During sentencing on a guilty plea, can a judge use false and unsupported claims by a surviving family member on victim impact statement to increase penalties?
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During sentencing on a guilty plea, can a judge use false and unsupported claims by a surviving family member on victim impact statement to increase penalties?
The family searched the social media and claimed they saw evidence of partying in the months after the accident. They did not offer, nor was their for proof asked for, yet the judge said this clearly showed lack of contrition so said that he was increasing severity of penalties accordingly. The defense attorney took no action.
Asked on June 26, 2014 under Criminal Law, California
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
Under the laws of all state sin this country, when it comes to sentencing proceedings afte a person has been convicted of a crime, the court is allowed to hear statements of people who are interested in the matter where some information given may not be the most reliable and may simply be false. The key is whether the sentence given is in the guidelines of the statute that the person was convicted under.
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