Sentencing

Sentence Judgment pronounced by the court for a person who pled guilty or is found guilty

Guilty plea When you admit guilt “I am guilty” “I committed the crime”

No Contest Defendant doesn’t plead guilty or not guilty Defendant wont fight or contest the charges No admission of guilt For sentencing purposes its same as guilty plea

Types of Sentence Determinate Indeterminate Concurrent Consecutive

Determinate Sentence Legislature has set the type and length of sentence for each crime Judge has little or no discretion

Indeterminate Sentence Sentence decision is left up to the judges Minimum or maximum sentence may be set already and judge can make sentence fit into that time frame

Concurrent Sentence Sentence may overlap with another sentence for a period of time Can serve sentence for both at same time if convicted of more than one crime

Consecutive Sentence Sentence for 2nd offense begins after first sentence is finished Continues until all sentences have been fulfilled

PA levels of Punishment Death Life in prison without parole Prison sentence with parole Intermediate punishment program (IPP) Probation Accelerated Rehab Disposition (ARD) Fine

Death Only in 1st degree murder cases Sentenced by the jury Only time jury decides the punishment

Life without parole If jury cant agree on death penalty

Prison with parole After serving minimum amount of time, inmates could get early release or parole Inmates on parole are strictly supervised by parole officers If they violate parole, then they must return to prison to finish sentence

parole Serve out remainder of sentence outside of prison

IPP House arrest or electronic monitor device Person Must pay costs of confinement Allowed to work but otherwise cant leave their home If break rules of program, they must go to prison to serve out sentence

Probation In place of prison sentence Released under supervision of probation officer For a specified amount of time Used for 1st time offenders

ARD For first time offenders only Criminal record is erased after completing program DUI cases, the record remains for 7 years

Fine Monetary punishment Can be combined with a prison sentence