Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

I'm so sorry for you and your family. That must have been hard for you all.

There are different types of enhancements in criminal sentencing. One type is related to the offense, for example, if a gun was used in the offense or someone suffered great bodily injury from the offense a 3,4, or 10 years could be added on for the gun and 3 years for the injury.

There are also enhancements related to the person's criminal history. If someone has been to prison they will receive 1 year for every prison term served. Also if a prior offense was a violent felony they can receive a 5 year enhancement for each prior offense, often called nickel priors.

The jury decides the facts in a trial and whether any enhancement allegation has been proven. The judge, however, decides the sentence based on the charges and allegations that were proven in the trial. It is only death penalty cases where the jury decides the sentence of death or life without parole.

Regards,

Elena Condes

Ms. Condes is right, but I'm not sure she addressed your main concern. There are rules limiting when and how a judge can impose multiple enhancements, but no rule says there may be only one enhancement per sentence. Judges can enhance a given sentence based both on the nature of the offense and on the defendant's history, which is what you describe.

It's possible that your father's sentence is improper for some other reasons. You may want to have a lawyer review the case. There just isn't an obvious issue in the limited information you've given us.

Good luck.