Suspended Execution of Sentence (SES) Law and Legal Definition
Suspended Execution of Sentence or SES is a sentencing option available to the trial court. In SES, the defendant is placed on probation with an incarceration amount preset in case of revocation. The Judge can execute that sentence if the probation is revoked. An SES. is a conviction for all purposes. The conviction will show on the record at the end of the probationary period even where it is completed successfully. In short an SES only avoids jail time and carries all the other penalties the same as if you plead guilty without an attorney. The record is an open record and will remain so even after the probation is completed or the sentence served.
In Missouri, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 557.011.2 allows a court to pronounce sentence and suspend its execution, placing the person on probation. Suspended executions of sentence are considered to be final judgments by Missouri courts, while suspended impositions of sentence are not. However both suspended impositions of sentence and suspended executions of sentence qualify as prior convictions for purposes of 21 U.S.C.S. § 841(b)(1)(A).( Drug Offenses)[ United States v. Craddock, 593 F.3d 699, 701 (8th Cir. 2010)]
A suspended execution of sentence constituted an "entry of judgment and sentence" [ Finley v. State, 847 S.W.2d 105, 1992 Mo. App. LEXIS 1762 (Mo. Ct. App. 1992).]
The following is an example of a State Statute (Missouri) on SES:
A person convicted of Pharmacy robbery in the first and second degree shall not be eligible for suspended execution of sentence, parole or conditional release until having served a minimum years of imprisonment.[§ 569.035 R.S.Mo.; § 569.025 R.S.Mo.]
