Criminal Justice -- Sentencing and Analysis Courtney

Criminal Justice -- Sentencing and Analysis

Courtney Elizabeth Hernandez was indicted for kidnapping. Her case was handled in the Circuit Court for the Western District of Texas. Based on her attorney's advice, she accepted a plea bargain, pleading guilty to kidnapping. The normal sentence for kidnapping in Texas is 10 years in prison; however, Hernandez was sentenced to 15 years in prison, along with other punishments.

The Sentence

According to a plea bargain in which Defendant Courtney Elizabeth Hernandez pleaded guilty to kidnapping, she received a sentence of 15 years in Federal prison, and then three years of supervised release, plus she is order to pay $3,000 in restitution for the kidnapping of the 2-1/2-year-old girl (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2010).

The Victim's Role in Sentencing

The 2-1/2-year-old girl is too young to participate in the sentencing process; however, her mother can participate. There is no indication that the mother participated in this sentencing process. According to 9-16.030 of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11, the prosecutor should have notified her of the possible plea and obtained her view about the plea before the plea arrangement was made (U.S. Justice Department, n.d.). In fact, according to §3771(a)(4) of the Crime Victims' Rights Act, the mother in this case has the right to be "reasonably heard at any public proceeding in the district court involving release, plea, sentencing, or any parole proceeding" (Wood, 2008, p. 1); therefore, the child's mother could be reasonably heard in court about the plea itself and in a witness impact statement before sentencing.

The PSI Report

The PSI report would include personal information about the defendant, such as her family history, social history, social support, environmental support, education, current employment and employment history, substance abuse history, financial history and current financial situation, military history, information about a codefendant (which was not present here), and other data that the probation department believes would help the judge give the appropriate sentence (Steverson, 2012, p. 2). The PSI report would also give information about the crime, including a narrative of the facts and any mitigating or aggravating circumstances of the crime (Steverson, 2012, p. 2). In addition, the PSI report would give current information about the victim(s) and information about the restitution, including: the type, amount and recipient (Steverson, 2012, p. 2). Finally, the probation officer sometimes includes a recommendation about sentencing in the PSI report (Steverson, 2012, p. 2).

Procedure after Sentencing and Possible Appeal

After sentencing, Hernandez would be taken into custody (if not already in custody) and handed over to the custody of the Federal Corrections Department to begin her sentence. Hernandez entered her plea in the Western District of Texas (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2010), so her appeal would go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which is the appellate court with jurisdiction over the Western District of Texas (United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2012, p. 9).