Topic:
SENTENCING; LEGISLATION; PERSISTENT OFFENDERS; CRIMINALS;
Location:
CRIME AND CRIMINALS; CRIME AND CRIMINALS - PERSISTENT OFFENDERS;

OLR Research Report


January 16, 2008

  

2008-R-0012

CONVICTION INFORMATION FOR CERTAIN CRIMES IN PROPOSAL 7

By: Christopher Reinhart, Senior Attorney

You asked about the number of convictions in recent years for the crimes on the list that would make someone eligible for a new enhanced penalty under Proposal 7 (LCO 9951), An Act Concerning Criminal Sentencing And The Parole Process, which was one of the criminal justice bills heard at the Judiciary Committee public hearing on November 27, 2007.

SUMMARY

Proposal 7 (LCO 9951), An Act Concerning Criminal Sentencing And The Parole Process, creates a new enhanced penalty law that requires the court to sentence someone to life in prison (statutorily defined as 60 years) without possibility of release if the person (1) is convicted of one of the following crimes and (2) has at least two convictions and imprisonment in any state or any federal institution for one of these crimes, any of their predecessor crimes, an attempt to commit one of these crimes, or a crime in any state that has substantially the same essential elements as one of these crimes:

1. manslaughter,

2. arson,

3. kidnapping,

4. 1st or 2nd degree robbery,

5. robbery involving an occupied motor vehicle,

6. assault constituting a felony,

7. 1st or 3rd degree sexual assault and 3rd degree sexual assault with a firearm,

8. 1st degree aggravated sexual assault,

9. 1st or 2nd degree burglary,

10. 1st degree stalking, and

11. stealing a firearm.

Table 1 below displays the number of convictions for these crimes in each of the last five fiscal years. We obtained this information from a database of Judicial Branch statistics maintained by the Office of Fiscal Analysis.

The list of crimes in Proposal 7 uses the terms “manslaughter,” “arson,” “kidnapping,” and “assault constituting a felony.” Because these do not refer to specific criminal statutes, we have included all the crimes that they could refer to. For example, for “manslaughter” we have included the crimes of (1) manslaughter 1st degree, including 1st degree with a firearm and (2) manslaughter 2nd degree, including 2nd degree with a firearm or motor vehicle. In addition, the list includes the crimes of 1st or 2nd degree burglary. It is unclear whether this would also include 2nd degree burglary with a firearm but we have included conviction information on that crime.

CONVICTIONS

Table 1 below displays convictions for these crimes in each of the last five fiscal years. These numbers do not reflect the number of individuals convicted of these crimes but rather the number of times a defendant was convicted of a charge for one of these crimes. It is possible for a person to be convicted of multiple charges.

TABLE 1: CONVICTIONS OVER THE LAST FIVE FISCAL YEARS

Statute

Title

Total Convictions

FY 2003

FY 2004

FY 2005

FY 2006

FY 2007

53a-55

Manslaughter 1st degree

36

30

25

36

34

53a-55a

Manslaughter 1st degree with a firearm

16

16

15

8

18

53a-56

Manslaughter 2nd degree

11

13

12

12

19

53a-56a

Manslaughter 2nd degree with a firearm

0

-

-

-

1

53a-56b

Manslaughter 2nd degree with a motor vehicle

19

20

22

22

24

53a-59

Assault 1st degree

290

258

301

308

348

53a-59a

Assault 1st degree of an elderly, blind, disabled, pregnant, or mentally retarded person

4

4

3

2

2

53a-59b

Assault 1st degree of a Corrections employee

2

1

6

2

3

53a-59c

Assault terminating pregnancy

-

-

-

-

1

53a-60

Assault 2nd degree

835

717

812

735

811

53a-60a

Assault 2nd degree with a firearm

9

10

9

5

4

53a-60b

Assault 2nd degree of an elderly, blind, disabled, pregnant, or mentally retarded person

17

12

15

14

8

53a-60c

Assault 2nd degree of an elderly, blind, disabled, pregnant, or mentally retarded person with a firearm

-

0

0

0

0

53a-60d

Assault 2nd degree with a motor vehicle

72

67

55

62

58

53a-70

Sexual assault 1st degree

209

179

182

201

168

53a-70a

Aggravated sexual assault 1st degree

7

3

2

6

3

53a-72a

Sexual assault 3rd degree

74

83

79

91

105

53a-72b

Sexual assault 3rd degree with a firearm

1

0

0

2

-

53a-92

Kidnapping 1st degree

27

25

42

40

37

Statute 

Title 

Total Convictions

FY 2003

FY 2004

FY 2005

FY 2006

FY 2007

53a-92a

Kidnapping 1st degree with a firearm

2

9

2

9

9

53a-94

Kidnapping 2nd degree

13

23

13

11

12

53a-94a

Kidnapping 2nd degree with a firearm

0

5

3

3

5

53a-101

Burglary 1st degree

73

65

87

76

69

53a-102

Burglary 2nd degree

282

233

241

316

324

53a-102a

Burglary 2nd degree with a firearm

2

2

2

1

0

53a-111

Arson 1st degree

12

15

17

10

18

53a-112

Arson 2nd degree

18

7

28

18

14

53a-113

Arson 3rd degree

32

25

31

19

25

53a-134

Robbery 1st degree

642

648

735

709

548

53a-135

Robbery 2nd degree

302

364

348

418

420

53a-136a

Robbery involving an occupied motor vehicle

3

9

8

4

7

53a-167c

Assault of public safety or emergency medical personnel

470

371

427

390

435

53a-167d

Assault of a prosecutor

-

-

-

1

-

53a-181c

Stalking 1st degree

17

14

9

8

8

53a-212

Stealing a firearm

102

64

110

104

94

TOTAL

3,599

3,292

3,641

3,643

3,632

(-) indicates that the courts did not dispose of any charges under this statute during the fiscal year.

CR:dw