Can a defendant plead guilty to a criminal charge in a subsequent civil action?

"A plea of guilty is admissible in a subsequent civil action on the independent ground that it is an admission. It would not serve the policy underlying collateral estoppel, however, to make such a plea conclusive.... When a plea of guilty has been entered in the prior action, no issues have been 'drawn into controversy' by a 'full presentation' of the case. It may reflect only a compromise or a belief that paying a fine is more advantageous than litigation. Considerations of fairness to civil litigants and regard for the expeditious administration of criminal justice [citation] combine to prohibit the application of collateral estoppel against a party who, having pleaded guilty to a criminal charge, seeks for the first time to litigate his cause in a civil action." (Id. at pp. 605-606, 25 Cal.Rptr. 559, 375 P.2d 439; see also Pease v. Pease (1988) 201 Cal.App.3d 29, 32-34, 246 Cal.Rptr. 762.)