If you are arrested for any sort of criminal charge, it can be terrifying to think that your life will never be the same if you’re convicted. Here are the consequences of felonies versus misdemeanors.
Felonies versus Misdemeanors | Jail Time
There are many types of felonies, and many types of misdemeanors, but generally, felonies involve the potential to go to prison while misdemeanors have the potential to go to jail. The difference is the maximum period of incarceration for a felony is up to life in prison, and on a misdemeanor the longest period that can be imposed is one year in jail.
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Felonies versus Misdemeanors | Degrees of Crimes
There are felonies of the state jail, felonies third-degree, second-degree, and first-degree; those are increasing in severity. There are misdemeanors including Class A, which is the most severe; then there is Class B and Class C. The Class C misdemeanors are those that you go to municipal court for. Misdemeanors where you really have no risk of going to jail include speeding and littering; it’s a fine-only type offense. Class B misdemeanors are offenses like theft. A lot of first-time offender type offenses are Class B misdemeanors where you can go to jail up to six months and have up to a $2,000 fine. Class A misdemeanors are things like assaults and theft over a certain dollar amount. Those have a penalty range that can go up to one year in jail.
Felonies versus Misdemeanors | Differences
Most people that have clean records, other than traffic offenses, can expect there’s a very low likelihood that they’ll go to jail on a misdemeanor. On felony cases, if it involves a theft or something of that nature, the court’s going to want some restitution, some dollar amount paid back to the victim, to avoid going to prison.
In Texas, there are a lot of different categories. If you’re charged with one category, very often we can get the case dropped down to a lower category to lessen your punishment. Please call our San Antonio criminal defense attorneys today to get a free consultation.