defendants alike.