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| Is a crime worse if a child sees it? |
| By hamptonroads.com |
| Published: 08/24/2009 |
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If Matthew R. Nash is convicted of this summer's Virginia Beach carjacking, he could get additional prison time for the mere fact that a toddler in the back seat became a witness to the event. Some judges have begun tacking on additional months or years of prison time when a crime occurs in the presence of a child, even though there's nothing in sentencing guidelines that requires it. The state is now trying to figure out how often crimes occur in front of children in anticipation of possible legislation to require additional incarceration if children witness crimes. For the study, the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission asked commonwealth's attorneys to supply data on crimes committed in the presence of children, but it has been slow going. Only 11 jurisdictions reported cases through the first six months of the year, which has skewed the current data. Suffolk reported 17 cases, more than any other jurisdiction that has submitted information so far. Bigger cities such as Virginia Beach and Norfolk have yet to send any data, nor have any other Hampton Roads jurisdictions. The next highest jurisdiction was Martinsville, with 11 cases. Most other localities reported only one, two or three. Commission Director Rick Kern said the study is still in its infancy and has no deadline. "I'm told by some commonwealth's attorneys that they're already overworked and that tracking the data is too much effort," Kern said. But he said it's a fairly simple process. He has set up a page on the commission's Web site that prosecutors can use to record the offender's name, date of birth, court of conviction and the sentencing date. Commission staff will then pull each file to determine whether the defendant received an enhanced sentence. Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant said his office is collecting the data and will eventually input it. Read More. |
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