{"id":1199,"date":"2019-03-05T15:26:58","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T15:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/?p=1199"},"modified":"2019-03-05T15:26:58","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T15:26:58","slug":"factors-that-affect-jail-sentences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/factors-that-affect-jail-sentences\/","title":{"rendered":"Factors That Affect Jail Sentences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After being arrested or charged with a crime, there are\nhandfuls of common questions that start to go through your mind. Some of the\nmost commonly asked questions has to with jail time. Defendants want to know\nwhether or not they have to serve time in jail, and if so, how long. If this is\nsomething that is also a concern to you as a person facing criminal charges, continue\nreading to learn which factors affect jail sentences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Criminal
Criminal Defense Law Firm 317-636-7514<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2696 Nature of Charge<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The first factor that will be scrutinized by the prosecution\nand court magistrates is the nature or severity of the crime. For those charged\nwith violent or sexual offenses will face a stricter level of scrutiny and\njudgement compared to those charged with non-violent and non-sexual offenses.\nIn Indiana, jails are very overcrowded, so most often, those charged with a\nmisdemeanor are not sentenced to jail time. In terms of felony charges, jail\ntime is more likely. It all depends on the nature of the crime, as well as, the\nother factors discussed in this blog. Felonies are divided into 7 categories in\nIndiana: Level 1through Level 6, and then Murder. Level 6 felony crimes are the\nleast serious type of felony, however, they are still punishable up to 3 years\nin prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2696 Criminal History<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Another major factor considered when facing jail time is criminal\nhistory. Prosecution and judges will look to see if a defendant has a history\nof being a habitual offender, or if they have any current pending charges\nagainst them. If someone has committed a series of serious offenses, especially\nthe same ones, the state will likely want to seek a jail sentence. For\ninstance, if a person is habitually being arrested for stealing cars, they will\nlikely be sentenced to jail after a habitual felony arrest. On the other hand,\nif a person has a history of drug abuse and possession offenses, they may be\norder to rehabilitation programs in lieu of jail time. Again, it all depends on\na variety of factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2696 Strength of the Case<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Another leading factor in determining a jail sentence for an\naccused defendant is the state\u2019s case. If the state does not have a strong\nenough case against a defendant for their suspected crime, it is not likely\nthat they will have to spend any time in jail. If the state does not have a\nsufficient amount of evidence to prove a defendant\u2019s guilt at trial, the\ndefendant\u2019s legal team will have more luck negotiating out from jail time. If\nthe state has a lot of evidence, and thus, a strong case, they have more\nleverage to seek jail time. But without a strong case, they are more likely to\nbe lenient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2696 Alternative Sentencing<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned, the state might offer drug rehabilitation as\nan alternative to jail time. They may also do this for other offenses as well.\nRather than jail time, the state may allow a defendant to be sentenced to\nalternative programs, such as substance abuse rehabilitation, community\nservice, victim impact panels, and similar community corrections programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who to Call for Legal Advice and Representation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Criminal<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Call 317-636-7514<\/strong> to schedule a free initial consultation with aggressive Indiana criminal defense attorney<\/a>, David E. Lewis, who will stop at nothing to protect your rights and preserve your freedoms. With decades of hands-on experience, you can trust Attorney David E. Lewis to build you a strong and impactful defense against your criminal charges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After being arrested or charged with a crime, there are handfuls of common questions that start to go through your mind. Some of the most commonly asked questions has to with jail time. Defendants want to know whether or not … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[667,7,670,668,669,671],"class_list":["post-1199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-defense","category-criminal-law","tag-criminal-charges-jail-time","tag-criminal-defense-attorney-indianapolis","tag-factors-affect-jail-time","tag-how-much-time-in-jail","tag-jail-sentencing-indiana","tag-will-i-go-to-jail-indiana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1201,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199\/revisions\/1201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.delewislaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}