Cumulative Sentence (redirected from Sentence (law))

Separate consecutive terms of imprisonment imposed upon a defendant who has been convicted of two or more distinct offenses; any term of imprisonment that becomes effective subsequent to the expiration of a prior one.

A cumulative sentence is also known as a from and after sentence.

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cumulative sentence n. when a criminal defendant has been found guilty of more than one offense, the judge may sentence him/her to prison for successive terms for each crime (eg. five years for burglary, three years for possession of stolen property) which add up and accumulate to eight years. The other choice would be to sentence the defendant to a concurrent sentence, in which the lesser term would be merged with the longer, they would run at the same time, and thus result in a five-year term in the example.