Preview:

Present: Hassell, C.J., Koontz, Kinser, Lemons, Goodwyn, and Millette, JJ., and Carrico, S.J. JAMES CARROLL v. Record No. 091987 OPINION BY SENIOR JUSTICE HARRY L. CARRICO November 4, 2010

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA In this appeal, we decide whether a person charged with rape who enters an Alford plea and is placed on probation violates the terms of his probation by refusing to admit his guilt during the course of ordered treatment for sex offenders. The circuit court held that the defendant, James

Carroll, was in violation of his probation for his refusal to make such an admission. The Court of Appeals of Virginia We will affirm

affirmed the judgment of the circuit court. the judgment of the Court of Appeals. THE ALFORD PLEA

The use of an Alford plea arose out of the Supreme Court's decision in North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (1970). There, the Court held as follows:

An individual accused of crime may voluntarily, knowingly, and understandingly consent to the imposition of a prison sentence even if he is unwilling or unable to admit his participation in the acts constituting the crime. Id. at 37.

This Court explicated the Alford plea in Parson v. Carroll, 272 Va. 560, 636 S.E.2d 452 (2006). stated as follows: Based on [the] holding in Alford, the courts in this Commonwealth in the exercise of their discretion have permitted criminal defendants who wish to avoid the consequences of a trial to plead guilty by conceding that the evidence is sufficient to convict them, while maintaining that they did not participate in the acts constituting the crimes. See e.g., Patterson v. Commonwealth, 262 Va. 301, 302 n. 1, 551 S.E.2d 332, 333 n.1 (2001); Reid v. Commonwealth, 256 Va. 561, 563 n.1, 506 S.E.2d 787, 788 n.1 (1998); Zigta v. Commonwealth, 38 Va. App. 149, 151 n.1, 562 S.E.2d 347, 348 n.1 (2002); Perry v. Commonwealth, 33 Va. App. 410, 412-13, 533 S.E.2d 651, 652-53 (2000). Id. at 565-66, 636 S.E.2d at 455. See also the following There, we

cases in which defendants made Alford pleas since Parson: Malbrough v. Commonwealth, 275 Va. 163, 168, 655 S.E.2d 1, 3 (2008); Neighbors v. Commonwealth, 274 Va. 503, 506, 650 S.E.2d 514, 515 (2007). BACKGROUND On June 18, 2007, a grand jury in the Circuit Court of Arlington County indicted James Carroll for the rape of a child less than thirteen years of age. Code

Download 1091987.pdf

Virginia Law