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Mitigating Factors: Unusual Circumstances

By Baker Associates

One potential mitigating factor that defendants can use at sentencing in an effort to get a reduced sentence is where ?the defendant, although guilty of the crime, committed the offense under such unusual circumstances that it is unlikely that a sustained intent to violate the law motivated the criminal conduct.? This mitigating factor is one that will not be used all that often because it requires that the circumstances surrounding the conduct be unusual, but when such unusual circumstances give rise to the criminal conduct in question, this factor can be highly effective. One example of when this factor might be applicable comes from a somewhat bizarre story that took place on Monday in Syracuse, New York, where a man was apparently hanging out on a street corner while intoxicated when he became the victim of a random drive-by shooting...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog on January 20, 2010 (boomark / email).