Crime Analysis in the State of NY and California - Term Paper Example

ifications Assault Battery Mayhem Degree of physical harm A little moderate -there is only an attempt to do harm (Levesque, 2003) A bit high level – there is an inclusion of actual physical beating (Levesque, 2003) To the highest level – both assault and battery could be combined (Indermaur & Bennett, 1997) Intensity of crime Less intense – harm is not remarkable based on evidence of physical contact or damage Quite intense – harm is remarkable based on evidence of physical contact or damage Intensely high – harm involves cutting of body parts or disabling an individual to prevent from defending oneself (Indermaur & Bennett, 1997) Intensity of violence Can still be defined as violence, but sometimes not so remarkable due to absence of physical evidence There is a remarkable indication of violence, in the presence of minor physical evidence Remarkably violent, as sometimes extreme indication of physical harm is remarkable Assault is the attempt to do harm while battery is the actual physical beating (Levesque, 2003). On the other hand, mayhem could be a combined assault or battery with exceedingly high deprivation of an individual to defend or fight for his or her life (Indermaur & Bennett, 1997). Therefore, these three crimes could be defined based on the following classifications: degree of physical harm, intensity of crime committed, and intensity of violence. Of all three of them, what is substantially less graphic is the assault. There is just an attempt to do physical harm in assault, while in battery and mayhem; there is a remarkable and actual physical contact. On the other hand, mayhem is significantly most remarkable when it comes to degree of physical harm because it could be combined assault or battery, however, there is an inclusion of disabling an individual to fight or defend one’s self. All these three are crimes, but sometimes it is easy to escape responsibility from assault because there can be no actual or physical evidence of harm or violence. On the other hand, there can be physical evidence on battery so it could be remarkably considered a quite intense crime. Lastly, mayhem may be extremely associated with other intense crimes because at some point, it may involve actual amputation of physical body parts just for the victim not to be able to defend or fight for his life. Finally, all these three crimes are considered violent, but sometimes assault cannot be significantly categorized as one due to the absence of physical evidence. Assault however may potentially result to psychological trauma and this could be remarkably used as evidence to recognize it as a violent crime based on the physical evidence. It is not hard to prove physical evidence from battery because of the remarkable indication of violence. There can be actual inclusion of physical harm in battery and this evidence could be used to recognize the intensity of violence committed. Finally, mayhem may be potentially considered as highly violent due to a remarkable high level of physical evidence even to the point that it may cause the victim’s death. Classification Kidnapping False imprisonment Offense against a person’s liberty or freedom Remarkable (Bacigal, 2008) Remarkable (Bacigal, 2008) Physical movement A requirement (Bacigal, 2008) Not a requirement (Bacigal, 2008) Kidnapping and false imprisonment are all crimes committed against a person’s liberty or freedom. Kidnapping involves “seizing, carrying away a person by force, threat of force, fraud or deception” while false imprisonment only involves confinement against the person’s will (Bacigal, 2008, p. 88). The only difference between these two is the physical movement of a person from one place to another. In the case of kidnapping, a physical movement of the victim from one place to another by force, threat of force, fraud or deception is necessary. Based on the above definition, all kidnapping therefore can be considered false imprisonment because of the remarkable indication of offense against a person’s liberty or freedom. However, not all false imprisonments are kidnapping because a physical movement of the victim is a requirement. For example, if a store owner finds out a thief, that person could be confined for a while for investigation and that can be considered false imprisonment. However, if that person could prove that he did not shoplift and was confined against his will, he could file a case against the store under false imprisonment. In the above definition, false imprisonment and kidnapping are shown to be two offenses against a person’s freedom, liberty of own will. These are just the basic requirement in order to classify that there is kidnapping or false imprisonment involved. In the case of kidnapping, the victim most of the time could just gain his freedom back in the presence of a ransom. False imprisonment on the other hand does not necessarily have to execute a ransom just to give the victim his freedom. It is not hard to define the difference between kidnapping and false imprisonment. However, a victim could potentially file a case against the suspect or perpetuator both kidnapping and false imprisonment if he has been kidnapped. This is due to the fact that kidnapping could be a subset of false imprisonment, but not the other way around. Once again, the only thing that differentiates them all is the remarkable involvement of physical movement of a person by the offender disregarding the actual motives or intention. Classification Rape Statutory rape Requirement Broader context Age sensitive Perpetuator Could be anyone capable of initiating sexual activity Could be minor or of legal age Statutory rape is a specific category of rape in which the subjects involved include the perpetuator and a minor who is below 18 years old (Golden, Peterson, Hilgenkamp, Harper & Boskey, 2010). Statutory rape still may be defined to exist even there is a consensual agreement between two parties to have sex, because under the law, a minor does not have a legal consent to be capable of making decision to have sex. On the other hand, statutory rape depends not only on the age of a minor or teen, but on the age of the perpetuator. Even if they agreed to have sex, individuals can still be guilty of statutory rape depending on their situation especially based on age. In most of the time, statutory rape is associated with child molestation. The perpetuator mostly in this case is of legal age, while a child is a minor. Child molestation therefore is a form of statutory rape by definition. Statutory rape originally was named by law in order to protect the innocence of young women, but as time goes by, this applies generally to young people to protect them from having violent or untimely sex. Rape on the other hand evolves over time in its definition. Some states defined it as criminal sexual conduct or sexual assault. However, generally, rape is still a crime or offense committed against the will of an individual. The main element of rape includes the use of force or threat of serious bodily harm (Singer & La Fond, 2010). Rape therefore has become broader in its meaning or context, but some states tries to elaborately define it on a case to case basis. A husband for instance can be guilty of marital rape if he forced his wife to have sex against her will. Although, couples agreed to have sexual relationship with each other in marriage, each of them especially the woman retains her right to have sex at specific time she wants. Her husband therefore cannot force her to have sex if that would be entirely out of her will. Rape as the public generally have known before was a forceful act of a person to have sexual intercourse with the victim, but today, it has become broader in its context. Crimes New York California Assault, battery, mayhem Assault or battery is considered misdemeanor or felony (New York State Law, 2012). Battery and assault may no longer have specific distinction. Assault and battery – one year imprisonment or more and a fine of $500 to $1000 (CriminalDefenseLawyer.com, 2012). Mayhem is encompassed by assault and aggravated assault. Assault and battery are considered misdemeanor or felony and are punishable by 6 months to 4 years imprisonment and a fine of $1000 to $10000 (Shouse Law Group, 2012). Mayhem includes physical harm which involves disabling, cutting or disfiguring body parts; punishable by imprisonment 2 to 8 years, but aggravated version could be imprisonment for life (Justia US Law, 2012). Kidnapping, false imprisonment Kidnapping is defined not based on distance a victim is moved but on the actual purpose (Lawbrain, 2010). Unlawful imprisonment generally involves restraining the person’s movement by force or threats and it is beyond the victim’s consent. Same with other states, New York deals with imprisonment and fines on kidnapping and false imprisonment as they could be considered misdemeanor or felony at certain degree. Kidnapping is moving a victim a substantial distance (contrary to false imprisonment) against the individual’s will using force or threat, its aggravated form involves death, ransom or victim is under 14 years old; punishable by imprisonment of 5, 8 years or for life (Shouse Law Group, 2012). False imprisonment can be either charge as misdemeanor or felony with imprisonment up to one year or 3 years (Shouse Law Group, 2012). Rape, statutory rape Rape is non-consensual sexual intercourse accomplished by means of force, threats or violence. Imprisonment and fines can be imposed on the perpetuator. Statutory rape is unlawful sexual intercourse with below 17 year-old minor; and it can be charged either misdemeanor or felony punishable by minimum of 1 year to 25, years and a maximum $30,000 fine (Frances, 2012). Rape is non-consensual sexual intercourse accomplished by means of force, threats or violence; punishable by formal probation or maximum of 13 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000 (Shouse Law Group, 2012). Statutory rape on the other hand is an unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor under the age of 18; punishable by either probation, maximum of 4 years imprisonment and a fine of $10,000 (Shouse Law Group, 2012). Based on the above definitions and punishments for the different crimes stated in the matrix, the State of New York and California substantially vary in their statutes. It is found that New York and California have substantial reasons to state different reasons or definitions for different crimes and even to label different punishments for them. This only implies that the crimes stated above have broader context and even interpretations. This makes it hard to define certain crimes in a general context because of some minor restrictions or considerations associated with them. References Bacigal, R. J. (2008). Criminal Law and Procedure: An Overview (3rd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Cengage Learning. CriminalDefenseLawyer.com. (2012). New York Assault and Battery Laws. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/violent-crime/new-york-assault-battery-laws Frances, S. (2012). Statutory Rape Laws and Punishments in the State of New York. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Statutory-Rape-Laws-and-Punishments-in-the-State-of-New-York&id=939057 Golden, R. N., Peterson, F. L., Hilgenkamp, K., Harper, J., & Boskey, E. (2010). The Truth about Rape (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Infobase Publishing. Indermaur, J., & Bennett, E. H. (1997). Principles of the Common Law: An Elementary Work Intended for the Use of Students and the Profession. San Francisco, CA: Wm S. Hein Publishing. Justia US Law. (2012). 2009 California Penal Code - Section 203-206.1 :: Chapter 2. Mayhem. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from http://law.justia.com/codes/california/2009/pen/203-206.1.html Levesque, R. J. R. (2003). Sexuality education: what adolescents’ rights require. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Publishers. Shouse Law Group. (2012). California Assault Law. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from http://www.shouselaw.com/assault.html Shouse Law Group. (2012). California Kidnapping Laws. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from http://www.shouselaw.com/kidnapping.html Shouse Law Group. (2012). California’s false imprisonment law. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from http://www.shouselaw.com/false_imprisonment.html Shouse Law Group. (2012). California Rape Law. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from http://www.shouselaw.com/rape.html Shouse Law Group. (2012). California Statutory Rape Laws. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from http://www.shouselaw.com/statutory_rape.html Singer, R. G., & La Fond, J. Q. (2010). Criminal Law (5th ed.). New York, NY: Aspen Publishers Online. Lawbrain. (2010). Kidnapping. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from http://lawbrain.com/wiki/Kidnapping New York State Law (2012). Assault and related offenses. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from, http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/article120.htm Read More