Must Court Explain Effect of No-Contest Plea Before Accepting Defendant’s Plea of Guilty?
State of Ohio v. Joseph W. Jones, Case nos. 2006-1606 and 2006-1851 7th District Court of Appeals (Mahoning County) ISSUE: Under Ohio’s Rules of Criminal Procedure, before accepting a defendant’s proffered plea of guilty to a criminal offense, is a trial court required to determine not only that the defendant understands the rights he is waiving and the effect of a guilty plea, but also to determine that the defendant understands the effect of entering an alternative plea of no contest? BACKGROUND: In August 2004, Joseph Jones of Austintown was charged with three counts of domestic violence for allegedly beating his fiancé’s three children. After initially pleading not guilty, entering pretrial motions seeking dismissal of the charges and requesting a jury trial, Jones later entered into a plea bargain in which he agreed to plead guilty to a single count of domestic violence and the state agreed to drop the other two counts. Before accepting Jones’ plea of guilty, the trial judge who p
