How to Say a Sentence

At a recent conference, a judge confessed to me that he and his fellow judges drive the clerks crazy because they all pronounce judgment differently. They use different words to order the same things. That’s fine to a point—this isn’t Hogwarts, and a sentence is not a magic spell. (If it were, and you wanted to punish somebody by, say, placing them in a full body-bind, obviously you’d just say petrificus totalus and that would be that.) For us Muggles here in North Carolina, I thought it might be useful to offer some standard language that a judge might use to order the most common types of sentences. These are just suggestions, drawn from the General Statutes and the language used on the boilerplate judgment forms. Crime of Conviction To state the crime(s) being sentenced: “The defendant [pled guilty to/was found guilty of/pled no contest to] [state conviction offense(s)].” If multiple offenses are to be consolidated for judgment: “The Court orders that those convictions are consolidated for judgment and that the defendant will be sentenced as follows.” (Note: It might be helpful for the judge to identify which of the defendant’s convictions is the “most serious offense,” and therefore the lead conviction under G.S. 15A-1340.15(b). Sometimes it will not be obvious, and it can make a difference in the ultimate sentence, as described here.) Prior Record Level/Prior Conviction Level To state the defendant’s felony prior record level: “The Court has determined that the defendant has ___ prior record point(s) and is [...]