San Diego’s former mayor was sentenced today for one felony and two misdemeanors for restraining, grabbing or kissing three different women earlier this year.
Some news reports Monday will give details of Bob Filner’s crimes, citing a probation report. And you’ll hear that Filner will serve custody at home on GPS monitoring and report to the County’s Probation Department.
So here’s some information about what a probation report is and what it means to be under home confinement and supervised by Probation.
“The Probation Department’s role in sentencing and supervision is generally behind the scenes,” Chief Probation Officer Mack Jenkins said. “But Probation plays a critical role in the criminal justice system and serving public safety, and the Filner case highlights the kind of work our department does every day.”
The Probation Report
• The Probation Department’s court investigations unit completes about 10,000 pre-sentence investigations and probation reports a year. The purpose of the report is to collect information about the circumstances of the crime and the prior record and history of the defendant to help the court make a sentencing decision.
• The Probation Department reaches out to each victim in a case to allow them an opportunity to have their experience documented and memorialized in the report. News reports told of more than a dozen women with allegations against Filner. However, in its pre-sentence investigation, the Probation Department interviewed the three victims whose criminal complaints to the Sheriff’s Department resulted in the case’s felony and misdemeanor charges. The allegations of the other women did not lead to criminal charges and therefore are not included in this report.
• As part of the investigation process, the Probation Department interviews a defendant. The defendant is interviewed to get his side of the crime and to gather information for a risk assessment. The Probation Department interviewed Bob Filner shortly after his guilty plea in October.
• The Probation Department assesses offenders to determine their risk to reoffend and what they need to be successful and not commit a future crime.
• The probation report will make a recommendation for probation or prison. If the recommendation is for prison, the report will include a recommended length of sentence based on a number of factors. If the recommendation is for probation, the report will include recommended conditions, e.g. report to probation officer, attend counseling as directed, pay restitution, submit to search by any peace officer, etc. All of the conditions must be related to the crime and support community safety and rehabilitation. If the recommendation is for probation, the report will also include a preliminary case plan, highlighting areas that should addressed during community supervision and treatment.
Home Custody and Probation
• Filner was sentenced to 270 days in jail. The court ordered three months of the time to be served on home confinement on GPS. The court “stayed” the balance of 180 days, pending successful probation compliance.
• He was also sentenced to three years on probation.
• The Probation Department will supervise Filner while he serves his home confinement and for his probation term after that. Probation supervises offenders according to their risk level and their needs.
• Filner was ordered to comply with standard probation terms. These include having no contact with any of his victims and being subject to home searches by Probation or other law enforcement.
• Filner was ordered to attend mental health counseling.
• Filner was also barred from running for office while on probation.
• Filner will wear a GPS monitoring device and is not allowed to leave his apartment building without permission of his probation officer.
• The court authorized Filner to leave home for medical, dental and mental health appointments.
Stayed sentence
• This means if Filner violates any terms of his probation, his custody sentence of six months can be imposed
Probation Supervision
• Following his period of home confinement, Filner must serve a period of probation supervision that will require him to report to a probation officer and comply with his probation terms. How intensively a probationer is supervised—how often they have to see a probation officer—is shaped by their risk level and their progress on probation.
• He will be formally supervised by the San Diego County Probation Department for at least 18 months. If successfully completes 18 months of probation, his formal supervision by the probation department will end. He’ll still be “on probation” and subject to the terms of his sentence, and he’ll report to the court periodically.
