Judges will now have the ability to take into account a number of factors when determining whether to issue a 5 year sentencing enhancement.
California has long been known for its harsh criminal sentences. But a new series of reforms is slowly but surely changing that image, from marijuana legalization to dramatically revamping the felony murder rule. Included in this latest wave of legislation is a new law, Senate Bill 1393, that contains a provision that gives judges discretion in deciding whether to give certain defendants a 5 year penalty enhancement on their sentence.
As a criminal attorney Los Angeles, CA can explain, under current law, if a person is convicted of a serious felony under California law, a judge is required to add a 5 year penalty enhancement if that person has a prior conviction for a serious felony. For example, if a person was convicted of first degree burglary in the past (a serious felony), and has just been convicted of kidnapping — another serious felony — then the judge does not have a choice. He or she has to tack on an additional 5 years to that person’s sentence. If the sentence is for 15 years, then that person would receive a 20 year sentence — regardless of the facts of the case.
However, under Senate Bill 1393, judges now have the ability to strike a prior serious felony conviction so that they do not have to add the 5 year penalty enhancement, when doing so would be “in furtherance of justice.” If the judge decides to allow the prior serious felony conviction to stand, then the defendant will serve the additional 5 years in prison based on the sentencing happening. This term will run consecutively with the sentence for the new felony conviction.
The basis for the new law is simple. The current law does not give judges the ability to fit the sentence to the crime. As the law currently stands, judges cannot take into account the specific facts of the case, a defendant’s criminal history, the seriousness of the offense, and/or other potentially mitigating circumstances (anything that might make the crime less serious or the defendant less culpable). As a result, defendants in criminal cases often ended up serving longer prison terms than they otherwise would have if the judges had discretion to fashion a sentence based on these factors.
In the example above, a judge might examine the facts of the case and decide that the burglary was committed when the defendant was 18 years old — what might have been a youthful indiscretion. Now, it’s 20 years later, and the defendant has been “clean” the entire time. The defendant is involved in a custody dispute, which has led to the kidnapping charge. A judge may want to take these facts into consideration when deciding how to sentence a person. Senate Bill 1393 gives a judge the ability to do so, allowing him or her the ability to add an extra year or two to the sentence — or remove the enhancement entirely. A skilled criminal attorney Los Angeles, CA can make the argument that the enhancement should not apply in this situation.
Senate Bill 1393 will go into effect in 2019, after being signed by Governor Brown in September 2018. Although it is too early to know how judges will use the discretion granted to them by the bill, it is our hope that this will lead to more defendants in criminal cases receiving fair sentences.
The Chambers Law Firm strongly believes in the right of all people accused of crimes to have a vigorous defense. If you have been charged with a crime, you will need an aggressive criminal attorney Los Angeles, CA to represent you. Contact us today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free initial consultation.
