If you are a criminal lawyer or at any law firm, you’ll notice that there are two key things you need to understand before diving deeper into crimes and criminal laws. Have you ever heard of terms like Felony and Misdemeanor? Yes, they are two different terms with, of course, different meanings. The only big difference nowadays is that one is more concerned with a serious crime, and the other is just like a minor wrongdoing. This is very important, particularly for those who are in criminal defense. Refer to this blog for more details:
What Are the Difference Between a Felony and a Misdemeanor?
Definition:
Felony: Felony is a higher crime than the other one. It can cause serious damage to the people. It may also involve such crimes as murder, rape, or robbery with arms for property theft. Since a felony is a serious crime, it has a high possibility of serious consequences.
Misdemeanor: A misdemeanor is a less serious offense. It is criminal and punishable without causing grievous harm to others. Normally, it includes cases like petty theft, vandalism, simple assault, and DUI without any aggravating factors. Even though misdemeanors are not as serious as felonies, that does not mean the after-effects of the results will not impact a person’s life.
- Sentencing
Felony Sentencing: Felony convictions typically receive the most serious sentences. For punishment, long-term incarceration, usually in a state or federal prison, fines, and even death or life imprisonment, depending on the crime, may be given. Sentences for felonies range from one year to life imprisonment.
He can impose life imprisonment, without parole, on one convicted of murder in the first degree. Other felonies can be compulsorily matched with some rehabilitation program or restitution to the victims.
Sentencing of Misdemeanors: As described above, misdemeanors are punishable by less heinous punishments. In most cases, sentences involve short imprisonment, less than one year, in county or local jails rather than inside state or federal prisons.
Fines for misdemeanants are also very broad in scope, depending on the offense, but always below that which would be attached to a felony. Most individuals convicted of misdemeanors will almost assuredly receive sentencing through probation, community service, or required counseling.
- Legal Process and Trial
Despite the size, another point of divergence in how these two classes of crimes are processed can be found in how the legal process approaches them.
Felon Trials: Most felony cases are complex and require a greater legal process. Most state superior courts organize felony trials, and conviction is often needed with a trial in the jury’s presence. As felonies are serious cases, there may be more chances for the defendant to seek representation through lawyers, and there may even be an allowance for longer hearings before a trial. Even more deliberation is taken in sentencing a felony conviction, sometimes with parole hearings involving the process.
Misdemeanor Trials: Misdemeanor cases require much less time and complexity. They can be tried by lower courts, and most of them settle without a full trial through plea bargains or pre-trial settlements. Misdemeanor trials may not always involve a jury since they are often tried by the judge alone in many jurisdictions. The penalties for misdemeanors are also not that complicated, and sentences are lenient.
- Long-term Consequences
A Felony Conviction is nothing to ignore as it can have long-term effects. These long-term effects can even last up to one adult year.
Consequences of Felony: In the case of a Felony, immediate imprisonment and fines are possible, and it can ruin the criminal record of the criminal. It can further lead to permanent criminal records affecting employment, housing applications, and even voting rights. In some states, convicted felons are denied the right to vote. Other issues the felons may want help with could be professional licenses, travel restrictions, and social stigma.
Misdemeanor Sentencing: A misdemeanor charge is not as serious as a felony, but there are still some consequences to being convicted to this degree that will impact your future.
Misdemeanors carry criminal records, prohibiting one from obtaining good jobs, but these are considerably less debilitating than felony records. Certain misdemeanants may also apply for expungement – a legal process of clearing a criminal record – after a while, in which they can easily move ahead.
- Examples of Felonies and Misdemeanors.
Perhaps more to the point, however, the distinction between the two comes into sharper relief when specific examples of each are defined:
Felonies: murder, armed robbery, sexual assault, grand theft, drug trafficking, fraud involving enormous amounts of money.
Misdemeanors include petty theft, vandalism, simple assault, public intoxication, minor possession of drugs, and some DUI offenses.
Conclusion
The main differences between felonies and misdemeanors are in their degree of severity, punishment, and after-effects.
Crimes usually mean serious ones, accompanied by severe punishments, longer imprisonment, high fines, and longer social consequences. Misdemeanors, by nature, denote less serious crimes and usually attract lighter sentences of short imprisonments or probations. Whichever one faces a felony or a misdemeanor, there arises a need to seek attorney advice since both have enormous penalties. Take better knowledge from the renowned guidance of a criminal lawyer and law firm.
