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Florida Sentencing and Drug Court Programs

By Ron Chapman

          Florida's sentencing guidelines determine sentences for felony offenses (except for death-penalty cases) based primarily on the following two factors:   The conduct associated with the offense.  (For example, manslaughter is a Level 7 on the guidelines which means that that particular crime has 56 sentencing points.) An individual's criminal history.  (So, for example, if someone has 5 prior felony convictions, that person will score higher on the guidelines than someone with no criminal record assuming both persons are charged with the same offense.)            Florida law provides that if a criminal defendant has more than 44 total sentence points, he is supposed to be sentenced to state prison...continue to full post

Full post as published by Palm Beach Criminal Defense Blog on October 12, 2009 (boomark / email).