A cumulative sentence is the total punishment for one or more crimes, usually imprisonment or fines. It is served consecutively, with one sentence completed before the next. Multiple offenses can result in longer sentences, and even probation violations can lead to cumulative sentencing.
A cumulative sentence is the sum total of what a person must serve for their crimes. Sentence is pronounced after a court, jury or judge finds a defendant guilty of one or more crimes. A cumulative sentence usually refers to a specific period of imprisonment, but could also refer to a total amount of fines and penalties that the court assesses. Despite pronouncing a number of years, the time actually served may still be less, with employment credits, good behavior credits, and other considerations.
The most common time a cumulative sentence is served is when multiple offenses have been committed. These crimes don’t have to happen at the same time or during the same incident, but they do happen often. For example, if a person enters a home and attempts to harm an occupant, that person can be charged with both burglary and assault. Even though these crimes occurred during the same incident, they are separate violations of the law and each has its own sentence.
For something to be a cumulative phrase, the service of the separate phrases must be done consecutively. This means that the convicted individual must fully serve one sentence before getting credit to serve the other sentence. In the example cited, if the defendant was given five years in prison for the burglary and two years for the assault, he would have to serve one in full before starting the other, for a total of seven years. If the judge decides so, it could instead be a concurrent sentence; both could be served concurrently, which would result in up to five years.
A cumulative sentence served consecutively often means that a defendant will be incarcerated for a longer period of time. Even if the person convicted in the example given receives parole for the assault sentence, the other sentence would still be enforced. Thus, consecutive sentencing is often a tool a judge will use for particularly heinous crimes, or for individuals he or she feels are a threat to society.
In some cases, a court may impose a cumulative sentence even if a convicted person committed no other crimes during the incident, but was on probation for other crimes. Typically, another conviction will violate the terms of the probation or probation and send the individual back to jail or prison. A judge may decide that the individual will finish serving the original sentence before starting serving the sentence on the most recent offense. Therefore, even if the defendant has committed only one crime in the recent past, the penalty is still cumulative.
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