Mandatory Sentencing

Phoenix Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Arizona's use of mandatory minimum sentencing since 1978 for all repeat felony offenders, and since then for persons convicted even for the first time of many different offenses, has aroused considerable controversy around the state. Between 1980 and 2000, Arizona's population nearly doubled, but our state prison population increased by 600 percent in the same period. Despite the clear evidence that mandatory minimum sentencing provides no useful solution to problems of crime and public safety, there is no indication that the situation will change significantly any time soon.

Contact the Arizona criminal defense attorneys at the Weingart Law Firm in Tempe if you are facing charges that would expose you to a mandatory prison term upon conviction. Among our criminal defense clients, there are essentially two ways to face the prospect of a mandatory minimum: first, to be charged with a dangerous crime as defined under state law; or second, to have a previous felony conviction on your record, no matter what the disposition or the circumstances of that case might have been.

Our experienced criminal trial lawyers can defend you against such dangerous offense charges as manslaughter, kidnapping, or vehicular homicide through vigorous investigation of the facts of the case and putting the prosecution to its strict proof of every element of the offense charged. More frequently, we need to attack the prior conviction alleged when the basis of the mandatory minimum sentence is a previous felony offense. There are many situations in which a prior guilty plea to a nominal felony, especially on convictions from other states, should not be accepted as the basis for a mandatory prison term on a current Arizona charge due to procedural defects in the older offense.

The Arizona criminal defense attorneys of the Weingart Law Firm take your prior record as well as your current situation into full account in advising and representing you on any serious criminal charge. We're an AV-rated* law firm under Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating system, and Tempe criminal trial attorney Mark Weingart is a board certified criminal law specialist under standards established by the Arizona Board of Legal Specialization. To see what experienced and focused criminal defense lawyers can do to minimize your exposure to the harsh consequences of Arizona's mandatory sentence laws, contact us in Tempe.

* CV, BV, and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards, and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell Ratings evaluate two categories - legal ability and general ethical standards.