Mitigating Factors: Non-Violence :: Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Statutorily-recognized mitigating factors are among the most powerful tools available to a defendant seeking to argue for a reduced sentence. These factors allow the defendant to claim that certain aspects of his or her alleged criminal activity fits into one or more categories recognized by the State of Tennessee as behavior or circumstances that make an offense less serious than it otherwise would be. One statutorily-recognized mitigating factor is that the offense did not threaten or cause serious bodily injury. Stated another way, one could simply say the crime was one of non-violence.

It is not difficult to deduce the reasoning behind the recognition of non-violence as a mitigating factor. Offenses are clearly more serious where they endanger someone’s life, put someone at risk of harm, or actually injure or kill a victim. Tennessee thus allows a defendant to use the fact that he or she did not injure, or pose the risk of injury to, a victim during the commission of the criminal activity in question.

Obviously, certain types of offenses lend themselves to the use of this factor more than others. For example, a defendant convicted of murder will in all likelihood be prevented from using this mitigating factor, while a “white-collar” criminal who is convicted of a non-violent offense like money laundering or securities fraud will almost certainly attempt to use the mitigating factor of non-violence. It should be noted, however, that the availability of the mitigating factor does not mean that it will be lead to a reduced sentence. If, for example, the sentencing court finds that enhancement factors exist that outweigh the fact that the crime was one of non-violence, the sentence may be increased in spite of the existence of the mitigating factor of non-violence.

Any mitigating factor is a good mitigating factor for criminal defendants and should be argued at sentencing if possible. The mitigating factor of non-violence is inherently an effective one because it shows that although the defendant may have committed a criminal offense, he or she has enough respect for others to forego harming another person. This factor thus has the potential to make the defendant more sympathetic in the eyes of the court and lead to a reduced sentence.