ABSTRACT
This credit card situation . . . does not speak of the sort of activity where the public screams for protection, Your H onor... I think that in the vernacular the defendant stands before you convicted of having committed a white-collar crime and. . . I suggest to the Court that he should be sentenced in conformity with people who have been convicted of white-collar crimes, and not. . . on the basis of his being Salvatore Bonnano. (Gay Talese, Honor Thy Father)
If the jury return a verdict of guilty, the sentencing phase begins. A police officer enters the witness box and reads out the ‘antecedent history5 of the defendant. Since the end of the 1960s, these antecedents have tended to be rather mundane statements about previous convictions, employment history, and family income and circumstances. However, earlier court records reveal items such as a list of ‘criminal associates5 and of prior ‘unfortunate business experiences5. Defence counsel may then cross-examine on these facts and, if he thinks it wise, may ask about the co-operativeness of his client during questioning. (Beliefs by suspects about the impact that the police can have upon their sentences as well as on whether or not they are prosecuted influence their co-operation during investiga tions.) If he thinks it wise, counsel may also ask whether or not his client is regarded as the ‘true5 principal of the fraud.
