in California.

So if you're convicted of a felony,

you will have a sentencing hearing

where the judge will decide what sentence

or what penalties to impose.

And at a sentencing hearing, the judge really

has two calls to make-- first of all,

whether to grant probation.

Almost every crime allows the judge discretion

to grant probation, and this is where

the judge says, basically, "I'm going to go easy on you.

I'm going to give you a chance.

I'm going to put you on probation."

Now, with probation, the judge can still

sentence you to up to a year in county jail.

But oftentimes, when the judge grants probation,

there's no jail time at all.

The judge merely says, "I'm going

to have you on probation for three to five years.

And if you do everything correctly, at the end,

we'll dismiss your case and expunge it.

If you violate your probation, then we

can send you to jail or prison for up to the maximum term."

If the judge elects not to grant probation,

then the judge has to decide-- do I impose

a low, middle, or high term?

Now, almost every crime has a sentencing range

of a low middle or high term.

For example, grand theft has a low term

of 16 months in custody, a middle term

of two years in custody, and a high term

of three years in custody.

Generally, the middle term is presumed

unless there are mitigating or aggravating circumstances.

Now, mitigating circumstances are things in your case

that would call for leniency.

So for example, if you have no prior record,

if you played only a small role in the crime,

if you took care to make sure that nobody got hurt,

if your motive for committing the crime

was to provide food for your children-- all of these

would be considered mitigating factors.

Then there's aggravating factors.

Aggravating factors are things that would

call for a tougher sentence.

So for example, if you have an extensive record,

if you were already on probation,

if you used a weapon, if multiple people were injured,

or there was a great loss of money to the victim,

these would be considered aggravating circumstances.

So basically, the judge weighs the mitigating

and the aggravating circumstances.

If the mitigating circumstances outweigh the aggravating

circumstances, then the judge is supposed

to impose the low term.

On the other hand, in a more serious case

where the aggravating circumstances outweigh

the mitigating circumstances, the judge

is supposed to impose the high term.

This is where a good criminal defense attorney comes in.

We can emphasize the mitigating factors

and show why the aggravating factors should be discounted.

At a sentencing hearing, a good defense attorney

can go a long way towards convincing the judge

to impose a low term or to grant probation and impose no jail

time at all.