Criminal Sentencing FAQ

Questions:

• Who determines what punishment a convicted defendant receives?
• Where can the prescribed punishment for crimes be found?
• Do people convicted of the same or similar crimes receive similar sentences?
• What factors do judges use in determining sentences?
• Can my attorney ask for an alternative sentence?

Answer:

What factors do judges use in determining sentences?

If the judge has discretion to determine the sentence, the defense may bring to a judge's attention an infinite number of factual circumstances that may move the judge to impose a lighter sentence. The following are examples of such circumstances (called "mitigating" factors):

• The offender has little or no history of criminal conduct.
• The offender was an accessory to the crime (helped the main offender) but was not the main actor.
• The offender committed the crime when under great personal stress; for example, he or she had lost a job, was late on rent, and had just been in a car wreck.
• No one was hurt, and the crime was committed in a manner that was unlikely to have hurt anyone.

Just as mitigating circumstances can sway a judge to lessen a sentence, "aggravating" circumstances can compel a judge to "throw the book at" an offender. A previous record of the same type of offense is the most common aggravating factor. Other aggravating circumstances grow out of the way a crime was committed, as when an offender is particularly cruel to a victim. Sometimes, laws themselves specify aggravating factors, such as the use of a weapon.