Articles Posted in punishment enhancments

 In Texas,  a person’s  previous criminal convictions may come back to haunt the present.  If you are facing a criminal charge in Texas, you must carefully consider the number and type of any previous criminal convictions.  In some situations, a previous conviction or convictions may be used to “enhance” or raise the punishment level in the charge you are now facing.

Your previous convictions may have no impact, a minor impact or in some cases a major impact with lengthy mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment.  So, how does the law work?

1st degree felony charges:  If you face a first degree felony, one prior non state jail felony conviction raises your statutory range from 5-99 or life to 15-99 years or life.  Two prior sequential non state jail felony conviction raise the minimum punishment to an eye popping 25 years.