DOVER, Del. (AP)- Democratic lawmakers are proposing changes to Delaware's habitual offender law.
A substitute bill introduced Wednesday eliminates mandatory life sentences for habitual offenders and distinguishes between violent felonies and all other felonies in sentencing habitual criminals.
Under the measure, a person is declared a habitual criminal after being convicted of a third violent felony or a fourth felony of any kind.
If a person has three felony convictions and is then convicted of a violent felony, he would receive a minimum sentence equal to half the maximum penalty allowed for the final conviction.
But if one of the three prior felonies is a violent felony, or if a person is convicted of a third violent felony, he would receive a minimum sentence equal to the maximum allowed for the final conviction.
