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MonarchX

In my state cultivation of more than 10 plants is 25 years minimum sentence, but people get 2 years, sometimes only probation and we're one of the most conservative states.

How often do judges give that minimum sentence?

 

troublemaker_42

Depends...if it is a MANDATORY MINIMUM, the judge is required to give AT LEAST that severe of a sentence. In cases where a mandatory minimum isn't required, the judge has all kinds of discrdtion as to how he wants to handle a given case

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MonarchX

They were MMS, which are Mandatory Minimum Sentence. 25 years is the law for 10 plants, but the person got off with 2 years and some probation years.

Maybe its because 25 years is just TOO much?

troublemaker_42

No, mandatory minimums have been established as the absolutye minimum punishmnet for a given crime. Judges are not allowed to vary from the guidelines in the vast majority of situations. There may be excprions, but if there are any, I'm unaware of them

FakeBoobsRule

Monarch, are you sure they're being convicted or pleading guilty to cultivation of 10 or more plants? They may be taking plea bargains to a lesser crime than what they were originally charged for.

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Jake

In my state, what you see a lot of times is the judge "suspending" a lot of the sentence. I don't know all of your state laws, and I'm talking about Maryland here, which is a pretty liberal state. But I've seen mandatory minimums get kind of sidestepped here. I really don't know why though. You see most of it on drunk driving, people get sentenced for 6 months, but all but a few days will be suspended. What is left of the "suspended" sentence can be brought back out on the guy if he messes up his Probation or alcohol classes.

I guess the same thing could happen with different drugs in different states

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MonarchX

I am not sure of details, but the lawyer who defended this guy also defended a guy who was found with 7 kilos of a highly illegal substance (passed out with his face buried in it) and got him to walk free using some conditional possession clause. Sometimes I wonder if the whole "lawyers make deals with judges" has some truth to it.

steakii

Ive come to realize that you shouldnt trust the NORML website when it comes to state marijuana laws, half of the time they are way off. I dont know if this is where you got your information or not, but if it is, it might not be true.

And a mandatory minimum sentence is just that, a mandatory time that you must serve if you are convicted of a certain crime. In the cases you are talking about, the person most likely plea bargained to have a lower sentence with less jail time.

Lawyers dont make deals with judges, they make deals with the District Attorney. A judge just sentences and rules the court most of the time. The exception would be if a person chose to have a non jury trail.

Just re-read what TM and Jake said, they are both right on the money.