January 6, 2006 |
2006-R-0033 | |
CRIMINAL OFFENSES | ||
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By: George Coppolo, Chief Attorney Ryan O'Neil, Research Assistant | ||
You asked us to identify all offenses in the General Statutes that could result in a prison sentence.
SUMMARY
Based on information provided to us by Greg Pac, a case flow statistician for the Judicial Department, we identified 1,629 offenses in the General Statutes that could result in imprisonment. The information Pac provided is from a data base of offenses the Judicial Department maintains.
The department database often divides a criminal statute into separate crimes. For example, CGS § 53a-59 establishes the crime of assault in the first degree. But the statute specifies several ways the offense may be committed and it imposes a mandatory minimum sentence if the victim is under 10 years old or a witness. The Judicial Department data base counts each of these ways as different crimes and also counts it as a separate crime if the victim is under 10 years old or a witness. Thus, there are more crimes than statutes that establish the crimes, especially in the penal code.
Of these 1,629 offenses contained on the department's data base, 383 were in the Penal Code (Title 53a) and 1,246 were not. Table 1 shows the number of offenses for each category of maximum sentence that we found.
Table 1: Maximum Sentences for All Crimes
Number of Offenses |
Maximum Sentence |
3 |
7 days |
5 |
10 days |
179 |
1 month/30 days |
57 |
2 months/60 days |
137 |
3 months/90 days |
2 |
4 months |
1 |
5 months |
227 |
6 months/180 days |
413 |
1 year/12 months/365 days |
1 |
18 months |
62 |
2 years |
22 |
3 year |
287 |
5 years |
2 |
6 years |
4 |
7 years |
108 |
10 years |
6 |
15 years |
82 |
20 years |
14 |
25 years |
4 |
30 years |
1 |
40 years |
3 |
60 years |
9 |
Life imprisonment/capital punishment |
Table 2 shows the number of offenses for each category of maximum sentence that we found, excluding the offenses found in the penal code.
Table 2: Maximum Sentences for Offenses Not in the Penal Code
Number of offenses |
Length |
3 |
7 days |
5 |
10 days |
179 |
1 month/30 days |
57 |
2 months/60 days |
118 |
3 months/90 days |
2 |
4 months |
1 |
5 months |
203 |
6 months/180 days |
325 |
1 year/12 months/365 days |
1 |
18 months |
61 |
2 years |
21 |
3 year |
180 |
5 years |
2 |
6 years |
4 |
7 years |
51 |
10 years |
6 |
15 years |
21 |
20 years |
2 |
25 years |
4 |
30 years |
Table 3 provides a breakdown of offenses by classification and by its location in or outside of the penal code.
Table 3: Classification and Location of Offenses
Classification |
Total Offenses |
Penal Code |
Non-Penal Code |
Class A felony |
24 |
24 |
0 |
Class B felony |
80 |
62 |
18 |
Class C felony |
77 |
62 |
15 |
Class D felony |
165 |
106 |
59 |
Unclassified felony |
258 |
3 |
255 |
Class A misdemeanor |
175 |
88 |
87 |
Class B misdemeanor |
48 |
24 |
24 |
Class C misdemeanor |
50 |
19 |
31 |
Unclassified misdemeanor |
273 |
131 |
142 |
CRIMINAL OFFENSES
Attachment 1 specifies the offenses that carry a prison term as a possible penalty. The table specifies the statutory citation, the type and classification of the offense, a brief description of the offense, and the possible minimum and maximum prison sentence. It is organized by citation starting from the lowest statutory citation to the highest. The type of offense indicates whether it is a felony(F) or misdemeanor(M). The classification indicates whether it is a class A, B, C, or D felony, a class A, B, or C misdemeanor, or an unclassified felony or misdemeanor(U). Attachment 2 provides the same information as Attachment 1 organized from lowest to highest maximum prison sentence. Attachment 3 provides the same information as Attachment 2 except it excludes penal code offenses.
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