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Guideline J: Criminal Conduct

Criminal conduct, whether a single serious offense or a pattern of lesser ones.

3,891
decided hearing cases
23%
granted

Specific issues and their outcomes

Criminal conduct (unspecified)
22% granted · 2,090
DUI / DWI (criminal)
24% granted · 1,070
Drug related criminal charge
19% granted · 810
Assault / battery
23% granted · 583
Fraud / deception criminal
13% granted · 522
Theft / larceny
22% granted · 422

Mitigations judges credited most

Rehabilitation evidence
239
No subsequent offenses
144
Acknowledgment & remorse
103
Passage of time
100
Credible explanation of omission
24

Counted only where the judge expressly credited the mitigation, not merely where it was claimed.

What the reference material says about criminal-conduct cases

  • The guideline reaches credible evidence of criminal conduct even without a charge or conviction, and a pattern of minor offenses can matter as much as one serious one. In published cases, time elapsed without recurrence and completed obligations (probation, restitution) are the mitigations judges credit most. (SEAD-4; practitioner case reviews)

From our verified reference library: paraphrased from the named sources and reviewed before publication. Descriptive background, not legal advice about any case.

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Descriptive statistics from decided public DOHA cases. Not legal advice or a prediction. † marks samples under 20 cases.