Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a)
(1)
Basic sentence recommendations. Guideline sentence
recommendations are based on the Offense Gravity Score and Prior Record Score.
In most cases, the sentence recommendations are found in the Basic Sentencing
Matrix (§
303.16(a)). The
Basic Sentencing Matrix specifies a range of sentences (i.e.-standard range)
that shall be considered by the court for each combination of Offense Gravity
Score (OGS) and Prior Record Score (PRS).
(2)
Sentences for offenders under age
18 for murder, murder of unborn child, or murder of law enforcement
officer. If an offender is under age 18 years at the time of the
offense and the conviction occurred after June 24, 2012, the court has no
authority to impose a sentence less than that required by the mandatory minimum
provision established in statute and may impose a minimum sentence up to and
including life (18Pa.C.S. § 1102.1). If the
court determines the convicted offender was under age? 18 at the time of the
offense and the conviction occurred after June24, 2012, the court shall instead
consider the Basic Sentencing Matrix for Offenders Under Age18 Convicted of 1st
or 2nd Degree Murder (§ 303.16(b)).
(3)
Enhancement sentence
recommendations. Guideline sentence recommendations may include
sentence enhancements, which provide increases to the basic sentence
recommendations when an enhancement factor identified by the Commission is
present. Enhancement sentence recommendations are described in §
303.10. The application of an
enhancement is determined by the court at sentencing, based on a preponderance
of the evidence that the enhancement factor is present. Sentence enhancements
can either be mandated by statute or directly adopted by the Commission.
(i) Several approaches are employed to
establish enhancement sentence recommendations:
(A) assigning an offense gravity score to the
offense that may be higher than comparable offenses without the enhancement, or
assigning an offense gravity score equal to a comparable offense that includes
the enhancement.
(B) increasing the
assignment of an offense gravity score when the enhancement factor is present,
which may include a subcategorization of the offense, in which a higher offense
gravity score is assigned to the offense when the enhancement factor is
present.
(C) adjusting the basic
sentencing recommendation when the enhancement factor is present, by adding
months to the top and bottom of the standard range.
(ii) If the court determines at sentencing
that enhancement factors described in §
303.10 are present, the court
shall instead consider the enhancement sentence recommendations described in §
303.10. The enhancement sentence recommendations shall not apply if the
enhancement factor is:
(A) an element of the
offense used to assign the Offense Gravity Score, pursuant to § 303.3(a);
or
(B) a sentencing factor used to
subcategorize the offense, pursuant to § 303.3(b).
(d) Aggravated and
mitigated sentence recommendations. To determine the aggravated and mitigated
sentence recommendations, apply §
303.13. These procedures apply to
both basic sentence recommen-dations and enhancement sentence
recommendations.
(e)
Confinement
sentence recommendations. All
numbers used for the ranges of the sentence recommendations suggest months of
minimum confinement pursuant to 42Pa.C.S.? § 9755(b) (partial confinement) and
§ 9756(b) (total confinement), or the duration of restrictive conditions
imposed through an order of probation pursuant to
42Pa.C.S.§ 9754, as
described below:
(1) Confinement in a state
facility (Department of Corrections) pursuant to:
(i)42Pa.C.S.§ 9762(b)(1)
(ii)42Pa.C.S.§ 9762(b)(2)
(2) Confinement in a county
facility pursuant to:
(i)42Pa.C.S.§ 9762(b)(2)
(ii)75Pa.C.S.§ 3804(d)
(3) Confinement in a county facility pursuant
to 42Pa.C.S.? § 9762(b)(3)
(4)
Probation with restrictive conditions pursuant to:
(i)42Pa.C.S. § 9763(c) (relating to
restrictive DUI probation conditions)
(ii)42Pa.C.S. § 9763(d) (relating to
restrictive conditions of probation)
(5) Guidelines for restrictive conditions
(42Pa.C.S. § 2154.1)
(i) As required by statute:
(A) Probation guidelines shall address the
use of county intermediate punishment programs as restrictive conditions of
probation and the duration of terms of probation (42Pa.C.S. § 2154(d));
(B) Guidelines for restrictive conditions
shall give primary consideration to reducing recidivism for the protection of
the public safety (42Pa.C.S. § 2154.1).
(ii) The guidelines for restrictive
conditions shall apply to an offender identified under the guidelines for
probation (42Pa.C.S. § 2154(d)) and the guidelines
for restrictive conditions (42Pa.C.S. § 2154.1) as eligible and appropriate for the
use of county intermediate punishments programs as restrictive conditions of
probation
(iii) Unless otherwise
provided in §
303.12, the recommended duration
of the aggregate term of probation imposed during a judicial proceeding may not
exceed ten years and the duration of the restrictive conditions of probation
(42Pa.C.S. § 9763(d)) or a combination of
confinement without parole (as provided in
42Pa.C.S. §§ 9755(h) and
9756(c.1)) and restrictive
conditions of probation may not exceed the suggested months of minimum
confinement
(f)
Non-confinement sentence recommendations. Probation with
non-restrictive conditions (P) and other restorative sanctions (RS) are
non-confinement community-based sentencing alternatives. A sentencing
guidelines recommendation of RS suggests use of the least restrictive,
non-confinement sentencing alternatives, and the sentencing guidelines
recommendation of P suggests use of probation with non-restrictive general
conditions, as described below:
(1) Probation
guidelines (42 Pa.C.S. §
2154(d))
(i) As required by statute, when serving as a
restorative sanction with non-restrictive conditions, probation guidelines
shall address the duration of terms of probation.
(ii) When probation is imposed as a
restorative sanction, the recommended duration of the term of probation may not
exceed the probation recommendation provided in the Basic Sentencing Matrix (§
303.16(a)):
(A) P1 = 1 year
(B) P2 = 2 years
(iii) When imposed as a restorative sanction,
the recommended aggregate term of probation imposed during a judicial
proceeding may not exceed five years.
(iv) Conditions of probation imposed as
restorative sanctions shall be limited to those non-restrictive conditions
authorized under
42 Pa.C.S. §
9763(b) (related to
conditions generally).
(2) Other restorative sanctions include:
(i)
42 Pa.C.S. §
9753
(determination of guilt without further penalty)
(ii)
42 Pa.C.S. §
9758
(fine)-as provided in §
303.14(a)(4)
(relating to Fines/Community Service Guidelines)
(iii)
42 Pa.C.S. §
9721(c) (mandatory
restitution)
(g) When the guideline sentence
recommendation exceeds that permitted by
18Pa.C.S. § 1103 and § 1104
(relating to sentence of imprisonment for felony and misdemeanor) and
42 Pa.C.S. §
9755(b) and § 9756(b)
(relating to sentence of partial and total confinement) or other applicable
statute setting the maximum term of confinement, then the statutory limit is
the longest guideline sentence recommendation. For the purposes of the
guidelines, the statutory limit is the longest legal minimum sentence, which is
one-half the maximum allowed by law.
(h)
Mandatory sentences. The
court has no authority to impose a sentence less than that required by a
mandatory minimum provision established in statute. When the guideline range is
lower than that required by a mandatory sentencing statute, the mandatory
minimum requirement supersedes the sentence recommendation. When the sentence
recommendation is higher than that required by a mandatory sentencing statute,
the court shall consider the guideline sentence recommendation.
(i)
Mandatory sentences for which
Restrictive DUI probation conditions (42Pa.C.S. § 9763(c)) are
authorized. The court shall consider the sentence recommendations
pursuant to this section (§
303.9) for an offender convicted
under
75 Pa.C.S. §
1543(b) (relating to driving
while operating privilege is suspended or revoked), former
75 Pa.C.S. §
3731 (related
to driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substance) or
75 Pa.C.S. §
3804
(relating to penalties) for a first, second or third offense under 75 Pa.C.S.
Chapter38 (related to driving after imbibing alcohol or utilizing drugs). The
court may use Restrictive DUI probation conditions pursuant to §
303.12(a)(6) or
a combination of confinement and restrictive DUI probation conditions to
satisfy the mandatory minimum requirement as provided by law.
This section cited in 204 Pa. Code §
303.2 (relating to procedure for
determining the guideline sentence); 204 Pa. Code §
303.10 (relating to guideline
sentence recommendations: enhancements); 204 Pa. Code §
303.11 (relating to guideline
sentence recommendation: sentencing levels); 204 Pa. Code §
303.12 (relating to guideline
sentence recommendations: sentencing and correctional programs); 204 Pa. Code §
303.14 (relating to guideline
sentence recommendations-economic sanctions); 204 Pa. Code §
303.15 (relating to offense
listing); 204 Pa. Code §
303.16(a)
(relating to basic sentencing matrix); 204 Pa. Code §
303.17(a)
(relating to Deadly Weapon Enhancement/Possessed Matrix); 204 Pa. Code §
303.17(b)
(relating to Deadly Weapon Enhancement/Used Matrix); 204 Pa. Code §
303.18(a)
(relating to School Enhancement Matrix); 204 Pa. Code §
303.18(b)
(relating to Youth Enhancement Matrix); and 204 Pa. Code §
303.18(c)
(relating to School and Youth Enhancement
Matrix).
