Chapter 2 - § 2.1 • OVERVIEW OF GUILTY PLEAS

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 2.1 • OVERVIEW OF GUILTY PLEAS

C.R.S. § 16-7-205 and Crim. P. 11(a) provide in virtually identical language that a defendant or, where permissible, defendant's counsel, may enter any of the following pleas: guilty, not guilty, nolo contendere, and not guilty by reason of insanity. The effect of pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity are discussed in § 1.4.

A valid plea of guilty is more than a confession; it is itself a conviction. Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (1969). By statute, the acceptance of such plea also acts as a conviction for the offense. C.R.S. § 16-7-206(3). The same is true of a nolo contendere plea and an Alford guilty plea. These pleas are admissions of all the elements of the formal criminal charge. McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459 (1969). Like the verdict of a jury, they are conclusive. The court has nothing more to do but enter judgment and impose sentence. Kercheval v. United States, 274 U.S. 220 (1926).

A valid guilty plea is the defendant's consent that the judgment of conviction and sentence may be imposed upon him or her; it is a waiver of the defendant's right to a trial before a judge or a jury, and it operates as a waiver of many of the rights granted to a defendant by the Constitution of the United States. Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742 (1970). Specifically, the defendant waives the privilege against compulsory self-incrimination, the right to a trial by jury, the right to confront accusers, and the right to present witnesses at trial on the defendant's behalf. Boykin, 395 U.S. 238; Brady, 397 U.S. 742; People v. Harrington, 500 P.2d 360 (Colo. 1972); Patton v. People, 35 P.3d 124 (Colo. 2001), and cases cited therein; C.R.S. § 16-7-206(3). By pleading guilty, the defendant also waives the right to contest the factual basis for the charge and necessarily admits beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of the charge. Further, the defendant waives the right to insist that the prosecution establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. People v. Munkus, 60 P.3d 767 (Colo. App. 2002).

Other rights that are waived include the right to a speedy trial, People v. McMurtry, 122 P.3d 237 (Colo. 2005); the right to contest an allegedly illegal search, Waits v. People, 724 P.2d 1329 (Colo. 1986); the right to contest an allegedly illegal arrest, Mahler v. United States, 333 F.2d 472 (10th Cir. 1964); the right to object to an allegedly improperly obtained confession, Moore v. Rodriguez, 376 F.2d 817 (10th Cir...