Lecture Notes on Crimes Against Property - Criminal Law | CJA 3250, Study notes of Criminal Law

Download Lecture Notes on Crimes Against Property - Criminal Law | CJA 3250 and more Study notes Criminal Law in PDF only on Docsity! Crim. Law 3250 Fall 2012 Melton OUTLINE LESSON EIGHT CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY LESSON ORIENTATION: Chapter Seven in the text OVERVIEW: Crimes against property generally fall into one of three general categories. 1. Crimes involving the taking of property, 2. crimes involving damaging or destroying property and 3. crimes involving the invasion of property. “Theft” is a term used to describe various property crimes, the most important of which are the common law larceny and the statutory crimes of embezzlement and false pretenses. The emphasis that American law places on private property was inherited from the English common law. Common law property offenses reflect the agrarian environment where possession of such tangible goods as tool, animals, household goods, and the sanctity of the dwelling were of great importance. However, in early English history, the criminal law prohibited only the forcible taking of property. Later, the law was extended to punish non- violent takings. Then, as now, however, economic change caused changes in the law. There arose a need to protect the public from the loss of intangible assets such as stocks, commercial notes and the like. Judges cooperated with the economic power interests of the time to expand larceny laws. The English Parliament enacted the offenses of embezzlement, and false pretenses. These offenses, along with larceny were carried over into this country. Likewise, the present technological revolution requires enactment of new offenses to cope with present-day business practices. This lesson discusses the common-law background and modern-day statutory offenses against property. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:  Summary of crimes involving wrongful acquisition of property  The crime of Larceny  The crime of Embezzlement  The crime of False Pretenses  The crime of Robbery  The crime of Extortion or Blackmail  The crime of Receiving Stolen Property  Summary of crimes involving damaging or destroying property  The crime of Arson  The crime of Vandalism  Summary of crimes involving invasion of property  The crime of Burglary Page 1 of 8  The offense of Trespass  The crime of SUMMARY : CRIMES INVOLVING THE WRONGFUL ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY: Larceny is the wrongful taking of property from the possession of another person who has a superior right to its possession, with the intent to permanently deprive the other person of the property. A common law crime. Embezzlement is a misappropriation of property by a person who already has it in his possession, with the intent to defraud. A statutory crime. False pretenses is distinguishable from larceny in that the perpetrator obtains title and possession of property from another by means of deception. A statutory crime. Robbery is larceny from the victim’s person or presence where the taking is accomplished by force or threats. Extortion is obtaining or attempting to obtain property from the victim by threats not sufficient to constitute robbery. Receipt of stolen property is acceptance of property after the larceny by which it was acquired has been completed; concealing stole property becomes somewhat self-explanatory. Modern criminal statutes have consolidated many of these offenses into a single offense generally labeled theft. See Model Penal Code §223.1 and Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-101. These theft statutes further distinguish or grade thefts in accordance with the value of the item taken into either grand theft or petit theft. Petit theft involves taking of an item of lesser value. It becomes grand theft when the value of the item crosses the statutory threshold. When a number of individual items are taken, some states permit the consolidation of value to permit grand theft to be charges. As a general rule, petit theft will be punished as a misdemeanor and grand theft will be punished as a felony. THE CRIME OF LARCENY: The crime of larceny is an infringement of another person’s possessory interest in property. A common law crime. It is a crime against possession of property. In other words, larceny may be either from the owner or from someone who, although not the owner, nevertheless has a superior possessory interest in the item than the perpetrator. The elements of the offense are: 1. A trespassory 2. taking, and 3. carrying away (asportation) of 4. the personal property 5. of another 6. with the intention to permanently deprive the owner of possession of the property. Discussion of larceny by trick: In such cases, a taking with the victim’s permission can be sufficient for larceny if the permission is obtained by deception. However, the Page 2 of 8 4. Threats to expose the secrets of a person. THE CRIME OF RECEIVING STOLEN PROPERTY: The common law approach: A person who merely received stolen property incurred no criminal liability, not even as an accessory after the fact, because he did not harbor the thief himself. The elements of the crime: 1. receiving 2. stolen property 3. knowing it to be stolen, and 4. with the intent to deprive the owner of the property. It is important that the property be stolen within the definition of the statutory language. Accordingly, some courts have construed the language narrowly finding that such statutes do not cover property that was obtained by embezzlement or false pretenses. SUMMARY OF CRIMES INVOLVING DAMAGING OR DESTROYING PROPERTY: Property crimes also include offenses that do not involve obtaining property belonging to another person, but involve crimes relating to damaging or destroying such property. Among these crimes are: Arson: unlawful burning of property Vandalism: the unlawful injury or destruction of the property of another person. In addition to these crimes, various statutes impose criminal liability for activities such as: tampering with or destroying mail boxes, grave markers, public structures etc. THE CRIME OF ARSON: At common law, arson was the malicious burning of the dwelling house of another. One who intentionally burned her own dwelling committed the common law offense of “house burning” if the house was located in a city or was sufficiently close to other houses as to create a risk of burning the other houses. The elements of the offense are: 1. malicious 2. burning of 3. the dwelling house 4. of another person Discussion of the elements of the offense. - Malicious: Does not require ill will, although such would be sufficient. Malice in an arson case required one of three mental states (intent to burn, knowledge that the structure would burn, or intent to create an obvious fire hazard.) A burning caused by negligence is not common law arson. Page 5 of 8 - Burning: Enough to cause a “charring”. Common law arson did not consider an explosion as arson, unless a fire started. Modern statutory approach to the crime. - Arson is a Class C felony. - Arson in a place of worship is a Class B felony. - Burning your own home is not arson, unless you are trying to collect insurance. THE CRIME OF VANDALISM: Vandalism is an ancient crime. The Vandals were an ancient Germanic people who are associated with senseless destruction as a result of their sack of Rome under King Genseric in 455. During the Enlightenment, Rome was idealized, while the Goths and Vandals were blamed for its destruction. Vandalism was then of course recognized as a crime in the English common law. The intentional and malicious destruction of or damage to the property of another is vandalism. General discussion of the crime: It includes behavior such as breaking windows, slashing tires, spray painting a wall with graffiti, unleashing a computer virus, etc. SUMMARY OF CRIMES INVOLVING THE INVASION OF PROPERTY: Burglary in the common law was the breaking and entering of the dwelling house of another person at night with the intent to commit a felony. Trespass to land is a common law tort that is committed when an individual or the object of an individual intentionally enters the land of another without a lawful excuse. THE CRIME OF BURGLARY: At common law, burglary is the breaking and entering of the dwelling house of another in the nighttime with the intent to commit a felony. 4 Blackstone, Commentaries 224. Discussion of the elements of the crime. - Breaking: Requires the use of actual or constructive force to create an opening of the structure by trespass (without consent). However, if it was already open, there was no breaking. (Constructive Forces are those achieved by obtaining entry by: fraud, threatening and the use of force, the chimney, and/or by having a co-conspirator within the structure open door.) - Entry: The slightest intrusion into the structure by the Δ or some part of their body is sufficient. - Dwelling of Another: Has to do with habitation not ownership (ex: landlord) - Committing a felony: The intention to commit a misdemeanor is not sufficient. Actual commission of the felony is not required. Discussion of the modern approach to the crime. - The concept of use of force or breaking has been eliminated. Any entry, however accomplished is sufficient. - Time of day is irrelevant. Page 6 of 8 - Intent to commit a misdemeanor is sufficient. - Degrees of punishment depends on the type of structure involved. - In businesses, stealing during hours of operation is considered a theft, while after hours is considered a burglary. T.C.A. § 39-14-402 and following THE OFFENSE OF TRESPASS AND THE CRIME OF TRESPASS An interference with the rights of another person to the peaceful enjoyment of property. In the common law, the offense of trespass was a tort. = a civil offense rather than a criminal one. Or a wrong against an individual rather than a crime against society. The Common Law recognized three types of trespass: 1. Trespass to land 2. Trespass to the person (now considered assault), and 3. Trespass to chattels (now considered theft). Discussion of the elements. KEY TERMS:  Tangible Property – Common law property offenses reflect the agrarian environment where possession of such tangible goods as tool, animals, household goods, and the sanctity of the dwelling were of great importance.  Larceny - the wrongful taking of property from the possession of another person who has a superior right to its possession, with the intent to permanently deprive the other person of the property. A common law crime.  False Pretenses - is distinguishable from larceny in that the perpetrator obtains title and possession of property from another by means of deception. A statutory crime.  Embezzlement - a misappropriation of property by a person who already has it in his possession, with the intent to defraud. A statutory crime.  Receiving Stolen Property - acceptance of property after the larceny by which it was acquired has been completed  Grand Theft - The taking of an item whose value crosses the statutory threshold. When a number of individual items are taken, some states permit the consolidation of value to permit grand theft to be charges.  Petit Theft – the taking of an item of lesser value.  Intent to Deprive - I.e. taking something, not planning on returning it. You intend to deprive the person of their goods, items, etc.  Robbery - is larceny from the victim’s person or presence where the taking is accomplished by force or threats.  Aggravated Robbery - is larceny from the victim’s person or presence where the taking is accomplished by force or threats. The difference = aggravated = a weapon is involved.  Burglary - the breaking and entering of the dwelling house of another in the nighttime with the intent to commit a felony. Page 7 of 8