July 11th Sentencing Question

Magats_Love_NHB

Magats_Love_NHB

Let It Burn!
Someone more familiar with the court system and verdicts can you please help me out here? I was under the impression that sentencing usually happens right after a verdict is given. Why a month out?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
T. A. Gardner said:
Because in felony cases there are sentencing guidelines to follow (whether they will be or not in this case is to be seen) and those are based on a pre-sentencing investigation (PSI). The PSI gathers information about the convicted, like priors, work history, family, financial situation, etc. These are then used, in part, to determine sentencing based on the guidelines.

All of that takes time so the sentencing hearing is set such that there is time to do the PSI.
Click to expand...
6 weeks is a long long time for that.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
NakedHunterBiden said:
Someone more familiar with the court system and verdicts can you please help me out here? I was under the impression that sentencing usually happens right after a verdict is given. Why a month out?
Click to expand...
During the actual trial, they have to avoid mentioning what type of person the defendant is, and what sort of record he has. Mentioning that he has a lifetime of crime would prejudice the jury against the defendant. They also have to avoid mentioning how bad the crime was, because that would also prejudice the jury.

So there is a whole bunch of evidence introduced about how bad the crime and the criminal is that is not about whether the crime was committed or not. Luckily, because it is done by the judge, it can be done mostly through a report, not through first hand testimony. Both sides writes up reports, with affidavits, and there is a bit of testifying. There are guidelines, which are dependent on a number of factors, so the lawyers debate the factors.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top