California Felony Sentencing FAQ Orange County Felony Attorneys
Have you or a loved one been convicted of a felony in Southern California? For your convenience, our Orange County felony attorneys at Wallin & Klarich have provided the questions and answers most commonly asked by our clients who have been accused of felonies. For immediate answers to your questions regarding the specific facts of your case, please speak to us today. Our Orange County felony attorneys at Wallin & Klarich have over 40 years of experience defending clients facing all types of felony charges in Southern California.
1. If I am sent to county jail, do I have to serve my entire felony sentence before I am released?
No. Under the terms of realignment, you may qualify for a split sentence if sentenced to county jail. If this happens to you, the judge has the option to split your sentence between some custody time and release to the community under mandatory supervision.
2. If the court imposes consecutive sentences, do I have to serve the entire term for each sentence before I am released?
There are some crimes where you will have to serve a full consecutive sentence, less any good time credit you receive. Other crimes require that you serve a full term sentence on the primary charge, less any good time or work credit, but allow you to serve only 1/3 of the midterm sentence on the other crimes (PC 1170.1(a)). This concept is best described through examples.
If you are convicted of two separate counts of rape and the court imposes a sentence of eight years for both counts, then you will be eligible to gain 15% of good time credit. You then would be required to serve 85% of the eight-year sentence for both counts. In other words, you would serve 85% of the total sentence of 16 years. This means you would end up serving a total of 13.6 years.
If you are convicted of felony grand theft and the court imposes a mid-term sentence, you will be sentenced to serve two years in the county jail. You can receive up to 50% of good time credit, which means you will end up serving a sentence of one year for the grand theft conviction. If the court sentences you to a consecutive sentence for another charge related to the same grand theft crime, then you would be sentenced to serve only 1/3 of the midterm two-year sentence. In this case, 1/3 of the two-year sentence would equal eight months. Therefore, your total sentence would equal one year, for the felony grand theft, and eight months for the second charge related to the grand theft crime.
3. What is realignment?
Realignment was a law passed by the California legislature in 2011 to help reduce prison over-crowding in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision mandating a reduction in the California prison population. As a result of realignment, many convicted felons now serve their sentences in county jail, or on supervised release, rather than in state prison.
4. Does any felony qualify for sentencing under realignment?
No. Both the nature of the offense and the nature of the offender come into play when the court considers punishment. The law specifically excludes certain crimes and certain offenders. Call our attorneys today to learn if you or your loved one may qualify.
5. How long will I be on post-release community supervision under the realignment law?
No more than three years. Much less than three years if you are not returned to custody for any reason during the first 12-months of your supervision. In fact, you may qualify for early discharge within six-months.
6. Do I need to hire a criminal defense lawyer if I am facing a felony charge in California?
Felony charges carry significant and serious consequences. The lawyer at Wallin & Klarich are willing to assist you to avoid the serious consequences and gain the best possible outcome in your case. With offices in Orange County, Los Angeles, Torrance, Sherman Oaks, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Victorville and West Covina, the Orange County felony at Wallin & Klarich have been successfully defending clients charged with felony offenses for over 40 years. We are committed to vigorously advocating for you in your felony case.
Call (877) 4-NO-JAIL (877-466-5245) today. We will get through this together.