CRIMINAL LAW 1. Ahmed T. Ghandour.

VIOLENT CRIME.

ASSAULT.

DEFINITIONS.  Generally speaking, "assault" occurs when someone threatens bodily harm to another in a convincing way.  Assault often is followed by battery.  Battery: is defined as unlawful physical conduct (often an act of violence, but also unwelcome sexual contact).  Stalking: is a criminal activity consisting of the repeated following and harassing of another person.  Stalking is a distinctive form of criminal activity composed of a series of actions that taken individually might constitute legal behavior. For example, sending flowers, writing love notes,  So, not all threats are considered assault. To rise to the level of an actionable offense

ELEMENTS OF ASSAULT.  two main elements must be present:  1. The act was intended to cause apprehension (worry) of harmful or offensive contact; and  2. the act indeed caused apprehension in the victim that harmful or offensive contact would occur.  Therefore, a person who intends to cause apprehension of imminent (soon) harm and succeeds in doing so has committed the tort of assault, which also is a crime.

MORE THAN JUST WORDS.  Words, without an act, cannot constitute an assault. For example, no assault has occurred where a person waves his arms at another and shouts, "I'm going to shoot you!" where no gun is visible or apparent. However, if the threatening words are accompanied by some action that indicates the criminal has the ability to carry out a threat, an assault has occurred.  It is an assault where a person threatens to shoot another while pointing a gun, even where the victim later learns that the gun was not loaded or even real. Moreover, pointing a gun without an accompanying verbal threat is still an assault, assuming the victim saw the gun.

INTENT TO CAUSE APPREHENSION.  Assault requires intent, meaning that there has been a deliberate, unjustified interference with the personal right or liberty of another in a way that causes harm. In the tort of assault, intent is established if a reasonable person is significantly certain that certain consequences will result; intent is established whether or not he or she actually intends those consequences to result. Pointing a gun at someone's head is substantially certain to result in apprehension for the victim.  In criminal law, intent means acting with a criminal or wrongful purpose. Criminal assault statutes often speak of acting "purposely," "knowingly," "recklessly," or "negligently." Acting negligently means to totally differ from the standards of normal conduct. Some criminal assault statutes recognize only "purposely," "knowingly," and "recklessly" as the level of intent required to establish that an offense occurred.

APPREHENSION OF IMMINENT HARM.  The victim must have a reasonable apprehension of imminent injury or offensive contact. This element is established if the act would produce apprehension in the mind of a reasonable person. Apprehension is not the same as fear. Apprehension means awareness that an injury or offensive contact is imminent.  Whether an act would create apprehension in the mind of a reasonable person varies depending upon the circumstances. For example, it may take less to create apprehension in the mind of a child than an adult. Moreover, if a victim is unaware of the threat of harm, no assault has occurred. An assailant who points a gun at a sleeping person has not committed an assault. Finally, the threat must be imminent, meaning impending or about to occur. Threatening to kill someone at a later date would not constitute an assault.

CHILD MALTREATMENT.

DEFINITION.  Child maltreatment is any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver (e.g., clergy, coach, teacher) that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child.

ACTS OF COMMISSION (CHILD ABUSE)  Words or open actions that cause harm, potential harm, or threat of harm  Acts of commission are deliberate and intentional; however, harm to a child might not be the intended consequence. Intention only applies to caregiver acts—not the consequences of those acts. For example, a caregiver might intend to hit a child as punishment (i.e., hitting the child is not accidental or unintentional), but not intend to cause the child to have a concussion. The following types of maltreatment involve acts of commission:  Physical abuse  Sexual abuse  Psychological abuse

ACTS OF OMISSION (CHILD NEGLECT)  Failure to provide needs or to protect from harm or potential harm  Acts of omission are the failure to provide for a child's basic physical, emotional, or educational needs or to protect a child from harm or potential harm. Like acts of commission, harm to a child might not be the intended consequence. The following types of maltreatment involve acts of omission:  Physical neglect  Emotional neglect  Medical and dental neglect  Educational neglect  Insufficient supervision  Exposure to violent environments

THE ELEMENTS OF A CHILD ABUSE CHARGE.  As noted above, child abuse is a crime that encompasses a variety of behaviors involving physical, emotional, or sexual mistreatment or neglect upon a child.  State child abuse laws define child abuse as any act (or failure to act) that: Results in imminent risk or serious harm to a child's health and welfare due to physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; affects a child (typically under the age of 18); by a parent or caregiver who is responsible for the child's welfare.

 In most states, the harm must have been inflicted by non- accidental means. This includes intentional acts, actions that were careless (such as, allowing a known sexual offender or known abuser to be with a child alone), and acts of negligence (such as, leaving a child under a certain age at home alone). Also, the "harm" inflicted upon a child need not be actual, but may include "threats" or "risks of imminent harm".  In addition to state child abuse laws, all states have child protective services (CPS) agencies that investigate reports of abuse and neglect of children in a home. CPS also serves to place children who have been abused or neglected in safer homes, either through adoption or foster care

ROBBERY.

DEFINITION AND BACKGROUND.  Many states define robbery as theft/larceny of property or money through the offender's use of physical force or fear against a victim. Where a deadly weapon such as a gun is used or the victim suffers injury, the robbery may be charged as "armed" or "aggravated." Unlike burglary, the crime of robbery almost always requires the presence of a victim who suffers actual injury, or is threatened with harm.  For example, Dan approaches Victor from behind, demanding Victor's wallet while pressing a hard object into his back. Fearing that Dan has a gun, Victor gives up his wallet. If Dan did use a gun, or if Victor suffered an injury, the charge would likely be elevated to "armed" or "aggravated" robbery.

THE ELEMENTS OF ROBBERY.  The penal codes of each state define robbery in different ways, but the definitions contain the same basic elements. Robbery generally consists of:  The taking, with the intent to steal, of; the personal property of another; from his or her person or in their presence; against his or her will; by violence, intimidation or the threat of force.  Essentially, robbery is theft accomplished by violence or the threat of violence. Since this element of force sits at the core of robbery, a vital question in a robbery prosecution concerns the timing of the violence. If, for example, the violence only occurs as the robber attempts to escape from the discovered scene of a theft, the charges brought might include larceny and resisting arrest, but not necessarily robbery.

 The use or threat of force can also be slight, and the amount required to turn a theft into a robbery depends on the parties involved and the situation. If a small amount of violence or intimidation is enough to force the victim to turn over their property based on the natures of the victim and the assailant (if, say, the assailant is large and powerful and the victim is slight and elderly), then a robbery has occurred.  While the thief doesn't have to use very much force in order to commit a robbery, a certain amount is still required. Purse snatchings, for instance, require some resistance by the victim before the theft rises to the level of a robbery. If the robber can remove the purse without any force in excess of what is required to simply take the purse off the victims person, then a jury may determine that no robbery has taken place.

 States commonly separate robbery into different degrees based on the severity of the crime. Normal robbery is usually a second degree felony in most states, but can become a first degree felony if the robber uses a dangerous weapon or attempts to kill anyone or inflicts or attempts to inflict serious bodily injury. Some states designate this latter type of robbery as aggravated robbery.