Also known as: probationer · probations · probationers · probated sentence · supervised release · conditional sentence
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A court-imposed criminal sentence that releases a convicted person into the community under supervision and stated conditions instead of incarceration. Compliance with the conditions for the full term ends supervision and lifts the restrictions. Violation of conditions can lead to increased supervision, added restrictions, or revocation and imprisonment.
Pearl Porter stands trial for robbery. The prosecution calls a key eyewitness who is on juvenile probation. The defense seeks to cross-examine the witness about that probation status to show possible bias in favor of the state. The trial court allows the questions after finding they are necessary to test credibility.
Pilar Pena, age sixteen, receives probation after pleading guilty to armed burglary. She later commits new offenses that violate the probation terms. The court revokes probation, adjudicates her guilty, and imposes life without parole for the original burglary.
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Priya Prasad is on probation when federal agents recruit her to wear a wire during conversations with a suspected associate. The recordings capture incriminating statements. At trial the associate objects that the probationer-informant arrangement violated his privacy rights.
Peter Park is arrested for domestic battery and for violating probation. The victim signs an affidavit describing the assault. The trial court admits the affidavit at the probation-revocation hearing over the defense objection that the declarant was unavailable for cross-examination.
Pavel Petrov receives probation after a guilty plea. The judge later finds additional facts that increase the probation term beyond the statutory maximum for the offense. The defense argues the extra term rests on judicial fact-finding that a jury must perform.
Perry Pratt is on probation when charged with a new offense. He raises an insanity defense based on a long-standing mental condition. The court considers whether the probation history and prior compliance affect the determination of criminal responsibility.
A defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to counsel at combined probation revocation and sentencing proceedings. The right is not automatic in every revocation hearing but turns on case-specific factors including the complexity of the issues and the risk of incarceration.
A court may not revoke probation and imprison a defendant for failure to pay a fine or restitution without first determining that the defendant willfully refused to pay despite having the ability to do so or that adequate alternatives to imprisonment are unavailable. Automatic revocation for nonpayment violates equal protection and due process.
A probationer’s incriminating statements to a probation officer made under a general obligation to be truthful are not deemed compelled or involuntary. The probationer must affirmatively invoke the privilege to obtain Fifth Amendment protection.
Before modifying the conditions of probation the court must hold a hearing at which the person has the right to counsel and an opportunity to make a statement and present information in mitigation.
…conducted a bench trial, found him guilty of violating § 922(q), and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment and two years' supervised release. On appeal, respondent challenged his conviction based on his claim that § 922(q) exceeded Congress' power to legislate under the Commerce Clause. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth…