ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 18, 1996 TAG: 9601180099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
State officials said they could not explain why judges deviate more in rape cases, but emphasized that the guidelines are voluntary.
In issuing the report, the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission cautioned that it took into account fewer than 20 percent of the serious, violent offense crimes handled statewide because of processing timetables.
For many felony offenses, it can take eight or more months for the case to work its way through the system. Of the 23,000 cases handled by circuit courts in 1994, only 4,352 were included in the commission's report.
There are 31 circuits and 143 circuit judges in Virginia.
The guidelines, established after Gov. George Allen persuaded the General Assembly to abolish parole and mandate that convicted felons serve at least 85 percent of their sentences, have been in effect since Jan. 1, 1995.
The study covers the period from Jan. 1 through Nov. 15.
The guidelines, which generally call for stiffer sentences under Allen's ``truth in sentencing'' objective, were made voluntary so the existing minimum and maximum sentences could remain on the books.
In the past, because felons often served as little as one-sixth of a sentence, judges often compensated by imposing stiffer penalties, said Richard Kern, the commission director.
``When parole was abolished and we made this conversion to truth in sentencing, there was concern whether the judiciary could make that shift to this new sentencing structure,'' he said.
But Kern cautioned that ``the caveat is that [the report is] based on 4,352 cases. That's, in the relative scheme of things, a very small number of cases that we will eventually be seeing on an annual basis.''
``We're only now beginning to see a typical month where more offenders are being sentenced under the new system than under the old parole system,'' Kern said.
Commission member Richard Cullen said a 75 percent compliance rate in the first year of the guidelines was a success.
``I'm just real relieved and gratified that it's working,'' he said. ``We know now it works, and it's working very well.''
The highest compliance rate, 88 percent, was in the circuit covering Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties. The lowest, 56 percent, was in the circuit for Giles, Buchanan, Russell, and Dickenson counties.
``Both high and low compliance circuits were found in close geographic proximity,'' said the report, which noted there appeared to be no geographic correlation to compliance.
The report said the differences could be due to atypical cases or the availability of sentencing options other than prison.
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