Maximum Exposure: 42 Stories from Probation

by P.O. Doe

As one of his assignments as a Probation Officer, the author was assigned to the presentence investigations unit. These reports are completed for most defendants after jury trial or plea bargain and prior to sentencing, unless there is a situation that the defendant can waive the report. The content of the presentence report varies, but it normally consists of criminal history, prior performance on supervised release (parole or probation), a summary of the offense, negotiated plea (if any), attorney statements, statement from the offender, fines and fees, time in custody, social factors (upbringing, family situations, employment, military, finances, education, mental/physical health, gang history and alcohol/drug use), and aggravating and mitigating factors. This is followed by an evaluation, disposition and a recommendation. During the years the author was assigned to this unit, he completed over 500 presentence reports. These investigations included about a dozen reports on homicides (including one double murder and two special circumstances murders), almost three times that number in reports on sex crimes, over 100 reports on violence and guns and the balance of the reports on alcohol, narcotics and property related crimes. This eBook includes the 42 most interesting of these cases, most of them including a summary of the case; some of the background factors, the evaluation for the court and the actual sentence. Each includes the author’s thoughts about the case. The content of this eBook is meant to tell the stories of some of the things he observed during his assignment. It is meant to provide information for some readers in that it gives examples of the evaluations for the types of crimes that are included. Certain content, such as names, specific dates and locations have been purposefully removed to preserve required confidentiality of criminal records. A probation officer or other investigator doing a presentence report may find it helpful when completing a similar report of their own. For others, it is meant to provide entertainment in reading about the stories and outcomes of real life crime.

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 8, 2015