After a trial, or after pleading to a criminal accusation or charge, the next step in the legal process is sentencing. Sentencing is the process in which a person is reprimanded for the crime they were convicted of or pled guilty to. It can include a variety of charges ranging in severity. For violent crimes, sentencing for these type of crimes can be most severe. Many factors go into sentencing decisions and the sentence may be handed down by a judge or jury.
Depending on the violent crime one is accused of, there could be several outcomes. Whether or not the person is actually guilty of the crime is most important. From there, a person can build a criminal defense that best suits them. Consider that the best criminal defense may be to agree to a plea deal or to plead guilty. However this obviously isn’t the best option for those who are not guilty of the crime they are accused of.
Fines, community service, probation or jail time can result from a conviction or a guilty plea. The severity of these can vary as in people can be sentenced to a longer or shorter sentence and can be served multiple sentences or just one, for the same crime. Several factors such as a person’s criminal history, their statement and how the accused pled can have heavy influence on the severity of a person’s sentence. The judge may issue and read the sentence or a sentence could have been decided by a jury of one’s peers.
If you have been accused of a criminal charge, there is much to be considered. It is in a person’s best interest to build a criminal defense that suits them and their case. It is important that the accused tell their side of the story as everyone accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Guilty pleas generally have lighter sentences than those that assume innocence and are later convicted.
Source: criminal.findlaw.com, “Criminal Sentencing,” Accessed October 16, 2017
