People who have been around the criminal justice system are familiar with the term “3G” offense. This term came from Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42.12, Section 3G. The law was re-written in 2017 and is now contained in Code Article 42A.054 as an aggravated crime. But the content is the same. These are serious offenses, such as murder, sex crimes, crimes against children, crimes where a deadly weapon was used or exhibited, among others.
Some of these crimes prohibit a jury from giving probation after a finding of guilty. Additionally, a person sentenced to prison for an aggravated (“3G”) crime will have to serve at least half the time before being considered for parole. Time actually served in prison after sentencing is a huge consideration for someone looking at a substantial number of years. For example, a 20-year sentence could result in parole in a few years; but for an aggravated crime, it would be at least 10 years before parole could be considered.