Static-2002 coding rules (2009) - Static-99

Category 5: General Criminality
sentencing occasion. Examples include what has been termed restorative justice,
reparations, family group conferencing, community sentencing circles (see page
31). In England, an official caution counts as a sentencing occasion.
Offenders may go to court and receive more than one sentence for a single crime
spree. In this case, the convictions related to the same crime spree count as one
sentencing occasion. For two sentencing occasions to be considered distinct, the
offender must have committed a crime and been sanctioned for it prior to
committing the second crime (and being sanctioned for it). When the offender is
convicted for a crime that was committed prior to his previous conviction, the new
conviction is considered pseudo-recidivism and is not counted separately.
It is not uncommon for offenders to be convicted on one date and be sentenced
at a later date. In this case, the earliest date of conviction for the offences in the
sentencing date cluster (index or prior) count as the date of the sentencing
occasion. In such cases, crimes committed between the conviction date and the
sentencing date may count as a separate sentencing occasion in Static-2002
scoring (see pages 25-26).
Arrests, charges, and bail violations do not count. Consider an offender who is
arrested for an offence, then released on bail and reoffends. He is subsequently
convicted of the two offences on a single sentencing date. In this case, count
only one sentencing occasion.
Do not count institutional rule violations that do not result in convictions.
Convictions that are subsequently overturned on appeal or result in acquittal do
not count as the index sex offence or as prior sentencing occasions. Simple
questioning by police not leading to a conviction is insufficient to be a sentencing
occasion. The number of charges/convictions does not matter, only the number
of sentencing occasions.
The offences must be of a minimum level of seriousness. The offences need not
result in a serious sanction (the offender may have instead been fined), but the
offence must be serious enough to have permitted a sentence of community
supervision or custody/incarceration (as a juvenile or adult). Driving offences
generally do not count, unless they are associated with serious penalties, such
as driving while intoxicated or reckless driving causing death or injury. Do not
count very minor offences for which it would be impossible to go to jail or to
receive a community sentence (e.g., drinking under age, speeding). In Canada,
all criminal code offences would be deemed serious enough to count; in contrast,
most municipal by-laws would be of insufficient seriousness to count (e.g.,
parking, zoning infractions, keeping animals in the city). Graduated penalty
offences (see section in "Special Coding Issues" below) are counted if it is at all
possible to receive a custodial sentence, even if not on the first offence.
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