Speak Up! - View Question #375

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The Arizona law for criminal damage [A.R.S. 13-1601] provides for punishment based upon the dollar amount of damage you've done. If the damage is between $250 and $2000, then it's a class 6 felony. If the damage is less than $250, then it's a class 2 misdemeanor. In cases like yours, court might make a class 6 felony into a class 1 misdemeanor. By shifting it down the scale of serious offenses one level, it will put the crime into a different court, which might make it able to hear the case more efficiently, but it will still be more serious than a class 2 misdemeanor.

The difference in your punishment between a class 6 felony charge or a class 1 misdemeanor is based entirely on your criminal record - that is, whether or not you have committed any crimes in the past. Your punishment will consist of either fine, jail time, or both. If you have the class 6 felony, then your fines and/or jail time will be considerably higher than if you had just a class 1 misdemeanor. The judge gets the choice of a fine for you, but the law limits the amount. If it's a class 6 felony, the judge cannot impose more than $150,000 fine upon you. If you have a class 1 misdemeanor, the law says the judge cannot fine you more than $1,500. Similarly, the law says that class 6 felonies can get one year in jail, and class 1 misdemeanors can get six months in jail.

What your actual punishment is depends upon your past. The prosecutor in the case, that is, the person making this charge against you for the State of Arizona, gets some flexibility in choosing your punishment. If you have a clean record, then the prosecutor will usually lower the fine and the jail time. Depending on the person, and depending upon the crime, the prosecutor will not impose jail time, and just have you pay money. Your punishment today depends on what you have done in the past.