In Arizona
there are six different types of felonies.
They range from Murder being the highest at a Class 1 felony down to a
Class 6 being the lowest type of felony. All are charged by the State in Superior Court. In Arizona
there are specific Sentencing Guidelines that the court must go by when
sentencing someone to any level of felony.
Sentences can range from Probation with no jail time for lower level
offenses with no priors up to Life in the Department of Corrections (i.e.
Prison) or the Death Penalty for the worst offenses. A Probation sentence can also include up to
a year in the County Jail as punishment.
There are some facts that may make a sentence for an offense
harsher. For instance, if the person has
prior felony offenses then they placed in a higher sentencing range. Or if in a drug offense there was an amount
of the drug above the listed “threshold”, then they are also placed in a higher
sentencing range. Certain offenses such
as Drug Offenses and Crimes Against Children have their own sentencing
guidelines that are harsher than the traditional ones.
Additionally, Felony Offenses can be charged as either
“Dangerous” or “Non-Dangerous”. An
offense is deemed to be Dangerous if a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument
was used in the offense. This can
include a variety of things such as guns, knives, vehicles, or sometimes even
every day items such as a rock, letter opener, or hammer. If the Felony Offense is labeled as Dangerous
then the Defendant faces a higher sentencing range and is NOT eligible to get
sentenced to Probation. In other words,
if a person is Found Guilty at trial or takes a plea to a Dangerous Offense
then they must be sentenced to prison.
Once it is determined which sentencing range the offense
falls under, then the Court starts with the “Presumptive Sentence” and either
increases it based on Aggravating factors or decreases it based on Mitigating
factors. These factors are presented to
the Judge by Defense Counsel and the County
Attorney
There are several different types of Plea Bargains that can
be reached. A Plea is a set agreement
where the Defendant pleads Guilty to the offense in exchange for getting a
lesser sentence. Please can either be
open range, for example they may say 5-7 years, and the Judge decides where in
that range they should fall. Or a plea
can be stipulated to, for example it may say 6 years, and in that case the Judge
would sentence the person to that amount of time.
With Class 6 felonies, there are a few different
varieties. A Class 6 felony can be
either Designated or Undesignated (i.e. “Open”). If the Class 6 felony is Designated, then it
will remain a Class 6 felony on the person’s record. However, in cases where the person does not
have any priors and it is a lesser offense, it is possible for their attorney
to negotiate an Undesignated or Open Class 6 Felony. That means that after the person has finished
their Probation and done everything they are supposed to, they can ask the
Court to Designate (turn in to) the Offense a Misdemeanor. Then they would no longer have a Felony on
their record. However, until such time
as the Court Designates an offense to be a Misdemeanor then it is treated as a
Felony for all other purposes.
