Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York
predicate or persistent felon
My husband was on trial for burglary 2, att. burg. 2, and poss. of burglar's tools. He was acquitted on att.burg 2 but guilty on other 2. He has prior felonys: 1983 (C)violent felony, 1990 (D) violent felony, and 1996 (E) non-violent felony. Can the court use these even if they are over the 10 year limitation? Also, is he considered a predicate or a persistent felon? Can he be sentenced to mandatory life?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: predicate or persistent felon
Persistent is not subject to the same ten year
rule as predicate, and he may have sentencing
problems. These should have been and still should
be discussed with his current attorney
Re: predicate or persistent felon
Your husband may be considered a persistent violent felony offender if the two prior violent felony offenses occured within ten years of the commission of the new one. The one in 1983 may qualify depending on how much time he spent in jail since that conviction. You add up the time from the conviction in 1983 to the date of the commission of the latest offense(not the conviction date) and then subtract all the time he spent in jail, even for a non-violent felony and misdemeanors. If the total is ten years or less, then he is a mandatory persistent violent felony offender. There is no ten year limitation on persistent felony offenders, he is clearly facing life at the judge's discretion, as long as he did State time on two prior occaisions. Good luck!
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