A psychological assessment of mitigating factors is conducted prior to a defendant entering a plea or prior to sentencing. They assist the court in understanding the numerous multigenerational, biological, and environmental factors that have influenced the defendant’s life experience and offer alternatives to prolonged sentences.
Mitigation evaluations focus on issues related to the individual’s mental state at the time of the crime, psychological difficulties, medical problems, cognitive capacities, developmental issues, education, exposure to trauma, and socioeconomic factors and how these issues may have predisposed the defendant to commit a crime. These issues are offered to the court in an attempt to reduce the severity of the sentence imposed on the defendant.