Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(D)  Actual Confinement.  Note that actual confinement is distinguished from the nominal “sentence imposed” or “ordered” by the court.  The difference is significant.  Because of good time, conduct credits, pre-sentence credit for time served, early release, release on parole, and the like, a person for whom a sentence imposed is six months will only rarely actually be confined for the full six months.  If the person is released one day early, for any reason, s/he would not have been actually confined for six months.  It may be more difficult to determine the length of time actually served in confinement than it is to determine what sentence the court officially imposed.  It may be necessary to consult jail records, or other less conventional forms of proof, such as declarations of the defendant, family members, probation records, and the like, and add together the actual number of days from each criminal conviction (even minor ones such as traffic convictions that otherwise would not trigger any adverse immigration consequences).  The court will usually create an account record of actual days served when imposing a custody sentence against which such days are credited or deducted.