Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Mid term means the middle range of sentencing, which is 2 years in this case. Low term (least possible sentence) to the charge may be 18 months, high term (max sentence on that charge) may be 3 years; that is a typical sentencing structure on felonies.

As to what percentage of the 2-year sentence will be served, it depends on the charge (and maybe on overcrowding issues). He or she should check with his/her attorney who handled the case. Good luck!

I agree with Ms. Hofmeister. Mid-term means between minimum sentence and maximum sentence, not half the time ordered to be served.

Many crimes in California have three possible prison terms. Lawyers and courts refer to them as the low, middle (or "mid") and high terms. The court decides which one to impose based upon a variety of factors that I won't even try to explain here.

The language you quote means that the judge imposed the middle term, and that the middle term for that particular crime is two years.

Ms. Hofmeister is right that we would need more information before we could say how much of that time the defendant will actually have to serve.

But it's possible that the defendant got a lot more than two years. You only gave us the first few words of what the judge said. For all we know, there was a lot more that followed.

The court's reference to "Count 1" suggests that there were other counts. The defendant may have been convicted and sentenced on one or more of those counts. Those sentences may have been made consecutive to or concurrent with this one.

Additionally, there are a variety of sentencing "enhancements" that courts can impose in a variety of situations. For example, there is an enhancement where the defendant was on probation when the new crime was committed. There is another when the crime was for the benefit of a gang, and another for use of a firearm. The list goes on and on. And some of the enhancements are quite lengthy. It's possible that the two-year sentence was accompanied by a ten-year enhancement, or by multiple enhancements that add up to even more.

Finally, there is the three-strikes law. If this was the defendant's second strike, then the court likely doubled his sentence. A third strike carries a minimum sentence of 25 years to life. The court probably would not have used the language you quoted if Count 1 was a third strike. But if one of the other counts was a third strike then the defendant may not be released for a very long time.

California has a system of determinate sentencing for felony charges. There is a range of 3 numbers for possible prison sentence lengths, to be determined by the judge, based on any mitigating factions. These fall into low term, mid term, and high term sentences.

For example, a charge of assault with a deadly weapon (other than a firearm) carries possible sentences of 24, 36, or 48 months in prison, depending on the severity of the circumstances.

Mitigating factors may lead to imposition of the low term and aggravating factors may lead to imposition of the high term. As to the time actually served, several factors are included in the calculation - different credit is given for time served in county jail versus state prison and then we have the overcrowding issue in California which has resulted in early release or release to county facilities depending on the nature of the underlying conviction.