by 
F Dubya
ANSWERS: 6
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A plea of No Contest is a defendant’s court plea that he/she will not dispute the charge of a particular crime, also called nolo contendere. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt for the crime’s commission, but the judge will treat the plea as such and proceed to find the defendant guilty as charged. In cases that involve a potential lawsuit for damages by someone who was injured by criminal conduct, a no contest plea will be issued because it cannot be used as an admission of fault in the civil lawsuit. In situations where a “plea bargain” has been reached, a no contest plea will be entered because the defendant does not want to admit guilt but agrees to the sentence that the prosecutor recommended in exchange for not disputing the charge. As a result, the charge is often reduced to a lesser crime. Reference Link: http://www.legal-explanations.com/definitions/no-contest.htm
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To add briefly to ggonnigan's answer, in some Municipal or Traffic courts, a plea of "no contest" to minor infractions is often taken as a plea of "guilty, but with an explanation." It's a way of saying that yes, the law was technically broken, but that you feel there were extenuating circumstances. In that case it will generally cause the court to inquire as to the circumstances and possibly result in reduced fines. Or, as a friend of mine put it, a plea of "no contest" means "your honor, I didn't do it, and what's more, I'll never do it again!"
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No contest (or nolo contendre) means that you will not plead guilty but will not fight or "contest" the charge and will accept whatever punishment the court would give you if you had pleaded guilty.
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The way I always understood it and was explained to me by a Judge friend in Ohio was that "NO CONTEST" was a plea that meant that you neither "Admit" to the Charge , NOR do you "Deny" the charge ; BUT that you allow the Court to decide your guilt or innocence based upon the reading of the charge .... However; 99% of the time; you are found GUILTY ; and then are alowed to make a Statement to the court before sentencing ... +5
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it is not pleading guilt, but pleading that you will not contest the charges against you
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It means that they are not admitting guilt, but choose not to fight the charge. +3
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