Guidelines Research Proposals

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Felony Child Abuse and Neglect Focus: Convictions under § 18.2-371.1(A) between

FY03 and FY07

• Any parent, guardian or other person responsible for the care of a child under the age of 18 who by willful act or omission or refusal to provide any necessary care for the child's health causes or permits serious injury to the life or health of such child.

– For the purposes of this subsection, serious injury includes but is not limited to:

– (i) disfigurement

– (ii) a fracture

– (iii) a severe burn or laceration

– (iv) mutilation

– (v) maiming

– (vi) forced ingestion of dangerous substances

– (vii) life-threatening internal injuries

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Background The Commission received 262 guidelines forms with

felony child abuse as the most serious offense between FY03 and FY07

Purpose of Study: Increase compliance with sentencing guidelines in felony child abuse cases

50.4%

13.0%

36.6%

SentencedWithinGuidelinesMitigation

Aggravation

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Data Sources Sentencing Guidelines Database

• Provides sentencing information from the guidelines forms, including the offender’s prior record, the nature of the offense(s), and judicial departure reasons, if applicable

Pre/Post-Sentence Investigation (PSI) Database• Provides detailed information regarding

offenders and corresponding offenses – Includes the offender’s social history, victim

characteristics, and the degree of victim injury – A detailed offense narrative is available in

most cases, which allows for supplemental data collection

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Supplemental Data Collection

Offense narratives are available for most cases in the PSI data

• The narratives allow us to collect more detailed information regarding the offense and, in particular, the nature of the victim’s injuries

– Since 33% of the judges who exceeded the guidelines recommendation cited victim injury as a departure reason, several measures of victim injury were developed for use in the supplemental data collection instrument

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Proposed Supplemental Data Collection Instrument

Age[i] ______ (99 Unknown)

Gender

0 Female 1 Male

Number of Siblings _____ (99 Unknown)

Offender Relationship to Victim

1.Parent2.Sibling3.Other Relative4.Child Daycare Staff 5.Teacher/School Administrator

6.Babysitter7.Other Caretaker[ii] 8.Unmarried Partner of Parent/Custodian9.Other99 Unknown

Offender Lives with the Victim

0 No 1 Yes 9 Unknown

Behavior of this Defendant

0 Neglect[iii] 1 Abuse[iv] 2 Both

Offense Intended as Punishment for Misbehavior

0 No 1 Yes 9 Unknown

[i] Age at the time of the offense – if series of offenses, age at time of 1st offense

[ii] Includes foster parents, residential facility staff, legal guardian, etc.

[iii] Failure to act – i.e. not paying attention, not seeking medical attention

[iv] Act causes injury – i.e. striking the victim, burning the victim, etc.

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Emotional Injury[i]

0 No 1 Yes

Most Serious Injury (Current Offense)

1.None2.Death3.Resuscitation4.Serious Physical/Permanent Impairment[ii]

5.Physical[iii]

6.Minor Physical[iv]

7.Threatened Only[v]

8.Emotional Only99 Unknown

Type of Injury (Circle all that apply)

1.Not Applicable/No Injury2.Bruise/Superficial Mark3.Burn4.Cut/Laceration

5.Internal Bleeding or Bruising6.Fracture/Broken Bone7.Shaken Baby Syndrome8.Other ______9.Unknown

Number of Injuries _________

[i] Mental health care counseling by counselor, therapist, etc.

[ii] Life threatening injury or injury involved permanent impairment (permanent brain damage, loss of limb or organ, etc.)

[iii] Non-life threatening injury requiring hospitalization but not extensive or irreparable physical damage (i.e. broken bones, severe burns or lacerations, etc.)

[iv] Physical injuries not requiring hospitalization (i.e. bruises, minor cuts)

[v] Fear of impending danger – from victim’s perspective

Proposed Supplemental Data Collection Instrument Cont.

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Offender Sought Medical Attention for Victim[i]

0 No 1 Yes

Alcohol/Drug Use at Time of Offense

0 None 1 Alc. 2 Drug 3 Both 9 Unk.

Prior Abuse of Victim #1 by Offender

0 No 1 Yes

Duration of Current Offense(s)

1.Single incident/assault2.Multiple incidents in 1 week3.Multiple incidents in 1 month4.Multiple incidents in 1 year5.Multiple incidents > 1 year

Weapon Displayed/Used

1.No Weapon2.Blunt Instrument3.Water4.Other _________ 9 Unknown

[i] Called an ambulance, took victim to hospital, etc.

Proposed Supplemental Data Collection Instrument Cont.

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Additional Variables of Interest Offender Factors

• History of violence

– Prior person offenses

• Prior convictions for:

– Family offenses

– Felony child abuse

– Domestic assault

Offense Factors• Number of co-defendants• If other offenses were committed in

conjunction with the child abuse/neglect

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Work Plan

Commission staff would conduct data retrieval and analysis during the summer

Results of the analysis would be presented at the September 2008 meeting

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Felony Vandalism

Focus: Convictions under § 18.2-137(B)(ii) between FY03 and FY07

• Vandalism of property, memorial or monument with a value of $1,000 or more

Purpose of Study: Explore possibility of adding felony vandalism to the miscellaneous sentencing guidelines worksheet

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Background Felony vandalism cases comprise the largest

portion of convictions not covered by the guidelines

The staff of the Commission have attempted to incorporate this offense into the miscellaneous guidelines in the past but have been unsuccessful

The Commission has obtained access to an additional data source to supplement the cases contained in the Pre/Post-Sentence Investigation (PSI) Database

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Data Sources

Pre/Post-Sentence Investigation (PSI) Database

• Provides detailed information regarding offenders and corresponding offenses

• Is an incomplete representation of felony cases processed through Virginia’s circuit courts

– PSI reports are not generated for some felony circuit court cases, particularly if the offender is not sentenced to a prison term or supervised probation

– A lag in reporting exists

• PSI data show 666 felony vandalism convictions between FY03 and FY07. Of these, felony vandalism was the primary offense in 281 cases.

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Court Automated Information System (CAIS)

• System used by most of the circuit courts to track cases

– Contains information on felony vandalism cases that are not in the PSI database

– Includes basic case information, including offender demographics, the type of offense(s), and the type/length of sentence

• According to preliminary analysis, there were 223 additional cases with felony vandalism as the primary offense at conviction between FY03 and FY07

Data Sources Cont.

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Supplemental Data

More detailed information for the cases in the CAIS data would be collected from various sources:

• Virginia State Police (Prior record)

• Sentencing guidelines and PSI data

– Cases for the same offender that were resolved around the same time may provide additional information regarding the offender

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Factors included on the miscellaneous worksheet

• Counts of primary offense

• Additional offenses

• Prior record

• Legally restrained at the time of the offense

Additional factors

• Value of property

– Assessed through amount of restitution ordered

Variables of Interest

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Work Plan

Commission staff would conduct data analysis during the summer

Results of the analysis would be presented at the September 2008 meeting