Departing from the Sentence

 

The sentences provided in the Grids are presumed to be appropriate for the crimes to which they apply. The court must pronounce a sentence of the applicable disposition and within the applicable prison range unless there exist identifiable, substantial, and compelling circumstances to support a departure. The court may depart from the presumptive disposition or duration provided in the Guidelines, and stay or impose a sentence that is deemed to be more appropriate than the presumptive sentence. A pronounced sentence for a felony conviction that is outside the appropriate prison range on the applicable Grid, including a stayed or imposed gross misdemeanor or misdemeanor sentence, is a departure from the Guidelines. A departure is not controlled by the Guidelines, but rather, is an exercise of judicial discretion constrained by statute or case law.