What Form 2220 Imposed 2023-2024

Sentencing occurs after a finding of guilt has been made, whether by a judge or a jury, whether after a trial or by way of an open plea. Oftentimes, sentencing proves to be more complex than a trial. In Florida, sentencing is accomplished by way of guidelines. These guidelines are established in the criminal punishment code. The theory is that each case is valued on a variety of measurable scales and the guidelines, which are essentially a mathematical formula, are supposed to calculate a result and computation. They provide a custom-tailored permissible sentencing range. Inside of this range, the judge is free to exercise discretion. Outside of the range, the judge must adequately and lawfully explain a ruling. However, the reality is that sentencing is often cold and impersonal, and this formula is not always fair to a defendant. Factors that judges must consider include the primary offense, meaning the most serious charge, defense additional offenses, other charges, lesser equal charges that were faced, the level of victim injury, meaning the actual harm suffered by the victim, the prior record, which is any probably scored prior criminal history of the defendant, legal status whether or not the defendant was under a lawful sanction or requirement at the time. There are also enhancers for things like firearms or prior serious felonies or drug trafficking or law enforcement violations, grand theft of a motor vehicle, gang-related activities, domestic violence cases. Each of these factors has a point value, and those must be determined. When the points are all added together, the sum is used to compute the lowest permissible prison sentence in months or the low end of the sentence and guidelines below which the judge cannot depart without clearly stated reasons. The judge can enhance or bump up or reclassify a given offense...