Expert: Robin Sexton - 8/28/2009

Question
A person is charged with a 3rd degree felony. What does a person do to get a 3rd degree felony ?

Answer
Sharon,

Felony by definition is a more serious crime then a misdemeanor.   The distinction is usually in the amount of time or where the person does the time.  For example in Michigan a felony is anything over 1 year penalty and is served in state prison as compared to a county jail.  Each state will be different.  Some states define it even further by degree.  Normally going down so that a first degree is more serious then a third degree.  again state statute will define the difference.  so depending on the state ( Michigan does not use degree) the degree will be defined by statute so that a first degree could be 20 to life, second could be 5 to 20 and third could be 1 -5.

Hope that helped, sorry if it was a little confusing


robin