Had he pled guilty to first-degree murder, Alford would have had the possibility of a life sentence, but avoided the death penalty.

Alford pled guilty to second-degree murder but declared to the court that he was in fact innocent, and was pleading guilty only to avoid the death penalty, which might have been applied had he been convicted of first-degree murder.

Alford guilty plea, an " I'm guilty but I didn't do it " plea and the Alford doctrine ) in United States law is a guilty plea in criminal court, where the defendant does not admit the act and asserts innocence.

Under the Alford plea, the defendant admits that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Alford guilty plea originated in the United States Supreme Court case of North Carolina v. Alford ( 1970 ).

Alford appealed and requested a new trial, arguing he was forced into a guilty plea because he was afraid of receiving a death sentence.

" I just pleaded guilty because they said if I didn't, they would gas me for it ," wrote Alford in one of his appeals.

The Dictionary of Politics: Selected American and Foreign Political and Legal Terms defines the term Alford plea as: " A plea under which a defendant may choose to plead guilty, not because of an admission to the crime, but because the prosecutor has sufficient evidence to place a charge and to obtain conviction in court.

According to the book Gender, Crime, and Punishment published by Yale University Press, " Under the Alford doctrine, a defendant does not admit guilt but admits that the state has sufficient evidence to find him or her guilty, should the case go to trial.

" Webster's New World Law Dictionary defines Alford plea as: " A guilty plea entered as part of a plea bargain by a criminal defendant who denies committing the crime or who does not actually admit his guilt.

The Alford guilty plea is " a plea of guilty containing a protestation of innocence ".

Upon receiving an Alford guilty plea from a defendant, the court may immediately pronounce the defendant guilty and impose sentence as if the defendant had otherwise been convicted of the crime.

Sources disagree, as may differing states ' laws, as to what category of plea the Alford plea falls under: Some sources state that the Alford guilty plea is a form of nolo contendere, where the defendant in the case states " no contest " to the factual matter of the case as given in the charges outlined by the prosecution.

Others hold that an Alford plea is simply one form of a guilty plea, and, as with other guilty pleas, the judge must see there is some factual basis for the plea.

Defendants can take advantage of the ability to use the Alford guilty plea, by admitting there is enough evidence to convict them of a higher crime, while at the same time pleading guilty to a lesser charge.

The attorney recommended Alford plead guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder in order to face a lesser sentence, but left the decision to Alford.

The judge sentenced Alford to the maximum second-degree murder penalty of 30 years in prison.

In 2006, he entered an Alford plea in Tennessee state court to second-degree attempted murder, based on the same incident, and was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.

Henry Alford had been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder in 1963.

Henry Alford was indicted for first-degree murder in North Carolina in December 1963.

There were no eyewitnesses to the murder, but witnesses swore that Alford had taken his gun from his house and declared he was going to kill the victim, and upon returning, stated that he had killed the victim.

Evidence in the case included testimony from witnesses that Alford had said after the death of the victim that he had killed the individual.

However, assistant DA William Alford has said that charges would more often than not be reduced or dropped if a relative of someone charged gained Garrison ’ s ear.

He had, said Alford, “ a heart of gold .”

According to Alford this is said to show that since his resurrection a new closeness exists between Jesus and his followers and to confirm that even after the resurrection Jesus is fully human and a brother to other men.

Years later Alford said, " Not only was it a much better draft choice than drafting me ... Reggie turned out not to be a great pick, he turned out to be great for the state of Indiana.

Henry Alford of the New York Times said, " Handler serves up his trademark blend of goofball humor and suspense ... The End may not reach the comic highs of, say, The Austere Academy ... But it ’ s more suspenseful than the other books.

Alford was faced with the possibility of capital punishment if convicted by a jury trial.

Alford was sentenced to thirty years in prison, after the trial judge in the case accepted the plea bargain and ruled that the defendant had been adequately apprised by his lawyer.

Following this ruling, Alford petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, which upheld the initial ruling, and subsequently to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit which ruled that Alford's plea was not voluntary, because it was made under fear of the death penalty.

In 1994 it was shown by W. R. ( Red ) Alford, Andrew Granville and Carl Pomerance that there really do exist infinitely many Carmichael numbers.

Scholars such as Uri Rubin and Shahab Ahmed and Guillaume hold that the report was in Ibn Ishaq, while Alford T. Welch holds the report has not been presumably present in the Ibn Ishaq.

A Bridgett White was also the second wife of a Robert Wight ( 1578 – 1617 ) of Hareby, Lincolnshire, England whom he married on November 25, 1613 at Alford.

Another settlement was started by the Priddys, the J. Houstons, Cade Alford and the Carson family who extended the settlement along the creek to the junction of three forks.

* Former U. S. Representative Thomas Dale Alford was born in Pike County.

In 1960, he was a Republican candidate for the United States House of Representatives, having been defeated by the incumbent Democrat Dale Alford of Little Rock.

Alford was first settled in 1756 as part of a purchase of land from the Shauanum Stockbridge Mahican tribe by a group led by Timothy Woodbridge.

It was named for Colonel John Alford of Charlestown, who was known for his work in preaching Christianity to Native Americans, and for sponsoring a theology professorship at Harvard College's Divinity School.

John Smith was baptised on 6 January 1580 at Willoughby near Alford, Lincolnshire, where his parents rented a farm from Lord Willoughby.

Among them was 15-year-old Donnie Wahlberg, who immediately impressed Starr and Alford with his rapping skills, dancing ability and showmanship, becoming the group's first member.

In 1989, an arts and humanities building was built directly across Alford Road, near the college's other arts buildings.

In the 1990s, former Duran Duran drummer Sterling Campbell joined the band, but left in 2000 to tour with David Bowie and was replaced that year by Zachary Alford, who had recorded and toured with the band during the Cosmic Thing era.

According to Alford Welch, the Jewish practice of having three daily prayer rituals appears to have been a factor in the introduction of the Islamic midday prayer but that Muhammad's adoption of facing north towards Qiblah ( position of Jerusalem-Islam's first Qiblah or direction of prayer, and now present Qiblah towards Kabah in Makkah ) when performing the daily prayers however was also practiced among other groups in Arabia.

Imprisoned in the state prison in Laramie, Wyoming, he served 18 months of a two-year sentence and was released in January 1896, having promised Governor William Alford Richards that he would not again offend in that state in return for a partial remission of his sentence.

Henry Alford ( 7 October 1810 – 12 January 1871 ) was an English churchman, theologian, textual critic, scholar, poet, hymnodist, and writer.

Alford was born in London, of a Somerset family, which had given five consecutive generations of clergymen to the Anglican church.

Alford was a talented artist, as his picture-book, The Riviera ( 1870 ), shows, and he had abundant musical and mechanical talent.