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'Hernandizing' and the single-course exception: SGC trainer walks through when and how priors carry over
Summary
The trainer explained the Hernandez rule (commonly called 'hernandizing'): when multiple offenses are sentenced in the same hearing, earlier imposed sentences are usually carried onto the later offense’s criminal-history worksheet, with narrow exceptions for single-course-of-conduct crimes such as meth involving a child, kidnapping or burglary.
Unidentified Presenter, a trainer with the Sentencing Guidelines Commission, described the Hernandez rule and the related exceptions that determine when multiple sentences should be carried into criminal history.
The presenter defined hernandizing as "just simply the idea that the court is practicing judicial economy," explaining that when two or more offenses are sentenced in the same hearing (same judge, same day), the first sentence typically becomes eligible to be carried over as a prior for the later sentence. "So we're going to Hernandez that," the presenter said when illustrating how an aggravated robbery sentence could be carried over to a later fifth-degree drug sentence imposed within the same hearing.
Exceptions were emphasized: the commission's policy does not require hernandizing when the offenses fall under the 'single course of conduct, multiple sentences' exception (examples include meth offenses involving a child or vulnerable adult, certain burglaries, or kidnapping-related offenses). In those cases, the practice differs: only the highest-severity offense may be listed for criminal-history purposes rather than carrying each sentence as a prior.
Practical tips included building worksheets iteratively in the electronic system (copy priors then remove those not applicable) and paying attention to how offenses are described (single course of conduct vs. separate offenses) because that classification affects which priors are included.
