prior conviction
Past guilty verdict
A prior conviction is a criminal offense for which someone was previously found guilty, relevant when assessing a defendant's history in later legal proceedings.
Prior convictions often affect sentencing, with repeat offenders facing harsher penalties: His prior convictions meant the judge had little discretion.
The term appears in legal contexts and news coverage of criminal cases.
- felonySerious criminal offense
- criminal recordLog of past convictions
- criminal historyRecord of past offenses
- sentenceComplete thought, grammatically
- jail timePeriod of imprisonment
parole · probation · guilty · guilty plea · recidivist · repeat offender · plea · judge · court date · courtroom · jail · prison · background check · arrest · indictment · rap sheet · mugshot · rehabilitation
- courtroom termsoath, witness, judge, trial, jury
- sentencinglife sentence, life sentences, prison sentence, death row, consecutive sentences
prior convictionclean record
Absence of prior offenses
first offense · first-time offender · clean slate · spotless record
prior convictionacquittal
Formal clearing of charges
exoneration · sealed record · charges dropped · record expungement · not guilty verdict
prior, conviction, priors, priority, priorities, prioritize, prioritization, priory, convict