What happens if I am charged with a felony in California?

A felony is a serious crime punishable by a prison term of 16 months or more in a state prison.  Depending on the circumstances of the offense, as well as other factors, a sentence for a felony conviction could range from formal probation with little or no jail time, to a state prison sentence of up to life in prison.

In California, most felonies are punishable under the “determinate sentencing laws.”  This means that when someone is convicted of a felony offense and sentenced to prison, the judge may, in its own discretion, impose the low, middle or high term indicated by the particular offense.  The judge considers the seriousness of the crime, the criminal history of the defendant and other “mitigating” factors, such as whether you were the instigator of the crime, whether you were provoked or under duress, or whether the crime was partially excusable.  In determining whether the sentence should be in the low, middle or high range, the judge also considers “aggravating” factors, such as whether the crime involved great violence or great bodily harm, whether you used a gun or a weapon at the time of the crime, or whether the victim was particularly vulnerable at the time of the crime.

A felony expungement (i.e., the felony conviction being removed from your public criminal record) may be available to you if you are convicted of a felony, after you fulfilled the conditions of a probationary sentence, so long as you have not being convicted of a subsequent offense and were not ordered to serve a state prison sentence.

What does it mean to have a “third strike”?

If you have two prior convictions for delineated serious and/or violent offenses (known as “strikes”), and you are convicted of a third such offense, the court will automatically sentence you to 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole, under the “Three Strikes Law” (California Penal Code section 667).

I heard that if someone gets a shoplifting conviction, they can get sentenced to 25 to life if it is their third strike; is that true?

Under California Penal Code section 666, also known as “Petty Theft with a Prior,” a person who has been convicted of a theft-related crime will face felony punishment if they commit another theft-related crime.  That means that a “two strikes” defendant accused of minor shoplifting will have what would be a minor misdemeanor charge upgraded to a felony charge, and then could face 25 years to life in prison, under Penal Code Section 667.