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At Arianne Armstrong Consulting, our Vision is to offer the most thorough, professional and effective defense-based mitigation services to our clients.
We strive for effective advocacy in assisting the client with receiving the lowest possible sentence by presenting all mitigating factors to the court for consideration of variance/downward departures.
We have provided mitigation assistance to clients through Defense Counsel since 2008.
When providing mitigation services, we scour all documentation looking for opportunities to better the client's potentially bleak situation.
We investigate to provide the sentencing court with characteristics of the defendant, childhood trauma, poverty, any circumstances that may have impacted their growth and development or any crisis that may have come about in their past.
And, we also offer unbundles services, last minute pleadings for situations which may rise after counsel has left the case.
This assistance may be in the form of pre-plea consulting, research assistance, and assist with composing alternate presentence reports, sentencing memorandum for clients. We also assist with objections to the presentence report for clients who are seeking in mitigation to lessen the impact of the federal sentencing guidelines on the term the court may impose.
Because Mitigation in the beginning stages of the proceedings is still a niche industry,
the majority of defense attorneys don’t realize that mitigation reports in anticipation of sentencing can be a vital part of sentencing. Federal cases address the statutory sentencing factors enumerated in §3553(a). Presentation of artful expositions of mitigating factors in a client’s personal profile or offense conduct; challenges to the assumptions underlying the guidelines as applied to a particular client; articulating how the statutory objectives of sentencing would be achieved by a non-guidelines sentence; and helping the District Court frame a non-frivolous rationale for leniency.
More than 95% of all federal criminal cases end in conviction. Sentencing is often the most critical phase for the defendant. Prior to 2005, federal judges were bound by mandatory sentencing guidelines that severely limited their ability to deviate from the guidelines based on factors and circumstances specific to the defendant. This all changed in 2005 with U.S. v Booker, in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the sentencing guidelines are advisory only, not mandatory.
We assist counsel with Objections to the presentence report, and we also assist defense attorneys in preparing case strategies prior to plea negotiations and/plea agreements
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This is extremely significant in the federal arena because of the impact the sentencing guidelines can have on the term the defendant is facing. In an effort to humanize the defendant in the eyes of the court and present grounds for a lower sentence, mitigation experts identify grounds for departure/variances as sanctioned by the guidelines.
Our professionally prepared Mitigation Report addresses your personal mitigating factors. It can make the difference in you receiving a reduced sentence. It is a document that presents you as a person, not just another defendant. If you are relying on your pre-sentence report to do this, you are making a huge mistake.
In the criminal justice system, the sentencing segment of the process is of great importance as opportunities may exist to improve the sentence that is handed down by the court. Opportunities for mitigation may also exist afterward if the sentence is not appropriate under the guidelines. We know how to fully examine and look for these opportunities.
In the criminal justice system, the sentencing segment of the process is of great importance as opportunities may exist to improve the sentence that is handed down by the court. Opportunities for mitigation may also exist afterward if the sentence is not appropriate under the guidelines.
We know how to fully examine and look for these opportunities.
to thoroughly evaluate the proposed plea from a sentencing perspective so that the alleged offender and their counsel can make an intelligent and thoughtful decision. Develop sentencing memorandum humanizing the client and advocating novel departure and variance grounds that judges can use without fear of being overturned.
If a prison sentence is inevitable, identify the Bureau of Prisons facilities most beneficial to the client Prior to agreeing to a plea, it is imperative that an offender and their lower know with precision the amount of prison time that can and most likely will be imposed. We completely and his/her family and work for the Federal sentencing guidelines are amended annually; we devote our full attention to any new developments. We also know that the federal sentencing guidelines are extremely intricate and based on a large number of variables.
"Mitigating Factors" are the pieces of information about you or the nature of your offense, that when considered by the Court may result in a sentence less severe than the sentencing guidelines.
There are currently more than 200 mitigating factors that have been recognized for sentencing purposes in federal courts. The number of factors continues to grow. Some factors considered in issuing a below-guidelines sentence have included a defendant's age, prior criminal history, role as a good parent, disadvantaged background, drug, alcohol, and gambling addiction, life of public service, rendering of aid to a victim. good deeds, military service, need for medical treatment, and level of cooperation with the government. For a convicted person, employing qualified experts and effective attorneys to communicate mitigating factors to the court can mean the difference between a sentence that equals despair, and one that provides hope.
More than 95% of all federal criminal cases end in conviction. Sentencing is often the most critical phase for the defendant. Prior to 2005, federal judges were bound by mandatory sentencing guidelines that severely limited their ability to deviate from the guidelines based on factors and circumstances specific to the defendant. This all changed in 2005 with U.S. v Booker, in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the sentencing guidelines are advisory only, not mandatory.
For purposes of sentencing, federal judges must "impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary..." In addition to considering sentencing factors such as affording adequate deterrence, providing restitution to victims, and other policy concerns, federal judges must consider the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant. There is no limitation "on the information concerning the background, character, and conduct of a person convicted of an offense which a court may receive and consider for the purpose of imposing an appropriate sentence." Therefore, defendants who present compelling information to the court that may mitigate -or make less severe- the sentence handed down are greatly advantaged over those who do not.
Thorough preparation for sentencing is necessary if you want to increase your chances of receiving a "reasonable" sentence.
Please consider these facts;
Ninety-three percent of all federal cases result in a guilty plea,
Seventy-five percent of all Criminal Defendants who proceed to trial are convicted,
Ninety-seven percent of criminal defendants, eighty-two percent of federal criminal defendants who are sentenced receive a prison term.
With those odds, shouldn’t you have consider making a sentencing specialist a part of your defense team?
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