Concurrent vs. Consecutive Sentencing
A convicted Defendant or a Defendant who has pleaded guilty and is being sentenced under multiple charges can have the sentences be served concurrently or consecutively.
When the sentences are served concurrently, the Defendant will get credit on all his sentences at the same time.
For example, if he or she was convicted of a crime with a penalty of five years in prison, plus another crime with a penalty of two years, the Defendant will only serve a total of five years in prison because those years were served at the same time.
If a Defendant is sentenced to have multiple charges served consecutively, the Defendant will not get credit for the charge that is to be served consecutively until the other charges have been served.
Consider the previous example again: if the Defendent was convicted of a crime with a penalty of five years and another for two, he or she would serve a total of seven years in prison because those years must be served back-to-back instead of at the same time.
How to Get Charges Running Concurrently
Under Rule 26.12(c) of the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure, the original county circuit court may modify the original sentencing order by issuing a nunc pro tunc order that orders a Defendant’s state sentences to be run concurrent. Nunc pro tunc is a latin phrase meaning “now for then.”
This order will retroactively resentence the Defendant to concurrent sentences. In other words, if the Defendant was originally sentenced to serve his or her charges consecutively, this order will change his sentence to run concurrently. In many cases, this drastically reduces the amount of time he or she would have to serve until released by the Alabama Department of Corrections or before parole is granted by the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles.
An experienced defense lawyer can help you pursue this kind of post-conviction relief and seek a modification to your original sentencing.
Seeking a Concurrent Sentence? Contact Revill Law Firm Today for Skilled Representation.
If you or a loved one has been sentenced to serve consecutive sentences, contact the Revill Law Firm to represent you in getting those sentences to be served concurrently. Our firm has years of experience that provides us with the knowledge and expertise needed to represent you or your loved ones in a motion to run concurrent.