Criminal law statutes specify a variety of violent felonies, including homicide, drug crimes, and sex crimes. Different subdivisions of the law are used to classify these felonies and provide sentencing guidelines for those who get convicted of such crimes.
General violent felonies
All violent crimes use subdivisions of the law to specify the penalties. A court can add additional penalties for each charge but only under certain circumstances. For example, a court could order a three-year sentence for each additional prison term that results from a felony. The court can’t add additional sentencing for prison terms if the defendant was free 10 years before the felony conviction.
Sexual violent felonies
Any subdivision where the new offense is a felony and the court is already ordering the defendant to county jail doesn’t apply. Under the county jail subdivision, the court can only add one year for each prior prison term for sexual violence. The court can’t add additional sentencing if the defendant was free for five years before the felony. The sex crime subdivision counts prison custody as a prison term.
Violations of subdivisions
If a defendant violates the subdivisions, the court can use special consideration during sentencing. Depending on the severity of the violent crimes, the court may take society’s condemnation for the crimes into account. The defendant can remain in jail until they’re out of custody, which includes mandatory supervision. A person can go back to jail for escaping if they are free during those times. The new prison terms aren’t always usable. As long as the other convictions were in California, the courts can use crimes from other jurisdictions.
Violent crimes that end in felony charges have different penalty ranges for charges. In California, a prison term is any confinement in a state prison or federal penal institution such as a hospital stay. The new subdivisions can add or subtract years of a sentence depending on the circumstances.
