Rule 3.971.Pleas of Admission or No Contest

MCR 3.971 handles the adjudication that happens without a trial. A respondent may admit or plead no contest to the allegations, and the court then takes jurisdiction on that basis. Because a plea here can carry into a later termination case, the rule loads the front end with advice and the back end with two findings the court has to make on its own.

What can be pleaded to, and when

Subrule (A) lets a respondent make a plea of admission or of no contest to the original allegations in the petition. A plea to an amended petition is different: the court has discretion whether to allow it, and the plea cannot be accepted until the petitioner and the attorney for the child have been notified of the offer and given the opportunity to object. A plea may be taken at any time after the petition is authorized.

The advice of rights

Subrule (B) requires the court, before accepting a plea, to advise the respondent on the record or in a writing made part of the file. The list covers the allegations themselves, the right to an attorney for a respondent without one, and the trial rights being surrendered:

• trial by a judge or by a jury;
• having the petitioner prove the allegations by a preponderance of the evidence;
• having witnesses appear and testify under oath at trial;
• cross-examining those witnesses; and
• having the court subpoena witnesses the respondent believes could testify favorably.

Beyond rights, the court explains consequences. Subrule (B)(4) requires advice that the plea can later be used as evidence in a proceeding to terminate parental rights if the respondent is a parent. Subrule (B)(5) requires advice that if parental rights are later terminated, the support obligation continues until a court modifies or terminates it, an adoption order is entered, or the child is emancipated by operation of law. That same subrule states that a failure to give this particular notice does not affect the obligation imposed by law or create a remedy or cause of action for the parent.

Appellate advice, and what happens if it is skipped

Three items in subrule (B) deal with appeals: that appellate review is available to challenge errors in the adjudicatory process and may be raised in an appeal from the initial order of disposition; that an indigent respondent is entitled to appointed appellate counsel and transcripts; and that the respondent may be barred from challenging the assumption of jurisdiction in an appeal from a termination order if no timely appeal of the initial dispositional order under MCR 7.204 or delayed appeal under MCR 3.993(C) is filed.

Subrule (C) supplies the remedy for a court that skips them. If the court fails to properly advise the respondent under subrules (B)(6) through (B)(8), the respondent may challenge the assumption of jurisdiction in an appeal from the order terminating parental rights. The advice is what makes the ordinary bar stick.

Voluntary and accurate

Subrule (D) sets two conditions the court must satisfy itself about. The plea must be knowingly, understandingly, and voluntarily made. And it must be accurate: the court must establish support for a finding that one or more of the statutory grounds alleged in the petition are true.

How that support is gathered depends on the plea. For an admission, the rule prefers questioning the respondent. For a no contest plea, the court shall not question the respondent and must find support by some other means. The court also has to state why a plea of no contest is appropriate, which puts the reasoning for the no contest route on the record rather than leaving it implied.