NCJ Number
173458
Editor(s)
D Spears
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Data collected in New South Wales, Australia were used to study age, sex, offenders' prior convictions, and sentences for the 5,519 deception and fraud cases brought to higher courts in the jurisdiction during 1990-95.
Abstract
Analysis showed that the types of offenses were similar to those handled in the local courts, but they involved greater amounts of money. The cases resulted in 3,501 convictions involving 2,048 offenders. Sixty-three percent of the charges had guilty outcomes; 87 percent of the convictions of males and 91 percent of the convictions of females resulted from guilty pleas. The charged was deemed inappropriate in 17 percent of the cases; no further proceedings were directed in an additional 8 percent of the cases. Only 6 percent of the cases had outcomes of not guilty. The remaining 6 percent of the cases involved failure to appear, death of the accused, or transfer to the local court. Thirty percent of the cases involved obtaining money or goods by deception. Seventy-nine percent of the offenders were male; 21 percent were female. Imprisonment was the most frequent penalty in the higher courts, whereas recognizance or a fine was the most common penalty in local courts. Younger offenders tended to be handled more leniently in both local and higher courts. Figures and footnotes