United States v. Laurence Keiswetter

I must respectfully dissent from that part of the court’s opinion which holds that North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970), does not require a finding of “strong evidence” to substantiate the guilty plea of a defendant who subsequently protests his innocence. I further disagree with remanding this case for further inquiry. It is my judgment the attempted Alford plea was invalid, and allowing the trial court the opportunity to revitalize it is a post hoc disposition that is unparalleled in our jurisprudence. The plea must be vacated, and the case remanded for…