Do three misdemeanors equal a felony?

Question

I have 15 charges, all misdemeanors againts me and someone said that 3 of them equals one felony. Just wondering.

Answer 1

In some states it might. In Illinois, if you commit the same misdemeanor 3 times (three convictions on disorderly conduct charges, for example), the third is a felony.

In response to Iraq51: I worked as a supervisor for the Illinois Dept. of Corrections for 5 years, and have a copy of West's Illinois Criminal Law and Procedure on my lap. A third conviction for the same misdemeanor offense is considered an aggravating factor and can be upgraded to a felony in Illinois. There are 16 aggravating factors in Illinois, and simply being notoriously delinquent is one of them. Even a second time offense in some cases is considered a felony.

Answer 2

No, no matter what state you live in 3 misdemeanors do not equal a felony. The first 2 respondents told you that if you have 3 misdemeanors for the same crime the fourth time it is a felony. Actually those laws are written that a fourth misdemeanor involving the same charge is a felony.

It might sound like hair splitting but it is a separate charge and not a case where the law changes a misdemeanor into a felony. The 4th charge conviction is a felony as a matter of law.

If none of your 15 misdemeanors fall into this situation then no, 3 Ms do not equal 1F. Heck, you'd have 3 felony charges on you record!

Answer 3

You do not identify your jurisdiction, but it is unlikely that a misdemeanor conviction can become a felony conviction. However, it can be that a certain number of offenses can allow some of them to be charged more seriously. USUALLY this can be done only for offenses committed AFTER a conviction, so if 15 cases were pending at the same time, the rule would not permit a greater punishment. But this is not always so. For example, in California a fourth DUI within 10 years can be charged as a felony, even if the later offense occurred before conviction on the earlier ones.

BTW, in California, misdemeanors NEVER count as strikes. What that poster may have been thinking of is that some misdemeanor offenses with priors (such as petty theft with a prior theft) can be charged as felonies, and that new felony could be punished under the Three Strikes law if there were other felonies on the defendant's record.

Answer 4

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RE:
Do three misdemeanors equal a felony?
I have 15 charges, all misdemeanors againts me and someone said that 3 of them equals one felony. Just wondering.

Answer 5

No. They don't add up misdemeanors to make a felony. Felonies are different crimes. There is no such thing as cheap or free expungement in any state. Having a criminal conviction expunged would be for a good person that made a one time mistake. This wouldn't apply to you. You could use the three convictions to demonstrate a learning disability on your part.

Answer 6

For what purposes?

If you are asking whether you are now considered a felon (and therefore can't vote, or serve on a jury, or carry a firearm, etc) the answer is no.

If you are asking about whether it effects the sentence you receive for future crimes, the answer is yes, but it varies in different jurisdictions. In CA, for example, two misdemeanors can count as a strike for purposes of three strikes, etc.

Another possibility is that you have multiple misdemeanors for the same crime within a certain time frame. For example, DUI (in CA) is considered a misdemeanor, but if you get a fourth DUI in seven years, that one couonts as a felony. Full-blown: state prison time, and no firearms, etc.

Answer 7

Never heard of this. This would be a good question for the judge hearing your case.