What Factors Affect Burglary Sentencing?

When a person is convicted of burglary, there are a number of factors that will likely affect the burglary sentencing that he or she ultimately receives. Whether or not the defendant entered into a plea agreement will always affect the sentence he or she receives. In addition, the level of burglary for which he or she was convicted and his or her criminal history, or lack thereof, will be factors. Whether or not the crime, or the defendant, are non-suspendable will have an impact on sentencing, as will the impact on the victim.

In most jurisdictions, a defendant may be convicted of a crime pursuant to a jury or judge's guilty verdict at trial, or by entering into a plea agreement where the defendant pleads guilty to the crime. If the defendant loses at trial, then the judge may sentence the defendant to any penalty allowable under the applicable statute. If, however, a defendant enters into a plea agreement, and the judge accepts it, then the judge must sentence the defendant according to the terms of the plea agreement in most jurisdictions.

A burglary sentencing will also depend on the level of burglary for which the defendant was convicted. In most jurisdictions, burglary may be charged at a number of different levels depending on factors, such as the presence of a weapon or whether anyone was injured during the commission of the crime. As a result, a burglary sentencing is likely to be longer for a higher level burglary than one that is considered less serious.

A defendant's criminal history will have an impact on a burglary sentencing for obvious reasons. A defendant who has a lengthy, or violent, criminal history is likely to receive the maximum possible sentence, while a defendant with no criminal history may receive the minimum sentence. Additionally, a judge often looks to whether a defendant can be rehabilitated when determining a sentence. As such, he or she will look to what the defendant has done, or is doing, with his or her life to prevent ending up in front of the judge again.

In many jurisdictions, a crime, or a person, can be non-suspendable, which will affect a burglary sentencing. Some crimes have a required minimum sentence that cannot be suspended by the judge. Some burglary charges carry non-suspendable sentences due to the inherently dangerous nature of the crime. In addition, some defendants are non-suspendable due to previous felony convictions.

The impact that a crime had on a victim is always considered by a judge when determining a sentence. Burglary, by definition, has a victim. In some cases, however, a victim may be severely impacted by the crime, such as if the victim was present when the burglary was committed or was injured during the commission of the crime.