U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1996: State Court Processing Statistics October 1999 NCJ 176981 This report is one in a series. More recent editions may be available. To view a list of all in the series go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#fdluc Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D. Director Brian A. Reaves and Timothy C. Hart, BJS statisticians, prepared this report. Tom Hester and Yvonne Boston supervised final production for printing, assisted by Jayne Robinson. The data were collected and processed by the Pretrial Services Resource Center under the supervision of Jolanta Juszkiewicz. Carma Hogue of the Economic Statistical Methods and Procedures Division, Bureau of the Census, assisted with sample design. Data presented in this report may be obtained from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan, 1-800-999-0960. ----------- Contents ----------- Highlights State Court Processing Statistics Arrest charges Demographic characteristics Criminal history Criminal justice status at time of arrest Prior arrests Prior convictions Pretrial release and detention Rates of release and detention Bail amounts Time from arrest to release Criminal history and probability of release Conduct of released defendants Adjudication Time from arrest to adjudication Adjudication outcome Case processing statistics Sentencing Time from conviction to sentencing Type and length of sentence Prior record and felony sentencing Methodology Appendix ------------ Highlights ------------ State Court Processing Statistics Every 2 years, as part of its State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) program, the Bureau of Justice Statistics tracks a sample of felony cases filed during the month of May in 40 of the Nation's 75 largest counties. The most recent SCPS study analyzed cases filed during May 1996. Trends in processing of felony defendants, 1990-96 Since 1990, the proportion of defendants charged with a violent offense has remained at about one-fourth. From 1992 to 1996, the proportion of drug defendants increased from 3 in 10 to about 3 in 8. In each year, approximately 1 in 3 defendants have been charged with a property crime and 1 in 12 with a public-order offense. In 1996, the percentage of defendants age 40 or older was 18%, an increase from the 1994 level of 14%, and nearly twice the 10% found in the 1990 study. At the same time, the percentage of defendants under age 25 in 1996 was lower than in previous years. Defendant demographics have been relatively consistent in terms of race and gender since 1990. The percentage of female defendants has been near 15% in all years. Non-Hispanic blacks have accounted for about half of defendants each year while non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics have comprised about a fourth each. Since 1990, roughly 3 in 8 defendants have had an active criminal justice status at the time of arrest in each of the SCPS studies. The percentage of defendants with a felony arrest record was higher in 1996 (60%) than in previous years when it averaged about 55%. The proportion of defendants with a felony conviction record has also increased somewhat -- from 36% in 1990 to 40% in 1996. Since 1990, the proportion of felony defendants released prior to case disposition has been fairly consistent, ranging from 62% to 65%. Likewise, the proportion of released defendants charged with misconduct such as failure to appear in court or rearrest has remained at just under one-third. Failure-to-appear rates have held steady at just under one-fourth. After reaching a high of 61% in the 1994 study, the felony conviction rate for 1996 decreased to 55%. This rate was similar to that found in 1992, but higher than the 50% felony conviction rate in the 1990 study. The percentage of defendants convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor was 70% in 1996, similar to the conviction rates for 1994 (72%) and 1990 (68%), but higher than the 64% of defendants convicted in the 1990 SCPS study. For defendants convicted of a felony, sentences were less likely to involve incarceration in 1994 (68%) and 1996 (69%) than in 1990 (75%) or 1992 (74%). This was primarily because of a drop in the percentage of defendants sentenced to prison, and an increase in the use of probation as the most severe sentence. In all years, about a third of felony convictions resulted in a jail sentence. Felony defendants in large urban counties, 1996 Arrest charges An estimated 54,579 felony cases were filed in the State courts of the Nation's 75 largest counties during May 1996. A fourth of the defendants in these cases were charged with a violent offense, usually assault (11.4%) or robbery (7.1%). A small percentage of defendants were charged with murder (0.9%) or rape (1.5%). About 2 in 3 defendants were charged with either a drug (37%) or property (31%) offense. Half of drug defendants, 18.5% of defendants overall, were charged with drug trafficking. A majority of property defendants were charged with theft (12.3% of all defendants) or burglary (8.1%). Eight percent of all defendants were charged with a public-order offense. Often these charges were weapons-related (2.8% of all defendants) or driving-related (2.7%). Demographic characteristics Eighty-four percent of defendants were male, with the largest percentages among those charged with rape (100%), murder (96%), a weapons offense (95%), or a driving-related offense (95%). Women accounted for about a fourth of the defendants charged with a property offense other than burglary. Blacks comprised about two-thirds of the defendants charged with robbery or a weapons offense. Whites accounted for about two-thirds of those charged with a driving-related felony. About half of defendants were under age 30. Nineteen percent were under age 21, including 32% of those charged with murder, and 38% of those charged with robbery. Four percent of defendants were under age 18, including 15% of robbery defendants and 10% of murder defendants. Criminal history At the time of arrest, more than a third of defendants had an active criminal justice status such as probation (16%), release pending disposition of a prior case (13%), or parole (6%). Robbery defendants (43%) were the most likely to have a criminal justice status. Nearly three-fourths of all defendants had been arrested previously (72%), with 43% having at least five prior arrest charges. Sixty percent of defendants had a felony arrest record. An estimated 40% of defendants had at least one prior conviction for a felony. Eighteen percent had a prior conviction for a violent felony, including about a fourth of murder, weapons, and robbery defendants. Pretrial release and detention Thirty-seven percent of all defendants were detained until the court disposed of their case, including 6% who were denied bail. A majority of defendants charged with murder (84%), robbery (61%), or burglary (53%) were detained. Sixty-one percent of murder defendants were denied bail. Fifty-three percent of the defendants with an active criminal justice status were detained until case disposition, compared to 27% of those without such a status. Defendants on parole (73%) were the most likely to be detained, followed by those on probation (58%). Released defendants were most likely to be released on personal recognizance (38% of all releases). The next most common type of pretrial release was surety bond (28%), followed by deposit bond (11%) and conditional release (9%). Nearly a third (31%) of released defendants committed one or more types of pretrial misconduct while in a release status. Twenty-two percent failed to appear in court as scheduled, and 16% were rearrested for a new offense. Adjudication About a fourth of all defendants had their case adjudicated within 1 month of arrest, and about half within 3 months. At the end of the 1-year study period, 86% of all cases had been adjudicated. Seventy percent of the cases adjudicated within 1 year resulted in a conviction. Conviction rates were highest for defendants charged with a driving-related offense (80%) or drug trafficking (78%) and lowest for defendants charged with assault (53%). Fifty-five percent of all defendants were convicted of a felony, and 15% of a misdemeanor. Felony conviction rates were highest for defendants originally charged with drug trafficking (68%), murder (62%), burglary (62%), a driving-related offense (61%), or a weapons offense (59%). Assault defendants (33%) had the lowest felony conviction rate. Ninety-four percent of convictions occurring during the 1-year study period were obtained through a guilty plea. Nearly 4 in 5 guilty pleas were to a felony. About half of murder convictions resulted from guilty pleas and about half from trial verdicts. Overall, 77% of trials resulted in a guilty verdict, including 86% of murder trials. Sentencing A majority (66%) of convicted defendants were sentenced within 1 day of adjudication. About two-thirds of all sentences were either to prison (30%) or jail (37%). Two-thirds of all jail sentences included a probation term. Nearly all convicted defendants who did not receive an incarceration sentence were placed on probation. Thirty-five percent of the defendants convicted of a felony were sentenced to prison, including all of those convicted of murder. A majority of robbery (71%) and rape (56%) convictions resulted in prison sentences. More than half of those with multiple prior felony convictions (58%) were sentenced to prison following a felony conviction in the current case, compared to about a fifth of those with no prior felony convictions (21%). Excluding life sentences, the mean prison sentence imposed on defendants convicted of a violent felony was 8 years, and the median was 5 years. For those convicted of a nonviolent offense, the mean was 4 years and the median was 3 years. Murder (30 years) and rape (8 years) convictions carried the longest median prison sentences. About a fourth of convicted murderers received a life sentence. State Court Processing Statistics Since 1988, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has sponsored a biennial data collection on the processing of felony defendants in the State courts of the Nation's 75 most populous counties. Previously known as the National Pretrial Reporting Program, this data collection series was renamed the State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) program to better reflect the wide range of data elements collected. The SCPS program collects data on the demographic characteristics, criminal history, pretrial processing, adjudication, and sentencing of felony defendants. The SCPS data do not include Federal defendants. The reader should refer to the annual BJS Compendium of Federal Justice Statistics for information on the processing of Federal defendants. The 1996 SCPS collected data for 15,474 felony cases filed during May 1996 in 40 large counties. These cases, which were tracked for up to 1 year, were part of a 2-stage sample that was representative of the estimated 54,579 felony cases filed in the Nation's 75 most populous counties during that month. In 1996, the 75 largest counties accounted for 37% of the U.S. population. According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports program for 1996, these jurisdictions accounted for 50% of all reported serious violent crimes in the United States, including 63% of all robberies. They accounted for 40% of all reported serious property crimes. According to the BJS National Judicial Reporting Program, 43% of all felony convictions in 1996 occurred in the 75 largest counties. For national estimates pertaining to felony convictions, see the BJS report Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1996. Arrest charges About a fourth of the defendants charged with a felony in the 75 largest counties during May 1996 had been arrested for a violent offense (24.7%) (table 1). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 1. Felony defendants, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Felony defendants in the Most serious 75 largest counties arrest charge Number Percent All offenses 54335 100.0% Violent offenses 13434 24.7% Murder 465 0.9 Rape 788 1.5 Robbery 3880 7.1 Assault 6184 11.4 Other violent 2117 3.9 Property offenses 16710 30.8% Burglary 4407 8.1 Theft 6706 12.3 Other property 5597 10.3 Drug offenses 19986 36.8% Trafficking 10075 18.5 Other drug 9912 18.2 Public-order offenses 4205 7.7% Weapons 1524 2.8 Driving-related 1484 2.7 Other public-order 1197 2.2 Note: Data for the specific arrest charge were available Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Nearly half of those charged with a violent felony, 11.4% of defendants overall, faced charges for assault, and almost a third, 7.1% of defendants overall, were charged with robbery. Murder defendants comprised about 3% of the defendants charged with a violent felony, and about 1% of all felony defendants. Rape defendants represented nearly 6% of the defendants charged with a violent felony, 1.5% of all felony defendants (See Methodology for the specific crimes included in each offense category.) For more than a third of all defendants, the most serious arrest charge was a drug offense (36.8%). About half of drug defendants were charged with drug trafficking. Overall, defendants were more likely to be charged with drug trafficking (18.5%) or other drug offenses (18.2%) than any other type of offense (figure 1. The most frequently charged offenses of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties, 1996). Nearly a third of all felony defendants were charged with a property offense (30.8%). About 2 in 5 property defendants, 12.3% of defendants overall, were charged with theft, and just over a fourth, 8.1% overall, were charged with burglary. Defendants charged with a public-order offense comprised 7.7% of all defendants. About two-thirds of public-order defendants faced a weapons or driving-related charge. The percentage of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties that faced a drug-related charge increased from 1994 to 1996 as it did from 1992 to 1994. The proportion charged with a violent or public-order felony was about the same in 1996 as in 1990, 1992, or 1994. The percentage of defendants charged with a property offense in 1996 was similar to that for 1994, but less than in 1992 (Figure 2. Most serious arrest charge of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996). Slightly more than half of all felony defendants (54%) faced at least one additional charge and 39% were charged with at least one additional felony (table 2). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 2. Level of second most serious charge of felony defendants, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Most serious additional charge Most serious Number of No other Misde- arrest charge defendants Total charges Total Felony meanor All offenses 54323 100% 46% 54% 39% 16% Violent offenses 13430 100 41 59 43 16 Murder 465 100 46 54 53 1 Rape 788 100 36 64 56 9 Robbery 3876 100 37 63 52 11 Assault 6184 100 41 59 38 21 Other violent 2117 100 45 55 35 20 Property offense 16702 100 50 50 37 13 Burglary 4407 100 39 61 46 14 Theft 6702 100 55 45 35 10 Other property 5593 100 53 47 32 14 Drug offenses 19986 100 44 56 40 16 Trafficking 10075 100 35 65 57 8 Other drug 9912 100 54 46 23 23 Public-order offenses 4205 100 48 52 26 26 Weapons 1524 100 47 53 29 24 Driving-related 1484 100 44 56 29 27 Other public-order 1197 100 56 44 18 26 Note: Data for the most serious arrest charge and the next most serious arrest charge were available for 99.5% of all cases. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Nearly two-thirds of defendants whose most serious arrest charge was drug trafficking (65%), rape (64%), or robbery (63%) were charged with one or more additional offenses. Defendants whose most serious arrest charge was drug trafficking (57%) or rape (56%) were the most likely to face at least 1 additional felony charge. Just over half of murder (53%) or robbery (52%) defendants also faced 1 or more additional felony charges. About a fourth of the defendants charged with a public-order offense (26%), or with a drug offense other than trafficking (23%) faced multiple felony charges. Demographic characteristics Overall, 84% of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties were male (table 3). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 3. Gender and race of felony defendants, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants Percent of felony defendants Most serious Number of in the 75 largest counties Number of in the 75 largest counties arrest charge defendants Total Male Female defendants Total Black White Other All offenses 54296 100% 84% 16% 48728 100% 58% 40% 2% Violent offenses 13427 100 88 12 12116 100 61 36 3 Murder 462 100 96 4 379 100 63 35 2 Rape 788 100 100 0 737 100 56 38 7 Robbery 3880 100 93 7 3426 100 69 28 3 Assault 6184 100 82 18 5673 100 61 36 3 Other violent 2114 100 87 13 1901 100 47 49 4 Property offenses 16694 100 79 21 15215 100 54 43 3 Burglary 4404 100 91 9 3948 100 52 45 3 Theft 6696 100 78 22 6140 100 55 42 3 Other property 5594 100 71 29 5127 100 55 43 2 Drug offenses 19969 100 84 16 17624 100 61 37 1 Trafficking 10063 100 85 15 8956 100 63 35 2 Other drug 9906 100 82 18 8668 100 59 40 1 Public-order offenses 4205 100 91 9 3773 100 47 51 2 Weapons 1524 100 95 5 1375 100 64 35 1 Driving-related 1484 100 95 5 1294 100 32 66 2 Other public-order 1197 100 81 19 1103 100 44 54 2 Note: Data on gender of defendants were available for 99.9% of all cases and data on race of defendants were available for 90% of all cases. Without consideration of Hispanic origin, Bureau of the Census data for 1996 indicate that the racial distribution of the population of the 75 largest counties was 75% white, 17% black, and 7% other races. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Men comprised the largest percentages among defendants charged with rape (100%), murder (96%), weapons (95%), driving-related offenses (95%), robbery (93%), or burglary (91%). Women accounted for 16% of defendants, including about a fourth of the defendants charged with property offenses other than burglary. Without consideration of Hispanic origin, which was reported poorly in some jurisdictions (see Methodology), 58% of defendants were black, 40% were white, and 2% other races. Blacks comprised the largest percentages among defendants charged with robbery (69%), weapons offenses (64%), murder (63%), drug trafficking (63%), and assault (61%). Whites accounted for two-thirds of the defendants facing driving-related charges (Figure 3. Race of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties, by most serious arrest charge, 1996). About a fourth of defendants were Hispanic (24%), including nearly a third of those charged with a driving-related offense (32%) or drug trafficking (30%) (table 4). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 4. Race and Hispanic origin of felony defendants, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Most serious Number of Black White Other Hispanic, arrest charge defendants Total non-Hispanic non-Hispanic non-Hispanic any race All offenses 42654 100% 50% 23% 3% 24% Violent offenses 10702 100 52 21 4 23 Murder 320 100 51 19 2 28 Rape 598 100 51 19 8 22 Robbery 3147 100 60 14 3 23 Assault 4878 100 53 20 3 24 Other violent 1759 100 39 37 4 20 Property offenses 12429 100 48 28 3 20 Burglary 3344 100 45 27 4 24 Theft 4947 100 49 27 4 19 Other property 4138 100 49 30 3 18 Drug offenses 16250 100 53 20 2 26 Trafficking 8193 100 54 14 2 30 Other drug 8058 100 51 25 1 22 Public-order offenses 3273 100 38 30 2 30 Weapons 1122 100 54 19 1 25 Driving-related 1197 100 24 42 2 32 Other public-order 953 100 36 29 3 33 Note: Data on both race and Hispanic origin of defendants were available for 79% of all cases. According to the Bureau of the Census data for 1996, the overall percentage of the population of the 75 largest counties was 61% white non-Hispanic, 15% black non-Hispanic, 7% other race non-Hispanic, and 17% Hispanics of any race. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Non-Hispanic whites also comprised about a fourth of defendants (23%), including two-fifths of those charged with a driving-related offense. Non-Hispanic blacks accounted for half of all defendants, including a majority of those charged with robbery (60%), drug trafficking (54%), or weapons offenses (54%). The average age of defendants at the time of arrest was 31 years (table 5). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 5. Age at arrest of felony defendants, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Most serious Number of Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Average age arrest charge defendants Total Under 18 18-20 21-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40 or older at arrest All offenses 54287 100% 4% 15% 15% 18% 17% 13% 18% 31 yrs. Violent offenses 13421 100 7 16 15 17 16 11 17 31 yrs. Murder 465 100 10 22 20 14 12 8 14 33 Rape 788 100 7 11 17 19 19 8 19 31 Robbery 3875 100 15 23 16 16 13 8 10 27 Assault 6181 100 4 14 14 17 17 14 20 32 Other violent 2112 100 4 8 15 16 19 13 25 34 Property offenses 16696 100 4 16 15 18 18 13 16 31 yrs. Burglary 4401 100 3 17 14 17 20 13 15 30 Theft 6704 100 4 18 14 17 17 14 16 30 Other property 5591 100 4 13 17 20 17 13 17 31 Drug offenses 19968 100 3 15 16 17 17 15 18 31 yrs. Trafficking 10075 100 3 17 17 17 15 14 17 31 Other drug 9893 100 3 12 14 17 18 16 19 32 Public-order offenses 4203 100 2 11 14 20 17 14 22 32 yrs. Weapons 1524 100 4 19 20 21 14 9 15 29 Driving-related 1481 100 0 4 9 20 23 16 27 34 Other public-order 1197 100 1 8 14 20 15 17 24 34 Note: Data on age of defendants were available for 99.5% of all cases. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- By specific offense, the average age ranged from 27 years for robbery defendants to 34 for those charged with a driving-related offense. Within each of the four major offense categories (violent, property, drug, and public-order), about half of the defendants were under age 30. Eighteen percent of defendants were age 40 or older, including 27% of those charged with a driving-related offense. Four percent of defendants were under age 18, including 15% of robbery and 10% of murder defendants. About half of robbery (53%) and murder (52%) defendants were under age 25, compared to a third of defendants overall (figure 4 Felony defendants under age 25 and age 21 in the 75 largest counties, by most serious arrest charge, 1996). Defendants charged with assault (32%) or driving-related offenses (14%) were the least likely to be under age 25. Robbery defendants (38%) were twice as likely as defendants overall (19%) to be under age 21. Murder defendants (32%) were also much more likely to be under age 21 than other defendants. Defendants charged with a driving-related offense (5%) were the least likely to be this young. Males formed a higher percentage of defendants under age 18 (93%) than of other age groups (table 6). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 6. Gender and race of felony defendants, by age at arrest, 1996 Percent of felony defendants Percent of felony defendants Number of in the 75 largest counties Number of in the 75 largest counties Age at arrest defendants Total Male Female defendants Total Black White Other All ages 54248 100% 84% 16% 48683 100% 58% 40% 2% Under 18 2250 100 93 7 2163 100 71 28 1 18-20 8146 100 90 10 7297 100 60 37 3 21-24 8316 100 86 14 7370 100 60 37 3 25-29 9496 100 81 19 8474 100 57 41 2 30-34 9209 100 79 21 8340 100 56 41 3 35-39 7291 100 81 19 6638 100 58 41 2 40 or older 9540 100 85 15 8400 100 53 45 2 Note: Data on defendant age and gender were available for 99.8% of all cases. Data on defendant age and race were available for 90% of all cases. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- More than two-thirds of the defendants under age 18 were black, compared to three-fifths or less in other age groups. Black males comprised the largest proportion of defendants in each age group (figure 5 Race and gender of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties, by age at arrest, 1996). This effect was most pronounced in the under 18 age category where black males (67%) accounted for more than twice the percentage accounted for by white males (26%). It was least pronounced in the over 40 age category, where black males (45%) accounted for a proportion of defendants much closer to that accounted for by white males (37%). Black females comprised a slightly higher percentage than white females in most of the age categories, but for no more than 13% of the defendants in any single age category. Criminal justice status at time of arrest Thirty-six percent of felony defendants had an active criminal justice status at the time of their arrest on the current felony charge (table 7). ----------------------------------------------------------- Table 7. Criminal justice status of felony defendants at time of arrest, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties with an active criminal justice status at the time of arrest Most serious Number of Pretrial In current arrest charge defendants Total Probation release Parole custody Other All offenses 48,057 36% 16% 13% 6% 1% -- Violent offenses 11,830 33% 14% 12% 5% 1% 1% Murder 379 37 9 18 7 3 0 Rape 697 30 14 8 5 2 0 Robbery 3,424 43 17 16 9 1 -- Assault 5,514 26 12 9 4 2 0 Other violent 1,816 33 18 11 3 1 0 Property offenses 14,888 35% 16% 12% 6% 1% -- Burglary 3,969 41 21 11 8 2 -- Theft 5,966 38 17 13 6 1 -- Other property 4,953 27 11 12 4 1 -- Drug offenses 17,789 38% 16% 14% 7% -- -- Trafficking 8,823 40 14 18 7 -- -- Other drug 8,966 36 18 10 7 -- -- Public-order offenses 3,550 39% 17% 13% 5% 3% -- Weapons 1,332 36 15 12 9 1 -- Driving-related 1,202 40 22 14 4 -- 1 Other public-order 1,016 41 14 14 3 10 0 Note: Data on criminal justice status at time of arrest were available for 88% of all cases. Nine percent of defendants with a criminal justice status had more than 1 type of status. For those cases, the status indicated is the most serious. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. --Less than 0.5% ----------------------------------------------------------- Among defendants charged with a violent offense, a third had a criminal justice status, ranging from more than two-fifths of robbery defendants (43%) to about a fourth of assault defendants (26%). Thirty-five percent of property defendants had a criminal justice status, including 41% of burglary defendants. Among drug defendants, 38% had a criminal justice status overall. Those charged with drug trafficking (40%) were slightly more likely to have a criminal justice status than those charged with other drug offenses (36%). Thirty-nine percent of public-order defendants had an active criminal justice status at the time of the current arrest. This included 36% of those charged with a weapons offense, 40% of those charged with a driving-related offense, and 41% of those charged with other public-order offenses. About 1 in 11 defendants with a criminal justice status had more than one type of status. When just the most serious criminal justice status is considered, 16% of defendants were on probation, 13% had been released pending disposition of a previous case, and 6% were on parole at the time of the current arrest. Allowing for defendants with multiple criminal justice statuses, 16% were on probation, 14% had been released on a prior case, and 6% were on parole. Defendants charged with robbery (8%) or a weapons offense (8%) were more than twice as likely as those charged with a driving-related offense (3%) or assault (3%) to have been on parole at the time of their arrest on the current charges. Five percent of murder and rape defendants were parolees at the time of arrest. Defendants charged with a driving-related offense (19%) or burglary (19%) were more likely than other defendants to have been on probation at the time of arrest. Those charged with murder (8%) were the least likely to have been on probation. Defendants charged with drug trafficking (19%), robbery (18%), or murder (17%) were the most likely to have been on release pending disposition of a prior case when they were arrested on the current felony charge. These defendants were nearly twice as likely as those charged with assault (10%) or rape (10%) to have had such a status at the time of the current arrest. Prior arrests Nearly three-fourths of all defendants had at least one prior felony or misdemeanor arrest (table 8). ----------------------------------------------------------- Table 8. Number of prior arrest charges of felony defendants, by most serious current arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Without With prior arrest Most serious Number of prior Number of prior arrest charges current arrest charge defendants Total arrest Total 1 2-4 5-9 10 or more All offenses 50,678 100% 28% 72% 10% 20% 17% 26% Violent offenses 12,484 100% 33% 67% 9% 18% 15% 24% Murder 385 100 29 71 10 23 15 23 Rape 721 100 45 55 9 19 10 18 Robbery 3,586 100 28 72 8 18 17 29 Assault 5,816 100 36 64 9 18 16 22 Other violent 1,977 100 31 69 13 18 14 24 Property offenses 15,758 100% 30% 70% 10% 18% 16% 26% Burglary 4,201 100 21 79 8 18 18 34 Theft 6,340 100 28 72 10 18 16 29 Other property 5,217 100 39 61 11 19 15 16 Drug offenses 18,736 100% 23% 77% 10% 21% 20% 27% Trafficking 9,411 100 24 76 9 21 19 28 Other drug 9,325 100 22 78 10 21 21 26 Public-order offenses 3,699 100% 27% 73% 9% 22% 18% 25% Weapons 1,386 100 27 73 11 22 17 24 Driving-related 1,204 100 21 79 7 26 21 26 Other public-order 1,109 100 32 68 11 17 15 24 Note: Data on prior arrests were available for 93% of all cases. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ----------------------------------------------------------- By general offense category, the percentage of defendants with a prior arrest ranged from 67% of those currently charged with a violent offense to 77% of those charged with a drug offense. Among defendants charged with a violent offense, those charged with robbery (72%) or murder (71%) were the most likely to have a prior arrest record, and those charged with rape (55%) the least likely. Among property defendants, 79% of those charged with burglary had been arrested previously, compared to 72% of theft defendants, and 61% of those charged with other property offenses. Among public-order defendants, about four-fifths of those charged with a driving-related felony (79%) had an arrest record. About three-fourths of weapons defendants (73%) had been arrested previously as had about two-thirds of those charged with other public-order offenses (68%). Among defendants with an arrest record, nearly all had been arrested more than once, and a majority had at least 5 prior arrest charges. Overall, 63% of defendants had two or more prior arrest charges, and 43% had five or more. Defendants charged with burglary (52%) were the most likely to have five or more prior arrest charges. Twenty-six percent of all defendants had 10 or more prior arrest charges. This included 34% of burglary defendants, 29% of robbery and theft defendants, and 28% of defendants charged with drug trafficking. About two-thirds of the defendants under the age of 18 had no previous arrests. This proportion dropped to 2 in 5 among defendants age 18 to 20, about a fourth among those in the 21-to-24 age group, and about a fifth among those age 25 to 49. About a third of those age 50 or older had no arrest record. About a fifth of the defendants age 18 to 20 had 5 or more prior arrests. This proportion rose to more than a third of defendants in the 21-to-24 age range, and about half in the 25-to-49 age range. In the latter age range, defendants were more than twice as likely to have five or more prior arrests as no prior arrests. Among defendants with an arrest record, about 5 in 6 had been arrested at least once for a felony (table 9). ------------------------------------------------------------ Table 9. Number of prior felony arrest charges of felony defendants, by most serious current arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Without prior felony arrest With prior felony arrest Most serious Number of Non-felony No prior Number of prior felony charges current arrest charge defendants Total Total arrests arrests Total 1 2-4 5-9 10 or more All offenses 50,933 100% 40% 12% 28% 60% 13% 22% 14% 11% Violent offenses 12,546 100% 46% 13% 33% 54% 12% 19% 13% 10% Murder 385 100 42 12 29 58 14 24 10 11 Rape 723 100 58 14 45 42 9 19 10 5 Robbery 3,609 100 38 10 28 62 11 22 17 12 Assault 5,848 100 48 12 36 52 13 18 12 9 Other violent 1,980 100 49 18 31 51 13 17 13 8 Property offenses 15,806 100% 42% 12% 30% 58% 13% 20% 13% 12% Burglary 4,201 100 32 11 21 68 13 20 18 17 Theft 6,366 100 40 12 28 60 13 20 14 13 Other property 5,240 100 52 13 39 48 12 19 9 7 Drug offenses 18,845 100% 35% 12% 23% 65% 13% 25% 16% 11% Trafficking 9,451 100 35 11 24 65 12 25 17 12 Other drug 9,394 100 35 13 22 65 15 24 15 10 Public-order offenses 3,736 100% 41% 15% 26% 59% 13% 24% 12% 9% Weapons 1,397 100 38 11 27 62 15 23 16 9 Driving-related 1,220 100 41 21 21 59 15 27 10 7 Other public-order 1,119 100 46 14 32 54 10 23 8 13 Note: Data on prior felony arrests were available for 94% of all cases. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ------------------------------------------------------------ Overall, three-fifths of defendants had a felony arrest record (60%). Nearly half had multiple prior felony arrest charges (47%), including 25% with five or more. Just over half of the defendants facing a current charge for a violent felony had been previously arrested for a felony, including 62% of robbery defendants and 58% of murder defendants. Twenty-nine percent of robbery defendants had 5 or more prior felony arrest charges, including 12% with 10 or more. Nearly three-fifths of property defendants (58%) had one or more prior felony arrests. Those charged with burglary (68%) were the most likely to have a felony arrest record. About a third of burglary defendants had at least 5 prior felony arrest charges, and a sixth had 10 or more. About two-thirds of drug defendants (65%) had at least 1 prior felony arrest. About a fourth had five or more prior felony arrest charges, including 29% of those whose most serious current charge was drug trafficking. About three-fifths of public-order defendants also had been previously arrested for a felony, and a fifth had five or more prior felony charges. A fourth of weapons defendants had at least five prior felony charges. Prior convictions Fifty-nine percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties were known to have at least one prior conviction for a misdemeanor or a felony (table 10). ------------------------------------------------------------ Table 10. Number of prior convictions of felony defendants, by most serious current arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Without With prior conviction Most serious Number of prior Number of prior convictions current arrest charge defendants Total conviction Total 1 2-4 5-9 10 or more All offenses 50,008 100% 41% 59% 14% 22% 13% 9% Violent offenses 12,312 100% 46% 54% 13% 21% 12% 8% Murder 382 100 48 52 17 18 7 9 Rape 704 100 54 46 15 17 9 5 Robbery 3,558 100 42 58 12 22 14 9 Assault 5,737 100 48 52 13 20 12 7 Other violent 1,930 100 44 56 14 20 13 8 Property offenses 15,599 100% 43% 57% 13% 21% 13% 10% Burglary 4,157 100 32 68 11 26 19 12 Theft 6,266 100 42 58 14 18 14 12 Other property 5,177 100 52 48 14 19 8 6 Drug offenses 18,439 100% 38% 62% 16% 24% 14% 9% Trafficking 9,320 100 38 62 15 24 12 10 Other drug 9,119 100 37 63 16 24 15 9 Public-order offenses 3,657 100% 38% 62% 15% 24% 15% 9% Weapons 1,390 100 39 61 18 23 12 6 Driving-related 1,178 100 31 69 12 28 18 11 Other public-order 1,090 100 42 58 13 20 14 10 Note: Data on number of prior convictions were available for 92% of all cases. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ------------------------------------------------------------ About three-fourths of those with a conviction record, accounting for 44% of defendants overall, had more than one prior conviction. Twenty-two percent of all defendants had five or more prior convictions. Among defendants charged with a violent offense, more than half (54%) had at least one prior conviction, with robbery defendants (58%) the most likely to have a conviction record, and rape defendants (46%) the least likely. Forty-five percent of robbery defendants had more than one prior conviction, and 23% had at least five. More than half of property defendants (57%) had been convicted previously, including about two-thirds of burglary defendants (68%). A majority of burglary defendants (57%) had multiple prior convictions, including 31% with five or more. About three-fifths of drug defendants (62%) had at least one prior con- viction. Nearly half had two or more prior convictions (47%), and about a fourth had five or more (23%). These percentages did not vary significantly by type of drug offense. Among public-order defendants, 62% had a conviction record, and 24% had five or more. Sixty-nine percent of defendants facing driving-related charges had at least one prior conviction of some type, and 57% had multiple prior convictions. About two-thirds of the defendants with a conviction record, 40% of defendants overall, had at least one prior conviction for a felony (table 11). ------------------------------------------------------------ Table 11. Number of prior felony convictions of felony defendants, by most serious current arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Without prior felony conviction With prior felony conviction Most serious Number of Nonfelony No prior Number of prior felony convictions current arrest charge defendants Total Total only convictions Total 1 2-4 5-9 10 or more All offenses 50,557 100% 60% 19% 41% 40% 16% 18% 4% 2% Violent offenses 12,468 100% 65% 19% 46% 35% 14% 15% 4% 2% Murder 389 100 64 16 48 36 15 14 3 4 Rape 714 100 71 18 54 29 14 13 2 -- Robbery 3,598 100 60 18 42 40 15 19 4 2 Assault 5,802 100 66 18 48 34 14 15 3 2 Other violent 1,965 100 69 24 44 31 12 12 4 2 Property offenses 15,716 100% 60% 17% 43% 40% 15% 17% 6% 2% Burglary 4,183 100 51 19 32 49 17 22 8 2 Theft 6,315 100 58 16 42 42 15 18 7 2 Other property 5,218 100 70 18 52 30 13 12 3 2 Drug offenses 18,651 100% 57% 19% 38% 43% 17% 20% 4% 2% Trafficking 9,396 100 57 19 38 43 17 19 4 2 Other drug 9,255 100 56 19 37 44 17 20 4 2 Public-order offenses 3,722 100% 58% 21% 38% 42% 18% 18% 3% 2% Weapons 1,401 100 54 14 39 46 21 20 3 3 Driving-related 1,215 100 62 31 31 38 16 18 1 3 Other public-order 1,106 100 60 18 42 40 17 16 5 2 Note: Data on number of prior felony convictions were available for 93% of all cases. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. --Less than 0.5%. ------------------------------------------------------------ About a third of defendants whose current charge was for a violent felony (35%) had previously been convicted of a felony. Among these defendants, the percentage with a prior felony conviction ranged from 40% among those charged with robbery to 29% of those charged with rape. About two-fifths of defendants whose most serious current arrest charge was for a drug (43%), public-order (42%), or property (40%) offense had been previously convicted of a felony. Among property defendants, those charged with burglary (49%) were the most likely to have a felony conviction record. Among public-order defendants, those facing weapons charges (46%) were the most likely to have a prior felony conviction. A majority of the defendants with a felony conviction record, 24% of defendants overall, had multiple prior felony convictions. Six percent of all defendants had five or more prior felony convictions. By specific offense, burglary (32%) and theft (27%) defendants were the most likely to have multiple prior felony convictions, while defendants charged with assault (20%) or rape (15%) were the least likely. Eighty-five percent of defendants under age 18 at the time of the current arrest had no prior adult convictions. Eleven percent had been previously convicted of at least one felony, while 4% had a prior conviction for at least one misdemeanor but no felonies. In the 18-to-20 age range, 59% of defendants had no prior convictions, while 26% had at least one prior felony conviction. A majority of the defendants age 21 or older had a conviction record, and defendants 25 or older were more likely to have a felony conviction record than no prior convictions at all. For about a third of the defendants with a prior felony conviction, 13% of defendants overall, their criminal history included at least one conviction for a violent felony (table 12). ------------------------------------------------------------- Table 12. Most serious prior conviction of felony defendants, by most serious current arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Without Most serious prior conviction Most serious Number of prior Felony Misde- current arrest charge defendants Total conviction Total Total Violent Nonviolent meanor All offenses 50,442 100% 41% 59% 40% 13% 28% 19% Violent offenses 12,419 100% 46% 54% 35% 16% 20% 19% Murder 385 100 48 52 36 17 19 16 Rape 710 100 54 46 29 14 16 17 Robbery 3,599 100 42 58 40 18 23 18 Assault 5,780 100 48 52 34 16 19 18 Other violent 1,944 100 44 56 31 14 18 24 Property offenses 15,720 100% 43% 57% 40% 11% 29% 18% Burglary 4,181 100 32 68 49 15 34 19 Theft 6,324 100 42 58 42 12 30 17 Other property 5,215 100 52 48 30 7 23 18 Drug offenses 18,583 100% 38% 62% 43% 11% 32% 19% Trafficking 9,390 100 38 62 43 11 32 19 Other drug 9,193 100 37 63 44 12 32 19 Public-order offenses 3,719 100% 38% 62% 42% 15% 27% 21% Weapons 1,408 100 39 61 46 18 28 15 Driving-related 1,205 100 31 69 39 7 31 30 Other public-order 1,105 100 42 58 40 18 22 18 Note: Data on most serious prior conviction were available for 93% of all cases. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ------------------------------------------------------------ About a sixth of the defendants currently charged with a violent offense had a prior conviction for a violent felony. By specific arrest charge, the percentage of defendants previously convicted of a violent felony ranged from 29% of murder defendants to 15% of defendants charged with a driving-related offense. The most serious prior conviction was a nonviolent felony for about 1 in 3 defendants charged with burglary (32%). This was also the case for more than a fourth of defendants charged with drug trafficking (29%), theft (28%), or a driving-related offense (28%). Defendants charged with a driving-related offense (28%) were about twice as likely as other defendants to have a conviction record that consisted only of misdemeanors. Rates of release and detention An estimated 63% of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties were released prior to the final disposition of their case (table 13). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 13. Felony defendants released before or detained until case disposition, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of defendants in the 75 largest counties Most serious Number of Released Detained arrest charge defendants Total before case disposition until case disposition All offenses 51,234 100% 63% 37% Violent offenses 12,589 100% 55% 45% Murder 412 100 16 84 Rape 750 100 51 49 Robbery 3,686 100 39 61 Assault 5,776 100 66 34 Other violent 1,965 100 63 37 Property offenses 15,592 100% 65% 35% Burglary 4,154 100 47 53 Theft 6,246 100 66 34 Other property 5,192 100 77 23 Drug offenses 19,050 100% 66% 34% Trafficking 9,643 100 62 38 Other drug 9,407 100 71 29 Public-order offenses 4,003 100% 71% 29% Weapons 1,482 100 69 31 Driving-related 1,420 100 78 22 Other public-order 1,101 100 66 34 Note: Data on detention/release outcome were available for 94% of all cases. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- By general offense category, defendants charged with a violent offense (55%) were less likely to be released than those whose most serious arrest charge was a public-order (71%), drug (66%), or property (65%) offense. Within the violent offense category, release rates varied greatly. Just 16% of murder defendants were released compared to 66% of those charged with assault. Fifty-one percent of rape defendants and 39% of robbery defendants were released before the court disposed of their case. Among defendants charged with a property offense, about half of those charged with burglary (47%) were released, compared to two-thirds of theft (66%) defendants and about three-fourths (77%) of those charged with other property offenses. Among drug defendants, those charged with drug trafficking (62%) were less likely to be released than those charged with other drug offenses (71%). Among public-order defendants, those charged with a driving-related offense (78%) were the most likely to be released. Among the 37% of defendants who were detained in jail until case disposition, about 5 in 6 had a bail amount set but did not post the money required to secure release. Detained murder defendants were the exception to this rule, as about three-fourths of them, 61% of all murder defendants overall, were ordered held without bail. Overall, 6% of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties were denied bail. A majority of the defendants released prior to case disposition, 34% of defendants overall, were released under nonfinancial conditions that did not require the posting of bail (see Methodology for definitions related to pretrial release) (table 14). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 14. Type of pretrial release or detention of felony defendants, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Released before case disposition Detained until case Financial release Nonfinancial release disposition Total Surety Deposit Full cash Property Total non- Recogni- Condi- Unse- Emergency Held Most serious arrest charge financial bond bond bond bond financial zance tional cured release on bail Denied bail All offenses 29% 18% 7% 2% 2% 34% 24% 6% 4% 1% 30% 6% Violent offenses 29% 19% 6% 2% 2% 26% 19% 5% 1% -- 35% 10% Murder 16 7 4 0 5 5 0 4 1 0 23 61 Rape 31 13 9 4 4 22 14 7 1 0 37 12 Robbery 18 11 4 1 2 25 21 3 1 -- 48 13 Assault 37 25 8 2 2 28 22 5 2 -- 29 5 Other violent 28 20 5 2 2 28 18 9 2 0 33 4 Property offenses 28% 17% 7% 2% 2% 36% 24% 7% 5% 1% 30% 5% Burglary 22 14 5 2 2 24 15 6 3 1 47 6 Theft 31 20 6 3 2 36 22 10 5 1 29 5 Other property 28 16 8 2 2 45 34 5 7 1 19 4 Drug offenses 28% 18% 7% 1% 2% 37% 25% 5% 6% 1% 29% 5% Trafficking 30 21 7 1 1 31 23 5 2 1 32 6 Other drug 26 15 7 2 2 42 27 5 9 1 25 4 Public-order offenses 31% 18% 9% 3% 1% 40% 29% 6% 5% -- 22% 7% Weapons 32 14 13 3 2 32 18 4 10 -- 26 5 Driving-related 30 20 5 3 2 41 31 7 2 0 16 5 Other public-order 21 14 6 1 -- 34 28 5 1 0 23 12 Note: Data on type of pretrial release or detention were available for 90% of all cases. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. --Less than 0.5%. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Release on personal recognizance, granted to 24% of all defendants and 38% of released defendants, was the type of release used most often. Other nonfinancial types of release included conditional release (6% of all defendants and 9% of released defendants), and release on unsecured bond (4% and 7%). Twenty-nine percent of defendants secured release through financial terms that involved the posting of a financial bond in the form of money or property. The most common type of financial release was surety bond (18% of all defendants and 29% of released defendants), which involves the services of a commercial bail bond agent. Other types of financial release included deposit bond (7% of all defendants and 11% of released defendants), full cash bond (2% and 3%), and property bond (2% and 3%). These bonds are posted directly with the court without the use of a bail bond agent. About 1% of defendants were released prior to case disposition as the result of an emergency release used to relieve jail crowding. Such releases did not involve the use of any of the types of release mentioned above. Bail amounts About 3 in 5 felony defendants had a bail amount set by the court, and were required to post all or part of that amount to secure release while their case was pending. The remainder were granted nonfinancial release (34%), ordered held without bail (6%), or were part of an emergency release (1%). About half of those with a bail amount had it set at $10,000 or more, including 25% who had it set at $25,000 or more (table 15). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 15. Bail amount set for felony defendants, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties with a bail amount of: Most serious Number of Under $5,000- $10,000- $25,000 arrest charge defendants Total $5,000 $9,999 $24,999 or more All offenses 28,527 100% 30% 19% 26% 25% Violent offenses 7,613 100% 18% 16% 26% 40% Murder 126 100 0 6 19 75 Rape 477 100 9 13 32 47 Robbery 2,265 100 12 9 22 57 Assault 3,539 100 24 22 27 27 Other violent 1,205 100 17 15 26 42 Property offenses 8,687 100% 38% 21% 24% 17% Burglary 2,787 100 24 21 28 27 Theft 3,533 100 43 20 23 14 Other property 2,367 100 48 22 20 10 Drug offenses 10,224 100% 31% 20% 28% 21% Trafficking 5,623 100 23 19 31 27 Other drug 4,601 100 41 22 24 13 Public-order offenses 2,004 100% 34% 21% 24% 21% Weapons 850 100 29 22 27 22 Driving-related 656 100 38 20 22 19 Other public-order 498 100 34 22 23 20 Note: Data on bail amount were available for 98% of all defendants for whom a bail amount was set. Table excludes defendants given nonfinancial release. Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Among defendants with a bail amount set, those charged with a violent offense (40%) were about twice as likely as other defendants to have it set at $25,000 or more. Three-fourths of murder defendants with a bail amount had it set at $25,000 or more, as did just over half of robbery defendants (57%) and nearly half of rape defendants (47%). Among property defendants with a bail amount set, those charged with burglary (27%) were about twice as likely to have bail set at $25,000 or more as other property defendants. Among drug defendants, those charged with drug trafficking (27%) were about twice as likely to have bail set at $25,000 or more as other drug defendants (13%). Overall, defendants who were detained until case disposition had a median bail amount 3 times that of defendants who secured release ($15,000 versus $5,000) (table 16). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 16. Median and mean bail amounts set for felony defendants, by pretrial release/detention outcome and most serious arrest charge, 1996 Felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Most serious Median bail amount Mean bail amount arrest charge Total Released Detained Total Released Detained All offenses $10,000 $5,000 $15,000 $31,000 $9,300 $50,000 Violent offenses $15,000 $7,500 $30,000 $52,400 $12,400 $82,100 Murder 50,000 25,000 100,000 133,100 24,200 198,400 Rape 20,000 10,000 35,000 63,500 20,700 93,600 Robbery 25,000 10,000 35,000 75,900 13,500 94,000 Assault 10,000 5,000 20,000 35,500 10,800 64,600 Other violent 20,000 7,500 35,000 45,100 13,000 74,100 Property offenses $5,000 $3,000 $10,000 $17,800 $6,000 $28,000 Burglary 10,000 5,000 15,000 25,800 7,200 34,100 Theft 5,000 2,500 10,000 15,900 6,100 25,900 Other property 5,000 2,500 7,500 11,000 5,200 19,600 Drug offenses $7,500 $5,000 $10,000 $29,400 $10,300 $46,700 Trafficking 10,000 7,500 15,000 37,600 14,500 56,700 Other drug 5,000 2,500 10,000 19,400 5,700 33,400 Public-order offenses $5,000 $5,000 $13,000 $15,600 $8,200 $25,400 Weapons 7,500 5,000 15,000 16,600 8,200 26,700 Driving-related 5,000 5,000 10,000 13,900 7,700 25,400 Other public-order 5,000 5,000 10,000 16,000 8,900 23,400 Note: Data on bail amount were available for 98% of all defendants for whom a bail amount was set. Bail amounts have been rounded. Table excludes defendants given nonfinancial release. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The mean bail amount for detained defendants ($50,000) was more than 5 times that of defendants who secured release ($9,300). Detained murder defendants had the highest median ($100,000) and mean ($198,400) bail amounts. Overall, the median bail amount for murder defendants was $50,000 and the mean was $133,100. Robbery defendants had an overall median bail amount of $25,000 and an overall mean bail amount of $75,900. Overall, just under half (47%) of defendants who were required to post bail to secure release did so. About 7 in 10 defendants with a bail set at under $5,000 posted the amount needed for release, as did about 6 in 10 defendants with a bail amount of $5,000 to $9,999. In contrast, about 1 in 8 of those with bail set at $50,000 or more, and a fourth of those with a bail amount of at least $25,000 but less than $50,000 were able to meet the financial conditions required for release. Among defendants given financial release, the average bail amount was highest for those released on property bond (a median of $7,500 and a mean of $12,400), and lowest for those released on full cash bond (a median of $1,000 and a mean of $2,900). Defendants released on surety and deposit bond both had a median bail amount of $5,000. The mean for both was just under $10,000. Unlike those released on full cash bond, defendants released on deposit bond generally posted 10% of the full bail amount with the court to secure release. However, they remained liable to the court for the full bail amount if they violated the terms of release. Those released on surety bond paid a similar fee to a bail bond agent, who assumed liability to the court for the full bail amount if the defendant violated the terms of release. Type of Bail amount release bond Median Mean Surety $5,000 $9,500 Deposit 5,000 9,800 Full cash 1,000 2,900 Property 7,500 12,400 Unsecured $5,000 $10,000 Defendants released on an unsecured bond had a median bail amount of $5,000 and a mean bail amount of $10,000. These defendants did not have to post any of this amount, but like those on financial release, they were liable for the full bail amount if they violated the terms of release. Time from arrest to release Among defendants who were released prior to case disposition, about half were released within 1 day (49%), and about four-fifths were released within 1 week (79%) (table 17). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 17. Time from arrest to release for felony defendants released before case disposition, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Most serious Released felony defendants in the 75 largest counties arrest charge Number of Percent who were released within: defendants 1 day 1 week 1 month All offenses 31,514 49% 79% 92% Violent offenses 6,807 41% 72% 89% Murder 67 24 42 66 Rape 368 38 62 83 Robbery 1,421 29 65 84 Assault 3,741 44 75 91 Other violent 1,210 48 73 89 Property offenses 9,828 56% 79% 92% Burglary 1,881 42 70 89 Theft 4,043 58 83 95 Other property 3,904 60 80 90 Drug offenses 12,117 45% 79% 93% Trafficking 5,749 40 77 92 Other drug 6,368 51 83 94 Public-order offenses 2,762 57% 82% 95% Weapons 970 47 79 94 Driving-related 1,081 59 83 95 Other public-order 711 68 85 95 Note: Data on time from arrest to release were available for 97% of all cases. Release data were collected for 1 year. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Nearly all releases during the 1-year study occurred within a month of arrest (92%). By general offense category, defendants charged with a violent (41%) or drug (45%) offense were less likely to be released within 1 day of arrest than those charged with a public-order (57%) or property (56%) offense. More than half of the defendants released after being charged with a property offense other than burglary, or a public-order offense that was not weapons-related were released within 1 day of their arrest. Defendants charged with murder typically waited the longest to be released. For example, after 1 month, 66% of all murder defendant releases had occurred, compared to more than 90% of the releases of other defendants. When differences among types of offense are held constant, defendants released under financial terms generally took longer to secure their release than those who were released under nonfinancial conditions. Among defendants who were released under financial conditions, the amount of time from arrest to pretrial release tended to increase as the bail amount did. Criminal history and probability of release Court decisions about bail and pretrial release are primarily based on the judgment of whether a defendant will appear in court as scheduled and whether there is potential danger to the community from crimes that a defendant may commit if released. Many States have established specific criteria to be considered by the courts when setting release conditions. The SCPS data illustrate how release rates vary with some of these factors. For example, 73% of the defendants without an active criminal justice status at the time of their arrest for the current offense were released prior to case disposition, compared to 47% of those with such a status (table 18). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 18. Percent of felony defendants who were released prior to case disposition, by criminal history, 1996 Felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Released prior to case disposition Detained until case disposition Number of Total Financial Nonfinancial Emergency Held Denied Criminal history defendants released release release release Total on bail bail Criminal justice status Any type 16,576 47% 23% 23% 1% 53% 42% 12% On parole 2,679 27 13 13 1 73 55 17 On probation 7,319 42 24 18 1 58 48 10 Open FTA warrant 2,076 56 21 34 1 44 31 13 On pretrial release 3,826 66 29 35 2 34 26 8 None 29,312 73 34 38 1 27 24 3 Court appearance history With prior arrest(s) 35,266 57% 27% 29% 1% 43% 35% 8% With prior failure to app 18,532 53 21 31 1 47 39 8 Made all prior appearance 14,035 62 35 27 1 38 31 7 No prior arrests 13,320 81 34 46 -- 19 16 3 Number of prior convictions With prior conviction(s) 28,315 53% 26% 26% 1% 47% 39% 8% 5 or more 10,669 43 21 22 1 57 48 9 2-4 10,526 54 28 26 1 46 37 9 1 6,712 66 31 34 1 34 27 7 None 19,680 80 34 45 1 20 16 4 Most serious prior conviction Any type of felony 21,084 47% 25% 22% 1% 53% 44% 10% Violent felony 8,597 47 24 23 1 53 41 11 Nonviolent felony 12,487 47 25 21 1 53 44 9 Misdemeanor 8,827 65 27 37 1 35 31 4 Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Defendants on parole (27%) at the time of arrest were the least likely to be released. This compared with 42% of those on probation and 66% of those released pending disposition of a prior case. Eighty-one percent of the defendants with no prior arrests were released, compared to 57% of those who had been previously arrested. Among defendants with an arrest record, those who had never missed a court appearance (62%) had a higher probability of being released than those who had failed to appear at least once during a previous case (53%). Eighty percent of defendants without a prior conviction were released prior to disposition of the current case, compared to 53% of those with a conviction record. Among defendants with a conviction record, release rates ranged from 66% for those with a single prior conviction to 43% for those with five or more. Less than half of the defendants with one or more prior felony convictions (47%) were released prior to disposition of the current case, compared to nearly two-thirds of those whose prior convictions involved only misdemeanors (65%). Those with a prior conviction for a violent felony (47%) had the same release rate as those whose most serious prior conviction was for a nonviolent felony (47%). Conduct of released defendants Among defendants who were released prior to case disposition, nearly a third committed some type of misconduct while in a release status (table 19). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 19. Released felony defendants charged with misconduct, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Released felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Most serious Percent charged arrest charge Number with misconduct All offenses 32,503 31% Violent offenses 6,936 23% Murder 67 18 Rape 379 12 Robbery 1,443 34 Assault 3,810 21 Other violent 1,237 21 Property offenses 10,069 29% Burglary 1,947 35 Theft 4,132 32 Other property 3,989 25 Drug offenses 12,642 39% Trafficking 5,932 40 Other drug 6,710 38 Public-order offenses 2,857 24% Weapons 1,021 23 Driving-related 1,114 25 Other public-order 722 21 Note: Types of misconduct included failure to appear in court, rearrest for a new offense, or a technical violation of release conditions that resulted in the revocation of pretrial release. Data were collected for up to 1 year. ---------------------------------------------------------------- This may have been in the form of a failure to appear in court, an arrest for a new offense, or some other violation of release conditions that resulted in the revocation of that release by the court. By original offense category, the proportion of defendants charged with pretrial misconduct ranged from about two-fifths among drug defendants (39%), to about a fourth of defendants charged with a public-order (24%) or violent offense (23%). Twenty-nine percent of property defendants committed some type of pretrial misconduct. The widest range of misconduct rates was found within the violent offense category, ranging from 34% of robbery defendants to 12% of rape defendants. Failure to appear in court Nearly four-fifths of the defendants who were released prior to case disposition made all scheduled court appearances (78%). Bench warrants for failing to appear in court were issued for the remaining 22% (table 20). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 20. Released felony defendants who failed to make a scheduled court appearance, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of released felony defendants in the 75 largest counties who: Failed to appear in court Most serious Number of Made all Returned Remained arrest charge defendants court appearances Total to court a fugitive All offenses 31,786 78% 22% 17% 6% Violent offenses 6,816 86% 14% 12% 3% Murder 67 88 12 12 0 Rape 376 94 6 4 2 Robbery 1,428 80 20 17 4 Assault 3,745 86 14 11 3 Other violent 1,200 87 13 10 3 Property offenses 9,915 78% 22% 16% 6% Burglary 1,914 77 23 18 5 Theft 4,093 77 23 16 7 Other property 3,908 80 20 16 4 Drug offenses 12,226 71% 29% 21% 8% Trafficking 5,834 72 28 20 8 Other drug 6,391 70 30 22 8 Public-order offenses 2,829 86% 14% 11% 4% Weapons 1,017 85 15 10 5 Driving-related 1,094 85 15 11 4 Other public-order 718 87 13 10 3 Note: Data on the court appearance record for the current case were available for 98% of cases involving a defendant released prior to case disposition. All defendants who failed to appear in court and were not returned to the court during the 1-year study period are counted as fugitives. Some of these defendants may have been returned to the court at a later date. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- A higher percentage of released drug defendants (29%) and property defendants (22%) failed to appear in court than defendants charged with violent (14%) or public-order (14%) offenses. Within the violent offense category, failure-to-appear rates were higher for defendants charged with robbery (20%) than for other defendants. About a fourth of the defendants who failed to appear in court, 6% of all defendants, were still fugitives at the end of the 1-year study period. The remainder were returned to the court (either voluntarily or not) before the end of the study. Defendants released after being charged with a drug (8%) or property (6%) offense were about twice as likely to be a fugitive after 1 year as defendants released after being charged with other offenses. No released murder defendants were in a fugitive status at the end of the 1-year study period. Rearrest for a new offense Overall, 16% of released defendants were rearrested for a new offense allegedly committed while they awaited disposition of their original case (table 21). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 21. Released felony defendants who were rearrested prior to case disposition, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of released felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Rearrested Most serious Number of Not Misde- arrest charge defendants Total rearrested Total Felony meanor All offenses 31,508 100% 84% 16% 10% 6% Violent offenses 6,771 100% 87% 13% 7% 6% Murder 63 100 94 6 6 0 Rape 376 100 92 8 3 5 Robbery 1,408 100 78 22 13 9 Assault 3,727 100 89 11 6 5 Other violent 1,196 100 90 10 4 6 Property offenses 9,850 100% 86% 14% 9% 5% Burglary 1,895 100 83 17 10 8 Theft 4,071 100 84 16 11 6 Other property 3,885 100 89 11 7 4 Drug offenses 12,086 100% 80% 20% 13% 7% Trafficking 5,763 100 77 23 15 8 Other drug 6,323 100 82 18 11 7 Public-order offense 2,802 100% 88% 12% 8% 4% Weapons 1,003 100 88 12 6 6 Driving-related 1,088 100 88 12 10 2 Other public-order 711 100 88 12 6 6 Note: Rearrest data were available for 97% of released defendants. Rearrest data were for 1 year. Rearrests occurring after the end of this 1-year study period are not included in the table. Information on rearrests occurring in jurisdictions other than the one granting the pretrial release was not always available. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Sixty-two percent of these defendants, 10% of all released defendants, were charged with a new felony. Sixty-three percent of the new felony arrests were for the same type of offense as the original charge. By original arrest offense category, released drug defendants (20%) had the highest rearrest rate. This included 23% of defendants released after being charged with drug trafficking. Robbery defendants (22%) also had a higher rearrest rate than the overall average. Defendants released after being charged with murder (6%) or rape (8%) were the least likely to be rearrested. Time from arrest to adjudication For about half of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties, adjudication of their case occurred within 3 months of arrest, and about 6 in 7 cases were adjudicated within 1 year of arrest (table 22). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Table 22. Time from arrest to adjudication for felony defendants, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Median Most serious Number of number Cumulative percent of cases adjudicated within: arrest charge defendants of days 1 week 1 month 3 months 6month 1 year All offenses 53,108 89 days 9% 26% 51% 71% 86% Violent offenses 13,089 105 days 7% 23% 45% 67% 85% Murder 425 -- 3 5 9 22 42 Rape 784 142 6 14 34 60 81 Robbery 3,788 111 7 22 45 66 85 Assault 6,045 94 7 26 48 71 86 Other violent 2,046 95 6 25 47 71 88 Property offenses 16,388 75 days 10% 28% 56% 76% 88% Burglary 4,347 70 8 30 59 80 91 Theft 6,588 76 11 28 55 75 87 Other property 5,453 82 10 25 53 76 88 Drug offenses 19,504 90 days 9% 27% 50% 68% 83% Trafficking 9,845 90 9 26 50 70 85 Other drug 9,660 90 8 27 50 67 81 Public-order offenses 4,127 84 days 8% 26% 52% 75% 89% Weapons 1,505 98 5 22 49 73 88 Driving-related 1,480 85 7 24 51 74 90 Other public-order 1,141 69 13 34 57 81 91 Note: Data on time from arrest to adjudication were available for 98% of all cases. The median time from arrest to adjudication includes cases still pending at the end of the study. Knowing the exact times for these cases would not change the medians reported. --The median time from arrest to adjudication for murder defendants extended beyond the 1-Year study period and could not be calculated. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The median time from arrest to adjudication for murder defendants was greater than 1 year, a considerably longer time than for other defendants. An estimated 58% of murder defendants were awaiting adjudication of their case after 1 year, compared to a maximum of 19% in any other offense category. After murder defendants, the longest median time from arrest to adjudication was for rape defendants (142 days). This was about twice the median time for defendants charged with burglary (70 days) or a public-order offense that was not weapons-related or driving-related (69 days). For each offense other than murder (for which medians could not be calculated), the median time from arrest to adjudication was shorter for detained defendants than for those released pending case disposition. The median time from arrest to adjudication was about 2 months longer for defendants released after being charged with rape, robbery, or assault than for those detained. Among those charged with a weapons offense, theft, drug trafficking, or a driving-related offense the median was about 3 months longer for those released than for those detained. Excluding murder defendants, the longest median time from arrest to adjudication among released defendants was for those charged with rape (188 days), robbery (155 days), or drug trafficking (140 days). Detained driving-related defendants (33 days) had the shortest adjudication time. Adjudication outcome Seventy percent of the defendants who had their cases adjudicated within 1 year of arrest were convicted (table 23). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Table 23. Adjudication outcome for felony defendants, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Convicted Not convicted Most serious Number of Total Felony Misdemeanor Dis- Ac- Other arrest charge defendants convicted Total Plea Trial Total Plea Trial Total missed quitted outcome* All offenses 45,744 70% 55% 52% 4% 15% 14% 1% 30% 29% 1% -- Violent offenses 11,126 60% 44% 39% 5% 16% 15% 1% 39% 38% 2% 1% Murder 184 64 62 32 29 2 2 0 36 31 5 0 Rape 633 62 57 50 7 5 4 -- 37 36 1 1 Robbery 3,236 70 57 51 6 13 13 -- 29 28 1 1 Assault 5,260 53 33 29 4 20 18 1 47 45 2 -- Other violent 1,813 63 47 44 3 16 15 1 37 35 2 0 Property offenses 14,493 72% 55% 52% 3% 17% 16% -- 28% 27% 1% -- Burglary 3,936 75 62 58 5 13 12 1 24 22 2 -- Theft 5,726 71 55 52 3 15 15 -- 29 28 1 -- Other property 4,832 71 50 48 2 21 21 -- 29 29 -- -- Drug offenses 16,386 74% 63% 61% 3% 10% 10% -- 26% 25% 1% -- Trafficking 8,490 78 68 64 4 11 10 1 21 20 1 -- Other drug 7,896 68 59 57 2 10 10 -- 31 30 1 -- Public-order offenses 3,739 74% 53% 50% 3% 21% 21% -- 25% 24% 1% -- Weapons 1,320 73 59 55 4 13 12 1 27 25 2 -- Driving-related 1,351 80 61 58 3 20 20 0 20 18 1 -- Other public-order 1,067 69 37 34 2 32 32 -- 31 29 1 -- Note: Fourteen percent of all cases were still pending adjudication at the end of the 1-year study period, and are excluded from the table. Data on adjudication outcome were available for 98% of those cases that had been adjudicated. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Less than 0.5% *Includes diversion and deferred adjudication. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A large majority of these convictions were for a felony, with 55% of all defendants eventually convicted of a felony. Three-fifths of defendants whose most serious arrest charge was a violent offense (60%) were eventually convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor, compared to about three-fourths of those originally charged with a property (72%), drug (74%), or public-order (74%) offense. Defendants whose most serious arrest charge was a driving-related felony (80%) had the highest overall conviction rate, and defendants charged with felony assault (53%) had the lowest. The probability of being convicted of a felony was highest for defendants whose most serious arrest charge was drug trafficking (68%). The next highest felony conviction rates were found among defendants whose original arrest charge was murder (62%), burglary (62%), or a driving-related offense (61%). The lowest felony conviction rate was for assault defendants (33%). In most cases where the defendant was not convicted, it was because the charges against the defendant were dismissed by the prosecutor or the court. Dismissal occurred in 29% of all cases. Defendants charged with assault (45%) were more than twice as likely as those charged with a driving-related offense (18%) or drug trafficking (20%) to have their case dismissed. Less than 1% of all cases had other outcomes such as diversion or deferred adjudication. No murder defendants had their cases handled in this manner, nor did more than 1% of the defend- ants in any other offense category. Nearly four-fifths of the defendants who were detained until case disposition (78%) were eventually convicted of some offense, compared to about two-thirds of those who were released pending disposition (66%) (table 24). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Table 24. Adjudication outcome for felony defendants, by detention- release outcome and most serious arrest charge, 1996 Number Most serious of de- Convicted arrest charge fendants Total Felony Released defendants All offenses 25,996 66% 49% Violent offenses 5,592 52% 32% Property offenses 8,258 71 52 Drug offenses 9,668 69 57 Public-order offenses 2,477 74 49 Detained defendants All offenses 17,384 78% 69% Violent offenses 4,950 72% 61% Property offenses 5,311 79 67 Drug offenses 6,023 84 78 Public-order offenses 1,099 77 67 ----------------------------------------------------------------- An estimated 69% of detained defendants were convicted of a felony, compared to 49% of released defendants. Adjudication outcome was related to some extent to the number and type of the original arrest charges filed. Three-fourths of defendants who were originally charged with more than 1 felony were eventually convicted of some offense compared to about two-thirds of the defendants who had no additional felony charges (table 25). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Table 25. Adjudication outcome for felony defendants, by number and type of arrest charges, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties Convicted Not convicted Additional Number of Total Felony Misdemeanor Dis- Other charges filed defendants convicted Total Plea Trial Total Plea Trial Total missed Acquitted outcome* Additional felony 17,703 75% 64% 59% 5% 11% 11% -- 25% 23% 1% -- No additional felony 28,017 67 50 47 3 17 16 1 33 32 1 -- Misdemeanor(s) only 7,529 66 37 35 3 28 26 2 34 33 1 -- No additional charges 20,488 67 54 52 3 12 12 -- 33 32 1 -- Note: Fourteen percent of all cases were still pending adjudication at the end of the 1-year study period. Data on adjudication outcome were available for 98% of those cases that had been adjudicated. --Less than 0.5%. *Includes diversion and deferred adjudication. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Sixty-four percent of defendants whose original arrest charges included more than one felony were eventually convicted of a felony compared to 50% of those with no additional felony charges. Among the defendants who had no additional felony charges but were charged with one or more misdemeanors, 37% were convicted of a felony. Defendants in this latter group were about twice as likely as other defendants to eventually be convicted of a misdemeanor, usually by pleading guilty to such a charge instead of the original felony charge. Overall, about two-thirds of defendants entered a guilty plea at some point, with 52% pleading guilty to a felony, and 14% to a misdemeanor. About two-thirds of defendants charged with a nonviolent offense entered a guilty plea, and about half pleaded guilty to a felony. Defendants charged with a driving-related offense (77%) were the most likely to enter a guilty plea. A majority of the defendants in each nonviolent offense category pleaded guilty to a felony, including 64% of those charged with drug trafficking. Among defendants charged with a violent offense, robbery defendants (64%) had the highest overall plea rate, and murder defendants (35%) had the lowest. About half of robbery (51%) and rape (50%) defendants pleaded guilty to a felony, compared to about a third of murder (33%) and assault (29%) defendants. An estimated 6% of the cases adjudicated within 1 year went to trial. These cases were evenly split between bench trials and jury trials. An estimated 77% of all trials ended with a guilty verdict, and 23% with an acquittal. Jury trials (84%) were more likely to result in a conviction than bench trials (72%). About 3 in 4 jury trials resulted in a felony conviction compared to 3 in 5 bench trials. Percent of trials Type resulting in a conviction of trial Total Felony Misdemeanor Total 77% 67% 10% Bench 72 60 12 Jury 84 76 7 A third of defendants facing murder charges went to trial, compared to less than a tenth of defendants charged with other offenses. Regardless of the method of adjudication, defendants who were convicted were usually convicted of the same felony offense as the original arrest charge. This was most likely to be the case when the original arrest charge was for a nonviolent offense. Among defendants arrested for murder and later convicted, 59% were convicted of murder (table 26). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Table 26. Conviction offense of defendants arrested for a violent offense and subsequently convicted, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties convicted of: Violent felony Non- Most serious Number of Total Total violent Misde- arrest charge defendants Total felony violent Murder Rape Robbery Assault Other felony meanor Murder 118 100% 97% 97% 59% 0% 6% 13% 19% 0% 3% Rape 391 100 93 90 0 62 0% 6 22 2 7 Robbery 2,248 100 81 69 0 0 62 6 1 13 19 Assault 2,744 100 62 55 -- -- -- 48 6 8 38 Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. --Less than 0.5%. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The corresponding percentages for other violent offenses were as follows: rape (62%), robbery (62%), and assault (48%). Among defendants who were charged with a nonviolent offense and later convicted, the percentage whose conviction offense corresponded with their most serious arrest charge were as follows: weapons offense (82%), drug trafficking (75%), driving-related offense (75%), burglary (68%), and theft (68%) (table 27). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Table 27. Conviction offense of defendants arrested for a nonviolent offense and subsequently convicted, by most serious arrest charge, 1996 Percent of felony defendants in the 75 largest counties convicted of: Nonviolent felony Most serious Number of Total Total Drug traf- Driving- Violent Misde- arrest charge defendant Total felony nonviolen Burglary Theft ficking Weapons related Other felony meanor Burglary 2,969 100% 83% 82% 68% 8% -- 0 -- 7% 1% 17% Theft 4,031 100 79 79 1 68 -- -- -- 9 -- 21 Drug trafficking 6,580 100 87 87 0% 0 75 1 -- 11 -- 13 Weapons 960 100 83 82 0 0 0 82 0 0 1 17 Driving-related 1,084 100 77 77 0 0 0 1 75 1 -- 23 Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. --Less than 0.5%. ----------------------------------------------------------------- For most offenses a smaller percentage of defendants were in each felony conviction offense category than were in the original distribution by arrest charge (tables 1 and 28). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Table 28. Felony defendants, by conviction offense, 1996 Felony defendants in Most serious the 75 largest counties conviction offense Number Percent All offenses 31,943 100.0% All felonies 25,454 79.7% Violent offenses 4,339 13.6% Murder 74 0.2 Rape 257 0.8 Robbery 1,442 5 Assault 1,554 4.9 Other violent 1,031 3.2 Property offenses 8,237 25.8% Burglary 2,165 6.7 Theft 3,230 10.1 Other property 2,866 8.9 Drug offenses 10,298 32.2% Trafficking 5,194 16.2 Other drug 5,100 16.0 Public-order offenses 2,437 7.6% Weapons 1,015 3.1 Driving-related 897 2.8 Other public-order 540 1.7 Other felonies 143 0.4% Misdemeanors 6,488 20.3% Note: Data on conviction offense were available for 100% of cases involving defendants who had been convicted. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The biggest drop was in the violent felony category, which accounted for about 25% of all defendants by arrest charge, but just 14% of them by conviction charge. Much of this change can be accounted for by the fact that about 11% of all defendants were originally facing felony assault charges, but just 5% of all convictions were for such an offense. Overall, 20% of convicted defendants were convicted at the misdemeanor level, including 38% of those convicted after being originally charged with felony assault. Given arrest, about three-fifths of the defendants whose most serious arrest charge was for a driving-related offense (59%), a weapons offense (59%), or drug trafficking (58%) were eventually convicted of that same offense. About half of the defendants originally charged with burglary or theft were eventually convicted of those offenses. Among defendants whose most serious arrest charge was for a violent offense, less than half were eventually convicted of that same felony offense. About two-fifths of defendants originally charged with robbery (43%), rape (39%), or murder (37%) were eventually convicted of those offenses. About a fourth of defendants originally charged with felony assault were eventually convicted of that offense (25%). Case processing statistics Among the approximately 46,000 cases with a known adjudication outcome that occurred within 1 year of arrest, about 30,000 were disposed by a guilty plea. About a fourth of these pleas occurred within 1 month of arrest and about three-fifths within 3 months of arrest. The next most common type of adjudication, dismissal of the charges against the defendant, occurred in about 13,000 cases. About half of all dismissals occurred within the first month after arrest and three-fourths within 3 months. Trials occurred in about 2,400 cases. About 1 in 10 trials were completed within a month of arrest and about 1 in 3 within 3 months of arrest. Guilty pleas accounted for nearly all (94%) of the 32,000 convictions obtained within 1 year of arrest. This included about 23,700 felony pleas and about 6,400 misdemeanor pleas. About a fourth of the felony pleas occurred within 1 month of arrest, and more than half were obtained within 3 months of arrest. About two-fifths of the misdemeanor pleas were obtained with 1 month of arrest, and about two-thirds within 3 months. Of the approximately 1,900 trial convictions obtained within 1 year, nearly all were for a felony, with just 250 trials resulting in a misdemeanor conviction. Nearly a third of all trial convictions occurred within 3 months of arrest, and almost two-thirds within 6 months of arrest. Time from conviction to sentencing About 2 in 3 convicted defendants were sentenced within 1 day of adjudication (table 29). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 29. Time from conviction to sentencing for convicted defendants, by most serious conviction offense, 1996 Most serious Number of Percent of convicted defendants in the 75 largest counties who were sentence conviction offense defendants Total 0-1 day 2-30 days 31-60 days 61 days or more All offenses 30,696 100% 66% 16% 12% 7% All felonies 24,398 100% 60% 19% 14% 8% Violent offenses 4,102 100% 50% 21% 18% 10% Murder 70 100 34 34 23 9 Rape 246 100 47 16 23 14 Robbery 1,320 100 56 21 15 9 Assault 1,475 100 56 20 17 8 Other violent 991 100 37 26 22 15 Property offenses 8,018 100% 66% 15% 11% 8% Burglary 2,097 100 64 18 11 7 Theft 3,157 100 64 15 12 9 Other property 2,764 100 69 13 11 7 Drug offenses 9,813 100% 59% 21% 13% 7% Trafficking 4,888 100 52 25 14 9 Other drug 4,925 100 66 17 12 5 Public-order offenses 2,342 100% 62% 13% 16% 9% Weapons 983 100 66 17 11 6 Driving-related 846 100 55 12 22 11 Other public-order 513 100 67 10 14 10 Misdemeanors 6,298 100% 88% 4% 5% 3% Note: Data on time from conviction to sentencing were available for 96% of cases that had reached sentencing. Total for all felonies includes cases which could not be classified into one of the 4 major offense categories. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Defendants convicted of a misdemeanor (88%) were more likely to be sentenced this quickly than those convicted of a felony (60%). Sentencing after a felony conviction was more likely to occur within 1 day if the conviction was for a nonviolent offense (62%) than if it was for a violent offense (50%). Within the violent offense category, the percentage of convicted defendants sentenced within 1 day ranged from 34% of those convicted of murder to 56% of those convicted of felony assault or robbery. About 5 in 6 convicted defendants received their sentence within 30 days, including 79% of those convicted of a felony and 92% of those convicted of a misdemeanor. Nearly all convicted defendants were sentenced within 60 days, including 97% of those convicted of a misdemeanor and 92% of those convicted of a felony. Type and length of sentence About two-thirds of all convicted defendants were sentenced to incarceration in a State prison or local jail (table 30). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 30. Most severe type of sentence received by convicted defendants, by most serious conviction offense, 1996 Percent of convicted defendants in the 75 largest counties sentenced to: Most serious Number of Incarceration Nonincarceration conviction offense defendants Total Total Prison Jail Total Probation Fine All offenses 28,775 100% 67% 30% 37% 33% 31% 2% All felonies 24,229 100% 69% 35% 34% 31% 30% 1% Violent offenses 4,073 100% 80% 51% 29% 20% 20% -- Murder 66 100 100 100 0 0 0 0 Rape 243 100 77 56 21 23 23 0 Robbery 1,307 100 90 71 19 10 10 -- Assault 1,455 100 73 40 33 27 26 -- Other violent 1,002 100 76 36 40 24 24 0 Property offenses 7,943 100% 62% 30% 32% 38% 38% -- Burglary 2,093 100 74 43 31 26 25 1 Theft 3,121 100 66 32 34 34 34 -- Other property 2,728 100 48 17 31 52 52 1 Drug offenses 9,761 100% 72% 34% 38% 28% 28% 1% Trafficking 4,915 100 78 44 34 22 22 -- Other drug 4,846 100 65 23 42 35 34 1 Public-order offenses 2,317 100% 69% 34% 35% 31% 29% 2% Weapons 962 100 64 37 27 36 34 2 Driving-related 850 100 75 35 40 25 21 3 Other public-order 506 100 66 27 40 34 32 1 Misdemeanors 4,547 100% 57% 3% 54% 43% 36% 7% Note: Data on type of sentence were available for 90% of cases involving defendants who had been convicted. Sixty-seven percent of jail sentences and 5% of prison sentences included a probation term. Twenty-three percent of prison sentences, 31% of jail sentences, and 29% of probation sentences included a fine. Fines may have included restitution or community service. Total for all felonies includes cases that could not be classifed int 1 of the 4 major offense categories. Prison category includes 7 defendants who received a death sentence. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. --Less than 0.5%. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Sixty-nine percent of the defendants convicted of a felony were sentenced to incarceration, compared to 57% of those convicted of a misdemeanor. About half of the incarceration sentences following a felony conviction, 35% of felony sentences overall, were to State prison. All murder convictions resulted in a prison sentence, as did a majority of robbery (71%) and rape (56%) convictions. Although less than half of defendants convicted of drug trafficking (44%), burglary (43%), felony assault (40%),or a weapons offense (37%) were sentenced to prison, this was still the most likely type of sentence for such defendants. Nearly all of the incarceration sentences resulting from a misdemeanor conviction, 54% of all misdemeanor sentences, were to jail. Two-thirds of jail sentences included a probation term to be served in addition to the jail time. This was more likely to be the case for defendants convicted of a felony (75%) than those convicted of a misdemeanor (39%). Among defendants who were convicted but not sentenced to incarceration, 98% of those convicted of a felony and 84% of those convicted of a misdemeanor received a probation term. Probation sentences may have included a fine, payment of restitution, and/or completion of a community service requirement. Overall, about a third of convicted defendants received a sentence to probation (31%) without any incarceration. About a third of defendants convicted of theft, a felony drug offense other than trafficking, a felony public-order offense that was not driving-related, or a misdemeanor received a probation term without incarceration. An estimated 2% of all defendants, 1% of those convicted of a felony, were ordered to pay a fine but were not sentenced to a term of incarceration or probation. These fines may have been in addition to court-ordered restitution and/or community service. Among persons arrested and charged with a felony by the prosecutor, murder defendants had the highest probability of eventually being convicted and sentenced to prison (63%) The next highest probability of an eventual prison sentence was for defendants charged with robbery (45%). About a third of defendants originally charged with drug trafficking (34%) or rape (33%) were eventually convicted and sentenced to prison. Defendants originally charged with felony assault (20%) or theft (22%) were the least likely to be eventually sentenced to prison. Defendants originally charged with a driving-related offense (30%), drug trafficking (27%), or burglary (26%) were the most likely to be eventually convicted and receive a jail sentence. No murder defendants were convicted and sentenced to jail. A majority of defendants charged with murder (63%), robbery (63%), drug trafficking (61%), a driving-related offense (59%), or burglary (56%) were eventually convicted and sentenced to either prison or jail. Assault (38%) defendants were the least likely to be eventually convicted and sentenced to some type of incarceration. Among defendants convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison, the mean sentence was 58 months and the median was 36 months (table 31). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 31. Length of prison sentence received by defendants convicted of a felony, by most serious conviction offense, 1996 Felony defendants in the 75 largest counties convicted of a felony and sentenced to prison Most serious felony Number of Number of months Percent receiving a maximum sentence length in months of: conviction offense defendants Mean Median Total 1-24 25-48 49-72 73-120 Over 120 Life* All offenses 8,502 58 36 100% 35% 32% 15% 11% 7% 1% Violent offenses 2,051 93 60 100% 18% 27% 19% 18% 16% 2% Murder 51 435 360 100 0 0 0 8 69 23 Rape 131 132 96 100 2 19 18 30 28 3 Robbery 926 94 60 100 12 26 21 22 18 1 Assault 581 67 48 100 24 30 18 15 10 2 Other violent 362 69 44 100 31 34 16 11 9 1 Property offenses 2,346 50 36 100% 42% 31% 12% 10% 4% -- Burglary 902 65 41 100 33 30 12 16 9 -- Theft 988 39 24 100 52 26 14 6 2 0 Other property 456 41 36 100 38 44 8 7 1 1 Drug offenses 3,271 47 36 100% 35% 36% 17% 9% 3% -- Trafficking 2,156 54 42 100 23 40 21 11 4 -- Other drug 1,115 33 24 100 59 27 8 4 2 1 Public-order offenses 783 34 24 100% 50% 35% 10% 3% 1% 1% Weapons 357 37 32 100 42 41 10 2 1 3 Driving-related 292 30 24 100 60 28 8 4 0 0 Other public-order 134 33 30 100 49 33 15 3 0 0 Note: Data on length of prison sentence were available for 99% of all cases. Five percent of prison ' sentences included a probation term and 23% included a fine. Total for all offenses includes cases ' that could not be classified into 1 of 4 major offense categories. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. --Less than 0.5%. *Excludes life sentences. ---------------------------------------------------------------- By general conviction offense category, defendants convicted of a violent felony received the longest prison sentences (a mean of 93 months and a median of 60 months), and those convicted of a public-order felony the shortest (a mean of 34 months and a median of 24 months). By specific conviction offense, murderers received the longest prison terms, a mean of 435 months and a median of 360 months. Next were defendants convicted of rape with a mean prison sentence of 132 months, and a median of 96 months. Median sentences for other felony convictions included 60 months for robbery, 48 months for assault, 42 months for drug trafficking, 41 months for burglary, 32 months for weapons offenses, 24 months for theft, and 24 months for driving-related offenses. Twenty-three percent of all murder convictions resulted in a life sentence, compared to a maximum of 3% of the defendants convicted of any other offense. In addition to those receiving life sentences, 69% of the defendants convicted of murder were sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. About 1 in 4 rape convictions, 1 in 6 robbery convictions, and 1 in 10 felony assault convictions resulted in a prison term of more than 10 years. For defendants convicted of a felony and subsequently sentenced to jail, the mean jail term was 6 months and the median was 5 months (table 32). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 32. Length of jail sentence received by convicted defendants, by most serious conviction offense, 1996 Felony defendants in the 75 largest counties sentenced to jail Most serious Number of Number of months Percent receiving a maximum sentence in months of : conviction defendants Mean Median Total 1 or less 2-3 4-6 7-9 10-12 Over 12 All offenses 10,743 5 4 100% 24% 23% 28% 7% 17% 1% All felonies 8,284 6 5 100% 17% 23% 31% 8% 20% 2% Violent offenses* 1,180 7 6 100% 14% 18% 26% 10% 29% 3% Robbery 247 9 12 100 3 15 20 5 48 9 Assault 485 6 6 100 20 18 23 11 25 2 Other violent 397 7 6 100 12 21 28 12 24 3 Property offenses 2,552 6 6 100% 16% 19% 33% 9% 20% 2% Burglary 648 7 6 100 8 21 30 15 22 3 Theft 1,053 6 6 100 17 16 36 8 20 2 Other property 851 5 4 100 21 22 31 6 17 2 Drug offenses 3,698 5 4 100% 17% 27% 32% 8% 16% 1% Trafficking 1,653 6 6 100 14 22 36 9 19 1 Other drug 2,045 5 3 100 20 32 28 6 14 1 Public-order offenses 802 5 4 100% 19% 26% 28% 6% 21% 1% Weapons 258 5 4 100 19 27 30 8 16 0 Driving-related 343 6 6 100 18 17 29 4 30 2 Other public-order 201 4 3 100 21 41 21 6 11 0 Misdemeanors 2,459 3 2 100% 47% 23% 18% 3% 9% -- Note: Data on length of jail sentence were available for 100% of all cases in which a defendant received a jail sentence. Sixty-seven percent of sentences to jail included a probation term and 31% included a fine. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1996 33 *Murder and rape have been excluded from the detail because no murder convictions and few rape convictions resulted in a jail sentence. The total for violent offenses, however, does include these cases. --Less than 0.5%. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Misdemeanor convictions resulted in a mean jail term of 3 months and a median of 2 months. Excluding murder (for which all sentences were to prison), and rape (for which few cases resulted in a jail sentence), defendants sentenced to jail for robbery received the longest average sentence (a mean of 9 months and a median of 12 months). About 2% of all jail sentences for a felony conviction were for a period greater than 1 year, including 9% of those that followed a conviction for robbery. The longest jail sentence recorded during the study was for about 5 years. For defendants sentenced to probation without incarceration for a felony involving a violent, property, or drug offense, the median sentence length was 36 months. For felony public-order convictions, and misdemeanors the median was 24 months (table 33). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 33. Length of probation sentence received by convicted defendants, by most serious conviction offense, 1996 Most serious Felony defendants in the 75 largest counties sentenced to probation conviction offense Number of Median Percent receiving a sentence in months of : defendants months Total 1-12 13-24 25-36 37-48 49-60 Over 60 All offenses 8,872 36 100% 17% 30% 32% 3% 16% 2% All felonies 7,229 36 100% 13% 31% 31% 4% 20% 2% Violent offenses 804 36 100 16 20 30 4 25 5 Property offenses 3,000 36 100 14 29 31 4 21 1 Drug offenses 2,718 36 100 10 35 33 3 17 1 Public-order offenses 673 24 100 18 33 25 3 20 1 Misdemeanors 1,644 24 100% 37% 25% 36% 1% 1% 1% Note: Data on length of probation sentence were available for 100% of all cases in which the most severe type of sentence a defendant received was probation. Total for felonies includes cases which could not be classified into 1 of the 4 major offense categories. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Two percent of defendants convicted of a felony were given a probation term of greater than 5 years. An estimated 21% of defendants sentenced to probation were also required to pay a fine. Some probation sentences were also supplemented by one or more special conditions. For example, 21% of the defendants who received a probation sentence were required to perform a specified number of hours of community service work (table 34). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 34. Conditions of probation sentence received by convicted defendants, by most serious conviction offense, 1996 Felony defendants in the 75 largest counties sentenced to probation Percent whose sentence to probation included Most serious Number of Community Intensive Electronic Drug conviction offense defendants service Restitution supervision monitoring treatment All offenses 8,922 21% 21% 11% 7% 6% All felonies 7,260 21% 22% 11% 6% 8% Violent offenses 806 15 15 18 9 6 Property offenses 3,020 24 40 6 3 5 Drug offenses 2,720 21 6 13 9 12 Public-order offenses 680 17 11 11 5 6 Misdemeanors 1,662 19% 19% 12% 10% 2% Note: Total for felonies includes cases which could not be classified into 1 of the 4 felony offense categories. A defendant may have received more than one type of probation condition. Not all defendants sentenced to probation received probation conditions. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. --Less than 0.5%. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Twenty-one percent of offenders sentenced to probation were required to pay restitution, including 40% of those convicted for a property-related felony. Six percent of probation sentences included a requirement that the defendant enter a drug treatment program. Defendants convicted of a drug-related felony (12%) were the most likely to have this requirement. Prior record and felony sentencing For defendants convicted of a felony on their current charge, the probability of receiving a sentence to incarceration was highest if they had multiple prior felony convictions (85%) (table 35). ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table 35. Most severe type of sentence received by defendants convicted of a felony, by prior conviction record, 1996 Percent of defendants in the 75 largest counties Prior conviction record convicted of a felony and sentenced to: and most serious current Number of Incarceration Nonincarceration felony conviction defendants Total Total Prison Jail Total Probation Fine More than 1 prior felony conviction All offenses 5,989 100% 85% 58% 26% 15% 15% -- Violent offenses 738 100 91 71 20 9 8 1 Property offenses 2,086 100 83 58 25 17 17 -- Drug offenses 2,605 100 85 55 30 15 14 -- Public-order offenses 529 100 83 61 22 17 16 1 1 prior felony conviction All offenses 4,102 100% 76% 45% 31% 24% 23% 1% Violent offenses 667 100 84 65 19 16 16 1 Property offenses 1,219 100 74 40 33 26 26 -- Drug offenses 1,793 100 75 41 34 25 25 1 Public-order offenses 408 100 79 44 34 21 21 0 Prior misdemeanor convictions only All offenses 4,153 100% 72% 23% 49% 28% 28% -- Violent offenses 731 100 79 40 39 21 21 0 Property offenses 1,307 100 66 17 49 34 34 -- Drug offenses 1,705 100 72 19 53 28 27 -- Public-order offenses 382 100 71 22 49 29 29 0 No prior convictions All offenses 7,949 100% 52% 20% 32% 48% 47% 1% Violent offenses 1,545 100 72 40 32 28 28 0 Property offenses 2,782 100 39 11 28 61 60 1 Drug offenses 2,947 100 55 19 36 45 44 1 Public-order offenses 634 100 46 18 28 54 51 3 Note: Data on prior conviction record and type of sentence were available for 91% of all cases. Sentences to incarceration may have also included a probation term. Sentences to prison, jail, or probation may have included a fine, restitution, or community service. Detail may not add to total because of rounding. --Less than 0.5%. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Defendants with multiple prior felony convictions and whose current conviction was for a violent felony were the most likely of all defendants to be sentenced to incarceration (91%). About three-fourths of defendants with just one prior felony conviction (76%) or only prior misdemeanor convictions (72%), were sentenced to incarceration following a felony conviction in the current case. About half of those with no prior convictions of any type (52%) received an incarceration sentence for a felony conviction. Defendants with no prior convictions whose current felony conviction was for a property offense were the least likely overall to be sentenced to incarceration (39%). A majority (58%) of the defendants with more than one prior felony conviction were sentenced to prison for a new felony conviction, including 71% of those whose current conviction was for a violent offense. Nearly half (45%) of the defendants with a single prior felony conviction were sentenced to prison following a felony conviction in the current case, including 65% of those convicted of a violent felony. Overall, less than a fourth of defendants with no prior felony convictions received a prison sentence for a felony conviction in the current case. How- ever, 40% of the defendants with no prior felony convictions received a prison sentence if the current conviction was for a violent felony. Defendants with a prior conviction record that consisted of only misdemeanors were more likely than other defendants to receive a jail sentence after being convicted of a felony (49%) on the current charge. This was most likely to be the case if the current conviction was for a nonviolent offense. Defendants with no prior convictions of any kind were the most likely to receive a probation sentence (47%). Three-fifths of defendants convicted of a property-related felony and who had no prior convictions received a probation sentence. Defendants convicted of a violent felony were much more likely to be sentenced to prison than jail or probation if they had at least one prior felony conviction. Those without a prior felony conviction were only slightly more likely to be sentenced to prison than jail. Among defendants convicted of a nonviolent felony, prison was also the most likely sentence for those with prior felony convictions. However, this effect was much more pronounced for those with multiple prior felonies than those with a single prior felony. Jail was the most probable sentence for a nonviolent felony among defendants who had a prior conviction record that consisted of only misdemeanors. Probation was the most likely sentence if they had no conviction record at all. Methodology The SCPS sample was designed and selected by the U.S. Bureau of the Census under BJS supervision. It is a 2-stage stratified sample, with 40 of the 75 most populous counties selected at the first stage and a systematic sample of State court felony filings (defendants) within each county selected at the second stage. The 40 counties were divided into 4 first-stage strata based on court filing information obtained through a telephone survey. Twelve counties were included in the sample with certainty because of their large number of court filings. The remaining counties were allocated to the three noncertainty strata based on the variance of felony court dispositions. The second-stage sampling (filings) was designed to represent all defendants who had felony cases filed with the court during the month of May 1996. The participating jurisdictions provided data for every felony case filed on selected days during that month. Depending on the first-stage stratum in which it had been placed, each jurisdiction provided data for 1, 2, or 4 weeks' filings in May 1996. Data from jurisdictions that were not required to provide a full month of filings were weighted to represent the full month (see Appendix table A). Data on 15,474 sample felony cases were collected from the 40 sampled jurisdictions. This sample represented 54,579 weighted cases filed during the month of May 1996 in the 75 most populous counties. A small number of cases (64 unweighted, 244 weighted) were omitted from the analysis because they could not be classified into one of the four major crime categories (violent, property, drug, public-order). This report is based on data collected from the following counties and independent cities: Alabama (Jefferson); Arizona (Maricopa, Pima); California (Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Ventura); Florida (Broward, Dade, Hillsborough, Orange); Georgia (Fulton); Hawaii (Honolulu); Illinois (Cook, DuPage); Indiana (Marion); Kentucky (Jefferson); Maryland (Baltimore (city)); Michigan (Wayne); Missouri (Jackson, St. Louis); New York (Bronx, Erie, Kings, Monroe, New York, Queens, Suffolk); Ohio (Hamilton); Pennsylvania (Allegheny, Philadelphia); Tennessee (Shelby); Texas (Dallas, Harris); Washington (King); and Wisconsin (Milwaukee). Because the data came from a sample, a sampling error (standard error) is associated with each reported number. In general, if the difference between two numbers is greater than twice the standard error for that difference, we can say that we are 95% confident of a real difference and that the apparent difference is not simply the result of using a sample rather than the entire population. All differences discussed in this report were statistically significant at or above the 95-percent confidence level. Race and Hispanic origin Several jurisdictions did not provide complete reporting for defendants' Hispanic origin. As a result, the overall reporting level for race combined with Hispanic origin was 79%, compared to 90% for race alone. Because of this underreporting, the categories of race alone account for more defendants than the categories that include both race and Hispanic origin. A large preponderance of the defendants with a Hispanic origin were white, although the category includes all races. Offense categories Felony offenses were classified into 13 categories for this report. These categories were further divided into the four major crime categories of violent, property, drug, and public-order offenses. The following listings contain a representative summary of most of the crimes contained in each category; however, these lists are not meant to be exhaustive. All offenses, except for murder, include attempts and conspiracies to commit. Violent offenses Murder -- Includes homicide, nonnegligent manslaughter, and voluntary homicide. Does not include attempted murder (classified as felony assault), negligent homicide, involuntary homicide, or vehicular manslaughter, which are classified as other violent offenses. Rape -- Includes forcible intercourse, sodomy, or penetration with a foreign object. Does not include statutory rape or nonforcible acts with a minor or someone unable to give legal consent, nonviolent sexual offenses, or commercialized sex offenses. Robbery -- Includes the unlawful taking of anything of value by force or threat of force. Assault -- Includes aggravated assault, aggravated battery, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, felony assault or battery on a law enforcement officer, and other felony assaults. Does not include extortion, coercion, or intimidation. Other violent offenses -- Includes vehicular manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, negligent or reckless homicide, nonviolent or nonforcible sexual assault, kidnaping, unlawful imprisonment, child or spouse abuse, cruelty to a child, reckless endangerment, hit-and-run with bodily injury, intimidation, and extortion. Property offenses Burglary -- Includes any type of entry into a residence, industry, or business with or without the use of force with the intent to commit a felony or theft. Does not include possession of burglary tools, trespassing, or unlawful entry for which the intent is not known. Theft -- Includes grand theft, grand larceny, motor vehicle theft, and any other felony theft. Does not include receiving or buying stolen property, fraud, forgery, or deceit. Other property offenses -- Includes receiving or buying stolen property, forgery, fraud, embezzlement, arson, reckless burning, damage to property, criminal mischief, vandalism, bad checks, counterfeiting, criminal trespassing, possession of burglary tools, and unlawful entry. Drug offenses Drug trafficking -- Includes trafficking, sales, distribution, possession with intent to distribute or sell, manufacturing, and smuggling of controlled substances. Does not include possession of controlled substances. Other drug offenses -- Includes possession of controlled substances, prescription violations, possession of drug paraphernalia, and other drug law violations. Public-order offenses Weapons -- Includes the unlawful sale, distribution, manufacture, alteration, transportation, possession, or use of a deadly weapon or accessory. Driving-related -- Includes driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, driving with a suspended or revoked license, and any other felony in the motor vehicle code. Other public-order offenses -- Includes flight/escape, parole or probation violations, prison contraband, habitual offender, obstruction of justice, rioting, libel, slander, treason, perjury, prostitution/pandering, bribery, and tax law violations. Terms related to pretrial release Released defendant -- Includes any defendant who was released from custody prior to the disposition of his or her case by the court. Includes defendants who were detained for some period of time before being released and defendants who were returned to custody after being released because of a violation of the conditions of pretrial release. The terms "on pretrial release" and "released pending disposition" are both used in this report to refer to all released defendants. Detained defendant -- Includes any defendant who remained in custody from the time of arrest until the disposition of his or her case by the court. This report also refers to detained defendants as "not released." Failure to appear -- Occurs when a court issues a bench warrant for a defendant's arrest because he or she has missed a scheduled court appearance. Types of financial release Surety bond -- A bail bond company signs a promissory note to the court for the full bail amount and charges the defendant a fee for the service (usually 10% of the full bail amount). If the defendant fails to appear, the bond company is liable to the court for the full bail amount. Frequently the bond company requires collateral from the defendant in addition to the fee. Deposit bond --The defendant deposits a percentage (usually 10%) of the full bail amount with the court. The percentage of the bail is returned after the disposition of the case, but the court often retains a small portion for administrative costs. If the defendant fails to appear in court, he or she is liable to the court for the full amount of the bail. Full cash bond -- The defendant posts the full bail amount in cash with the court. If the defendant makes all court appearances, the cash is returned. If the defendant fails to appear in court, the bond is forfeited. Property bond -- Involves an agreement made by a defendant as a condition of pretrial release requiring that property valued at the full bail amount be posted as an assurance of his or her appearance in court. If the defendant fails to appear in court, the property is forfeited. Also known as "collateral bond." Types of nonfinancial release Release on recognizance (ROR) --The court releases the defendant on a signed agreement that he or she will appear in court as required. In this report, the ROR category includes citation releases in which arrestees are released pending their first court appearance on a written order issued by law enforcement or jail personnel. Unsecured bond -- The defendant pays no money to the court but is liable for the full amount of bail should he or she fail to appear in court. Conditional release -- Defendants are released under conditions and are usually monitored or supervised by a pretrial services agency. In some cases, such as those involving a third-party custodian or drug monitoring and treatment, another agency may be involved in the supervision of the defendant. Conditional release sometimes includes an unsecured bond. Other type of release Emergency release -- Defendants are released in response to a court order placing limits on a jail's population. Appendix tables A-G Appendix table A. Population, sampling weights, and number of cases, by SCPS jurisdiction, 1996 Sampling weights Number of cases County (State) Population Filings County Total Unweighted Weighted Jefferson (AL) 662,000 2 2 4 300 1,200 Maricopa (AZ) 2,614,000 2 1.33 2.67 835 2,227 Pima (AZ) 779,000 1 3.3 3.3 348 1,148 Alameda (CA) 1,356,000 2 2 4 319 1,276 Los Angeles (CA) 9,056,000 4 1 4 1,375 5,500 Orange (CA) 2,606,000 2 1.33 2.67 522 1,392 Sacramento (CA) 1,116,000 2 1.33 2.67 398 1,061 San Bernardino (CA) 1,589,000 2 1.33 2.67 360 960 San Francisco (CA) 735,000 2 2 4 295 1,180 Santa Clara (CA) 1,594,000 2 1.33 2.67 356 949 Ventura (CA) 711,000 1 3.3 3.3 166 548 Broward (FL) 1,440,000 2 1.33 2.67 415 1,107 Dade (FL) 2,106,000 4 1 4 474 1,896 Hillsborough (FL) 893,000 2 1.33 2.67 329 877 Orange (FL) 763,000 2 2 4 427 1,708 Fulton (GA) 716,000 2 2 4 450 1,800 Honolulu (HI) 873,000 1 3.3 3.3 172 568 Cook (IL) 5,190,000 4 1 4 678 2,712 DuPage (IL) 860,000 1 3.3 3.3 147 485 Marion (IN) 815,000 1 3.3 3.3 635 2,095 Jefferson (KY) 671,000 4 1 4 132 528 Baltimore (city) (MD) 672,000 2 1.33 2.67 483 1,288 Wayne (MI 2,137,000 4 1 4 203 812 Jackson (MO) 650,000 1 3.3 3.3 398 1,313 St. Louis (MO) 1,003,000 1 3.3 3.3 371 1,224 Bronx (NY) 1,191,000 4 1 4 512 2,048 Erie (NY) 953,000 2 2 4 85 340 Kings (NY) 2,266,000 4 1 4 632 2,528 Monroe (NY) 720,000 2 2 4 213 852 New York (NY) 1,533,000 4 1 4 515 2,060 Queens (NY) 1,973,000 4 1 4 276 1,104 Suffolk (NY) 1,355,000 1 3.3 3.3 240 792 Hamilton (OH) 856,000 1 3.3 3.3 265 874 Allegheny (PA) 1,293,000 2 2 4 138 552 Philadelphia (PA) 1,472,000 4 1 4 324 1,296 Shelby (TN) 864,000 2 2 4 414 1,656 Appendix table B. Most serious arrest charge of felony defendants, by SCPS jurisdiction, 1996 Percent of felony defendants within categories of most serious arrest charge Violent Property Drug Public- County (State) Total offenses offenses offenses order offenses Total 100% 25% 31% 37% 8% Jefferson (AL) 100% 18% 34% 45% 4% Maricopa (AZ) 100 22 29 39 10 Pima (AZ) 100 26 26 38 10 Alameda (CA) 100 18 24 55 4 Los Angeles (CA) 100 23 28 43 6 Orange (CA) 100 13 26 55 5 Sacramento (CA) 100 32 29 26 14 San Bernardino (CA) 100 27 28 39 6 San Francisco (CA) 100% 17% 19% 59% 5% Santa Clara (CA) 100 19 28 46 8 Ventura (CA) 100 22 29 41 8 Broward (FL) 100 15 34 45 7 Dade (FL) 100 36 32 26 6 Hillsborough (FL) 100 27 29 38 6 Orange (FL) 100 29 38 28 6 Fulton (GA) 100 38 26 34 2 Honolulu (HI) 100% 23% 42% 29% 6% Cook (IL) 100 9 18 66 7 DuPage (IL) 100 7 65 14 14 Marion (IN) 100 21 43 28 8 Jefferson (KY) 100 36 36 27 2 Baltimore (city) (MD) 100 26 33 40 0 Wayne (MI) 100 33 31 27 9 Jackson (MO) 100 13 49 31 8 St. Louis (MO) 100 15% 56% 15% 14% Bronx (NY) 100 24 15 53 8 Erie (NY) 100 32 25 32 12 Kings (NY) 100 34 18 37 11 Monroe (NY) 100 23 46 20 11 New York (NY) 100 28 25 41 6 Queens (NY) 100 37 32 21 10 Suffolk (NY) 100 17 35 18 30 Hamilton (OH) 100% 27% 46% 20% 7% Allegheny (PA) 100 38 42 11 9 Philadelphia (PA) 100 38 32 22 8 Shelby (TN) 100 28 32 31 10 Dallas (TX) 100 28 34 32 6 Harris (TX) 100 26 36 29 8 King (WA) 100 29 27 41 4 Milwaukee (WI) 100 31 34 23 11 Note: Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding. Appendix table C. Gender and age of felony defendants, by SCPS jurisdiction, 1996 Percent of felony defendants Gender Age at arrest County (State) Total Male Female Total Under 21 21-29 30-39 40 older Total 100% 84% 16% 100% 19% 33% 30% 18% Jefferson (AL) 100% 80% 20% 100% 14% 32% 31% 23% Maricopa (AZ) 100 84 16 100 15 35 33 17 Pima (AZ) 100 87 13 100 20 32 29 19 Alameda (CA) 100 81 19 100 14 34 33 19 Los Angeles (CA) 100 89 11 100 12 30 31 27 Orange (CA) 100 77 23 100 11 37 35 17 Sacramento (CA) 100 78 22 100 11 33 39 17 San Bernardino (CA) 100 83 17 100 15 33 35 18 San Francisco (CA) 100% 83% 17% 100% 12% 32% 35% 21% Santa Clara (CA) 100 85 15 100 15 39 32 13 Ventura (CA) 100 81 19 100 16 37 30 16 Broward (FL) 100 81 19 100 15 35 31 19 Dade (FL) 100 86 14 100 14 33 34 19 Hillsborough (FL) 100 76 24 100 16 36 32 16 Orange (FL) 100 80 20 100 22 36 31 11 Fulton (GA) 100 82 18 100 18 30 30 22 Honolulu (HI) 100% 79% 21% 100% 11% 30% 45% 15% Cook (IL) 100 87 13 100 26 36 25 13 DuPage (IL) 100 80 20 100 26 28 34 12 Marion (IN) 100 81 19 100 26 34 25 14 Jefferson (KY) 100 89 11 100 26 33 23 19 Baltimore (city) (MD) 100 84 16 100 21 35 30 14 Wayne (MI) 100 87 13 100 21 35 24 21 Jackson (MO) 100 76 24 100 14 36 33 18 St. Louis (MO) 100 78% 22% 100% 20% 32% 33% 15% Bronx (NY) 100 83 17 100 23 28 31 18 Erie (NY) 100 89 11 100 40 29 21 9 Kings (NY) 100 84 16 100 24 28 29 19 Monroe (NY) 100 82 18 100 34 28 27 11 New York (NY) 100 88 12 100 22 26 33 19 Queens (NY) 100 91 9 100 29 31 28 12 Suffolk (NY) 100 89 11 100 24 36 25 15 Hamilton (OH) 100% 77% 23% 100% 18% 35% 32% 14% Allegheny (PA) 100 86 14 100 14 29 41 16 Philadelphia (PA) 100 86 14 100 24 34 26 16 Shelby (TN) 100 86 14 100 23 37 29 11 Dallas (TX) 100 84 16 100 20 23 39 18 Harris (TX) 100 79 21 100 23 34 25 19 King (WA) 100 83 17 100 11 39 29 21 Milwaukee (WI) 100 90 10 100 24 39 26 12 Note: Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding. Appendix table D. Race and Hispanic origin of felony defendants, by SCPS jurisdiction, 1996 Percent of felony defendants Race and Hispanic origin Black, White, Other, Hispanic, Race non- non- non- any County (State) Total Black White Other Total Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic race Total 100% 58% 40% 2% 100% 50% 23% 3% 24% Jefferson (AL) 100% 74% 26% 0% ... ... ... ... ... Maricopa (AZ) 100 21 74 5 100 16 44 5 35 Pima (AZ) 100 13 83 4 100 13 43 4 40 Alameda (CA) 100 77 19 4 100 64 16 3 17 Los Angeles (CA) ... ... ... ... 100 28 17 2 53 Orange (CA) ... ... ... ... 100 7 46 4 43 Sacramento (CA) 100 32 65 3 100 32 46 3 19 San Bernardino (CA) 100 34 65 2 ... ... ... ... ... San Francisco (CA) 100% 45% 51% 4% ... ... ... ... ... Santa Clara (CA) ... ... ... ... 100 14 29 7 50 Ventura (CA) 100 8 91 1 100 8 40 1 51 Broward (FL) 100 55 45 0 100 54 36 0 10 Dade (FL) 100 56 44 -- 100 52 13 -- 34 Hillsborough (FL) 100 51 49 -- 100 50 41 -- 8 Orange (FL) 100 52 48 0 ... ... ... ... ... Fulton (GA) 100 93 7 0 100 93 6 0 1 Honolulu (HI) 100% 10% 29% 62% ... ... ... ... ... Cook (IL) 100 76 24 -- 100 76 14 -- 9 DuPage (IL) 100 23 75 2 ... ... ... ... ... Marion (IN) 100 65 35 1 100 65 32 1 3 Jefferson (KY) 100 51 49 0 100 51 49 0 0 Baltimore (city) (MD) 100 88 11 1 100 88 11 1 -- Wayne (MI) 100 90 10 1 ... ... ... ... ... Jackson (MO) 100 64 36 1 100 62 35 1 3 St. Louis (MO) 100 55% 45% -- ... ... ... ... ... Bronx (NY) 100 53 47 1 100 42 5 1 53 Erie (NY) 100 77 21 1 100 73 17 1 9 Kings (NY) 100 63 36 1 100 60 12 1 27 Monroe (NY) 100 74 25 1 100 62 22 1 15 New York (NY) 100 61 37 3 100 53 11 3 34 Queens (NY) 100 51 45 4 100 46 17 4 33 Suffolk (NY) 100 45 54 1 100 39 45 1 15 Hamilton (OH) 100% 66% 33% 1% 100% 65% 33% 1% 2% Allegheny (PA) 100 57 43 1 ... ... ... ... ... Philadelphia (PA) 100 70 30 1 100 69 19 1 12 Shelby (TN) 100 84 15 -- ... ... ... ... ... Dallas (TX) 100 53 46 1 100 52 28 1 18 Harris (TX) 100 49 51 1 100 48 29 1 22 King (WA) 100 37 59 4 100 38 47 4 11 Milwaukee (WI) 100 73 24 2 ... ... ... ... ... Note: Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding. Appendix table E. Felony defendants released before or detained until case disposition, by SCPS jurisdiction, 1996 Percent of felony defendants Released before case disposition Financial release Nonfinancial release Detained until case disposition Full Surety Deposit cash Property Recog- Condi- Unsecure Emergency Held on Denied County (State) Total bond bond bond bond nizance tional bond release Total bail bail Total 63% 18% 7% 2% 2% 24% 6% 4% 1% 37% 30% 6% Jefferson (AL) 79% 27% 0% 2% 38% 2% 1% 8% 0% 21% 19% 2% Maricopa (AZ) 76 11 9 -- 0 40 15 1 0 24 14 10 Pima (AZ) 63 9 0 4 0 31 19 0 0 37 37 0 Alameda (CA) 60 26 0 0 0 33 0 0 0 40 23 17 Los Angeles (CA) 31 10 0 0 0 20 -- 0 0 69 69 1 Orange (CA) 47 11 0 1 0 35 0 0 0 53 51 2 Sacramento (CA) 53 27 0 -- 0 25 0 0 0 47 26 21 San Bernardino (CA) 37 10 -- 0 0 22 4 0 0 63 61 2 San Francisco (CA) 76% 21% 0% 2% 0% 50% 3% 0% 0% 24% 24% 0% Santa Clara (CA) 52 18 0 1 0 17 16 0 0 48 46 2 Venura (CA) 54 21 0 1 0 18 14 0 0 46 38 8 Broward (FL) 74 45 -- 12 0 2 8 0 8 26 15 11 Dade (FL) 51 12 10 2 3 3 17 3 0 49 37 12 Hillsborough (FL) 79 63 0 3 0 10 3 0 0 21 10 11 Orange (FL) 68 56 0 5 0 2 5 0 0 32 26 6 Fulton (GA) 75 47 0 3 7 7 -- 10 0 25 17 8 Honolulu (HI) 58% 16% 0% 12% 0% 3% 19% 0% 8% 42% 40% 2% Cook (IL) 73 -- 34 -- 0 0 5 27 7 27 26 1 DuPage (IL) 72 0 69 0 0 1 1 0 0 28 28 0 Marion (IN) 82 34 6 1 0 36 4 0 0 18 12 6 Jefferson (KY) 73 0 23 1 2 43 4 0 1 27 26 1 Baltimore (city) (MD) 54 28 -- 0 4 13 8 -- 0 46 38 8 Wayne (MI) 68 1 41 0 0 0 0 21 5 32 20 12 Jackson (MO) 79 10 19 0 -- 4 0 45 0 21 20 1 St. Louis (MO) 70% 10% 23% 1% 10% 3% 0% 23% 0% 30% 21% 9% Bronx (NY) 76 0 0 0 0 76 0 0 0 24 19 5 Erie (NY) 54 10 0 4 0 38 0 1 0 46 46 0 Kings (NY) 80 0 0 0 0 80 0 0 0 20 11 9 Monroe (NY) 65 0 0 1 0 48 16 0 0 35 28 7 New York (NY) 69 0 0 0 0 69 0 0 0 31 18 13 Queens (NY) 79 0 0 0 0 79 0 0 0 21 12 10 Suffolk (NY) 74 1 2 11 0 59 -- 0 0 26 12 15 Hamilton (OH) 58% 2% 20% 0% 10% 4% 22% 0% 0% 42% 37% 6% Allegheny (PA) 80 6 27 15 0 31 0 0 0 20 18 2 Philadelphia (PA) 75 14 27 0 0 11 17 6 0 25 21 4 Shelby (TN) 65 52 0 0 0 -- 13 0 0 35 34 1 Dallas (TX) 51 45 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 49 47 1 Harris (TX) 49 42 0 1 0 -- 2 3 0 51 35 16 King (WA) 53 10 1 0 26 17 0 0 47 47 0 Milwaukee (WI) 60 0 -- 10 0 37 12 -- -- 40 30 10 Note: Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding. *Released on own recognizance. --Less than 0.5%. Appendix table F. Adjudication outcome for felony defendants, by SCPS jurisdiction, 1996 Percent of felony defendants Adjudication outcome Not Adjudicated Convicted Misde- convicted Other County (State) within 1 year Total Felony meanor Total Dismissed Acquitted outcome* Total 86% 70% 55% 15% 30% 29% 1% -- Jefferson (AL) 49% 62% 47% 15% 38% 38% 0% 0% Maricopa (AZ) 86 56 48 8 44 43 -- -- Pima (AZ) 96 46 44 2 54 52 1 0 Alameda (CA) 81 82 71 12 17 17 0 -- Los Angeles (CA) 95 85 79 6 15 15 -- 1 Orange (CA) 88 83 75 8 17 16 1 0 Sacramento (CA) 93 80 58 22 20 19 1 0 San Bernardino (CA) 91 83 69 15 16 16 1 1 San Francisco (CA) 74% 80% 57% 22% 19% 19% 0% 1% Santa Clara (CA) 86 87 81 6 13 13 0 -- Ventura (CA) 89 88 85 3 12 11 1 0 Broward (FL) 87 74 71 2 26 26 1 -- Dade (FL) 91 59 52 7 40 30 10 -- Hillsborough (FL) 90 73 64 10 27 26 -- 0 Orange (FL) 94 73 59 14 27 26 1 -- Fulton (GA) 79 37 32 5 63 63 0 0 Honolulu (HI) 75% 88% 87% 1% 12% 10% 2% 0% Cook (IL) 84 60 58 2 40 36 4 0 DuPage (IL) 85 94 92 2 6 6 1 0 Marion (IN) 87 51 40 11 49 47 2 0 Jefferson (KY) 91 63 25 38 37 37 0 0 Baltimore (city) (MD) 84 37 27 10 63 60 2 -- Wayne (MI) 88 67 65 2 33 29 4 0 Jackson (MO) 80 62 57 5 38 38 -- 0 St. Louis (MO) 95% 86% 78% 8% 14% 14% 1 0% Bronx (NY) 81 69 29 40 30 29 -- 1 Erie (NY) 94 73 28 46 25 25 0 1 Kings (NY) 93 62 21 41 37 37 0 1 Monroe (NY) 80 65 38 28 35 34 1 0 New York (NY) 91 63 35 29 36 36 -- 1 Queens (NY) 89 65 26 39 34 34 0 1 Suffolk (NY) 91 98 74 24 2 2 0 0 Hamilton (OH) 96% 68% 48% 20% 31% 31% 1% -- Allegheny (PA) 79 83 66 17 17 17 0 1 Philadelphia (PA) 72 52 43 9 48 42 6 0 Shelby (TN) 72 75 42 33 25 25 -- 0 Dallas (TX) 77 83 74 8 17 17 1 0 Harris (TX) 77 79 64 16 20 20 -- 1 King (WA) 97 85 85 0 13 13 1 1 Milwaukee (WI) 89 87 81 6 13 13 1 0 Note: Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding. --Less than 0.5%. *Includes diversion and deferred adjudication. Appendix Table G. Most severe type of sentence received by defendants convicted of a felony, by SCPS jurisdiction, 1996 Percent of felony defendants Incarceration Nonincarceration County (State) Total Prison Jail Total Probation Fine Total 69% 35% 34% 31% 30% 1% Jefferson (AL) 27% 27% 0% 73% 71% 2% Maricopa (AZ) 59 26 33 41 40 -- Pima (AZ) 59 47 12 41 41 0 Alameda (CA) 94 29 65 6 6 0 Los Angeles (CA) 89 47 42 11 11 -- Orange (CA) 83 34 49 17 17 0 Sacramento (CA) 88 35 53 12 12 0 San Bernardino (CA) 91 46 45 9 9 0 San Francisco (CA) 65% 9% 55% 35% 34% 1% Santa Clara (CA) 93 22 71 7 7 0 Ventura (CA) 96 38 58 4 4 0 Broward (FL) 37 18 19 63 62 1 Dade (FL) 64 9 55 36 34 2 Hillsborough (FL) 33 16 17 67 66 1 Orange (FL) 47 15 32 53 53 -- Fulton (GA) 44 24 21 56 56 0 Honolulu (HI) 84% 43% 41% 16% 16% 0% Cook (IL) 45 43 2 55 55 0 DuPage (IL) 55 28 27 45 44 1 Marion (IN) 73 37 36 27 24 3 Jefferson (KY) 63 56 7 37 37 0 Baltimore (city) (MD) 75 39 36 25 25 0 Wayne (MI) 40 28 13 60 60 0 Jackson (MO) 41 37 4 59 59 0 St. Louis (MO) 51% 33% 18% 49% 48% 1% Bronx (NY) 72 63 9 28 28 0 Erie (NY) 80 40 40 20 20 0 Kings (NY) 85 47 38 15 15 0 Monroe (NY) 52 28 25 48 48 0 New York (NY) 79 59 20 21 21 0 Queens (NY) 69 54 15 31 31 0 Suffolk (NY) 79 32 47 21 17 4 Hamilton (OH) 55% 37% 17% 45% 42% 2% Allegheny (PA) 49 16 33 51 51 0 Philadelphia (PA) 47 19 28 53 53 0 Shelby (TN) 86 56 30 14 13 2 Dallas (TX) 53 27 26 47 46 1 Harris (TX) 84 38 46 16 16 -- King (WA) 92 38 54 8 6 3 Milwaukee (WI) 75 42 33 25 24 1 Note: Sentences to incarceration may have also included a probation term. Sentences to prison, jail, and probation may have included a fine, restitution, or community service. Fines included restitution or community service in some instances. Detail may not add to 100% because of rounding. --Less than 0.5%. End of text file Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1996 NCJ 176981 th 10/23/99