Proposed Recommendations for Guidelines Revisions

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Proposed Recommendations for Guidelines
Revisions
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Proposed Recommendations

• At its September meeting, the Commission
  considered proposals for possible revisions to
  the sentencing guidelines.
• The Commission voted to table two recommendations
  pending further analysis by staff.
• Staff have conducted additional analysis for the
  Commissions review.

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Proposed Recommendation 3False Statement on
Firearm Consent Form
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False Statement on a Firearm Consent Form,
18.2-308.22(K)

• Issue
• This offense was added to the guidelines
  effective July 1, 2006.
• During the first year of implementation,
  compliance for Making a False Statement on a
  Firearm Consent Form was 67, with mitigation
  comprising nearly all of the departures (30).
• Most commonly cited reasons for mitigation are
  minimal circumstances of the case, plea
  agreement, lack of serious prior record, and
  recommendation of Commonwealths attorney.
• Many of the offenders whose sentences were
  mitigated had only one count of the offense, no
  additional offenses, and no victim injury many
  had a prior record that included a previous
  incarceration, but no legal restraint was scored.

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False Statement on a Firearm Consent Form,
18.2-308.22(K)
Recommended Disposition
Recommended Disposition Probation/ No Incarceration Incarceration 1 day - 6 mos. Incarceration over 6 months
Probation/ No Incarceration 79.3 20.7 0
Incarceration over 6 months 36.8 26.3 36.8
Actual Disposition
29 cases
38 cases
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Proposed Recommendation 3 Original
3
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Proposed Recommendation 3 Original

• By revising the primary offense score for Making
  a False Statement on a Firearm Consent Form on
  Section A of the Weapons Guidelines from 4 points
  to 3 points, compliance can be improved slightly.

FY2007 (66 cases)
Current Guidelines Original Proposal
Compliance 67 70
Mitigation 30 24
Aggravation 3 6
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Virginia Form
9
Federal Form
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Denial of Firearm Purchases

• The State Police maintains files on all firearm
  transaction requests and the results of the state
  and federal criminal history searches, as well as
  searches for protective orders, outstanding
  warrants, and adjudications of mental deficiency.
• Records are kept for approximately 12 months and
  then destroyed.
• Commission staff requested copies of these
  records for persons convicted of making a false
  statement in order to gain a better understanding
  of the these cases.

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Basis of Firearm Transaction Denial
For 8 of these offenders, a juvenile adjudication
for a felony offense was noted.
For 10 of these offenders, an out-of-state felony
conviction was noted.
Note Firearm transaction records were available
for 61 of the 70 offenders examined.
Multiple reasons may be cited in each case.
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Basis of Firearm Transaction Denial and
Guidelines Compliance
Felony Conviction or Juvenile Adjudication(N30) Domestic Violence Conviction (N20) Protective Order (N8) Felony Indictment, Warrant or Mental Health (N6)
Compliance 60 70 75 100
Mitigation 40 25 12.5 0
Aggravation 0 5 12.5 0
Note Firearm transaction records were available
for 61 of the 70 offenders examined.
Multiple reasons may be cited in each case.
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Basis of Firearm Transaction Denial and
Guidelines Compliance
Offenders with a Prior Felony Conviction or
Juvenile Adjudication
No Prior Felony Person Crime (N22) Prior Felony Person Crime (N8)
Compliance 55 75
Mitigation 45 25
Aggravation 0 0
Note Firearm transaction records were available
for 61 of the 70 offenders examined.
Multiple reasons may be cited in each case.
14
Time Since Prior Felony Conviction or Juvenile
Adjudication
Prior Felony Conviction or Juvenile Adjudication within Last 4 Years (N16) Prior Felony Conviction or Juvenile Adjudication More than 4 Years Ago (N14)
Compliance 75 43
Mitigation 25 57
Aggravation 0 0
Note Firearm transaction records were available
for 61 of the 70 offenders examined.
Multiple reasons may be cited in each case.
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Proposed Recommendation 3 Revised

• Revise the Weapons Sentencing Guidelines by
  decreasing the points assigned to the primary
  offense factor on Section A (from 4 points to 1)
  and by adding a factor to increase the score (by
  3 points) for offenders with
• - a prior adult or juvenile felony conviction
  for a crime
• against the person
• - a conviction for any other felony within the
  last five years
• - a prior domestic assault misdemeanor
  conviction
• - an outstanding protective order
• For offenders meeting any of the above
  conditions, the revision will have no impact on
  guidelines recommendation.
• For the remaining offenders, the guidelines will
  be less likely to recommend a term of
  incarceration of more than six months.

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1
NEW FACTOR
SCORE THE FOLLOWING ONLY IF PRIMARY OFFENSE AT
CONVICTION IS FALSE STATEMENT ON A FIREARM
CONSENT FORM ( 18.2-308.22(K))
Basis of False Statement on Consent Form (listed
below) Prior felony conviction for crime
against person Other prior felony
conviction within 4 years of current offense
Prior domestic assault misdemeanor conviction
Subject to protective order at time of
offense
If YES, add 3
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Proposed Recommendation 3 Revised

• By revising the guidelines for Making a False
  Statement on a Firearm Consent Form as described,
  compliance can be improved slightly and a better
  balance between mitigation and aggravation can be
  achieved.

Current Guidelines Original Proposal Revised Proposal
Compliance 67 70 70
Mitigation 30 24 17
Aggravation 3 6 13
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Proposed Recommendation 4Involuntary
Manslaughter
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Involuntary Manslaughter ( 18.2-36
18.2-36.1(A))

• Issue
• Combined, the compliance for Involuntary
  Manslaughter and Involuntary Vehicular
  Manslaughter is 52, with nearly all of the
  departure sentences above the guidelines.
• Most commonly cited reasons for aggravation are
  aggravating circumstances/flagrancy of offense,
  extreme violence/victim injury, guidelines
  recommendation is too low, offender has
  drug/alcohol problems
• In nearly two-thirds of the aggravating departure
  cases, the offender had been recommended for
  probation or up to six months in jail but was
  sentenced to serve more than six months of
  incarceration.

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Involuntary Manslaughter ( 18.2-36
18.2-36.1(A))
Compliance in Cases of Involuntary Manslaughter
and Involuntary Vehicular Manslaughter FY2003
FY2006 224 cases
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Involuntary Manslaughter ( 18.2-36
18.2-36.1(A))
Actual Disposition
Recommended Disposition Probation/ Incarceration up to 6 months Incarceration over 6 months
Probation/ Incarceration up to 6 months 38.2 61.8
Incarceration over 6 months 7.4 92.6
102 cases
122 cases
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Proposed Recommendation 4 Original
3
2nd count
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Proposed Recommendation 4 Original

• By increasing the points for the primary offense
  on Section A of the Murder/Homicide Guidelines
  from 1 point to 3 points (for 1 count) and from
  3 to 8 points (for 2 counts), the guidelines
  would better reflect recent judicial practice.

Current Guidelines Proposed Change
Compliance 52 62
Mitigation 7 7
Aggravation 41 31
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Involuntary Manslaughter ( 18.2-36
18.2-36.1(A))
Recommended Disposition Compliance Mitigation Aggravation
Probation/ Incarceration up to 6 months 38.2 0 61.8
Incarceration over 6 months 63.9 10.7 25.4
102 cases
122 cases
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Proposed Recommendation 4 Revised
Revise the Murder/Homicide Sentencing Guidelines
applicable to Involuntary Manslaughter by -
increasing the points for the primary offense on
Section A from 1 point to 3
points (for 1 count) and from 3 to 8 points
(for 2 counts), and - increasing
the points for the primary offense on Section C
(adding 3 points for the Other Category, and
making corresponding increases for Category I
and Category II). As a result of these
changes, offenders convicted of involuntary
manslaughter will be more likely to receive a
recommendation for more than six months of
incarceration. In addition, offenders
convicted of involuntary manslaughter will
receive a longer sentence recommendation on
Section C.
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Proposed Recommendation 4 Revised
88 X 44 X 22 X
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Proposed Recommendation 4 Revised

• By revising the guidelines for Involuntary
  Manslaughter in the manner described, compliance
  can be improved and the rate of aggravation can
  be reduced, better reflecting recent judicial
  practice.

Current Guidelines Original Proposal Revised Proposal
Compliance 52 62 64
Mitigation 7 7 8
Aggravation 41 31 28
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