Property Offence in Criminal Law

Introduction

Property crime is one of the most common types of crimes committed in our country. Property offence is?crime committed against property, involving the unlawful adaptation of the ownership of property belonging to another person to one's own personal use and benefit. Property crimes may be carried out by individuals, corporations, or by organized crime groups. Property offences are committed to enable the performer to convert money or property for his own use and personal gain. Property crimes include theft, robbery, burglary and forgery. Sometimes property offences also involve additional crimes such as computer crimes or even violent crimes.

Theft Crimes

Theft is the most common types of property crime. It is a crime of unlawful taking of the property of another. The Penal Code provides several categories of theft including theft by taking, theft by deception, theft by extortion and receiving stolen property. State laws vary widely in how they define and punish theft crimes. Code defines theft by taking as the unlawful taking, possession, or appropriation of the property of another with the intent of depriving him of the property.?It is not enough to take the property of another; a defendant must also have intent to take that property and deprive the owner of it, as theft is a?specific intent?crime. For example, if a person steals a car that contains a hidden purse of money, the person has stolen the car, but has not committed theft with regards to the purse of money because he did not know of its existence. If he later finds and keeps the bag of money, that is a new and separate act of theft.

?Theft also defines by deception?as obtaining or exercising control over the property of another as a result of deception and with intent to deprive the other of the property.

?Thus, in order to obtain a conviction of theft by deception, the prosecution must prove:

(1) the defendant obtained the property,

(2) the defendant made false statements,

(3) the victim relied upon those false statements, and

(4) the defendant acted with intent to deprive the owner of the property. If the victim does not rely upon the false statements, theft by deception has not occurred.

Theft by?receiving stolen property?occurs when someone receives the property of another and knows the property has been stolen or believes the property has probably been stolen (unless, of course, he receives it with the intent to restore it to the owner). It is not necessary to prove from whom the defendant received the stolen property, only that he received it.

Robbery

Robbery is the crime of taking the property of another from his immediate vicinity by means of force or threat of force. In this way, it is a combination of theft and assault. The Penal Code defines robbery as a theft that occurs by inflicting serious bodily injury or subjects the victim to the threat of such injury. States generally define robbery similarly, but also usually divide robbery in degrees based on factors such as degree of force used, weapon usage and amount taken.

There is distinguishes between first- and second-degree robbery. In that state, a person commits first-degree robbery if he “forcibly steals property and causes serious physical injury, is armed with a deadly weapon, uses or threatens the immediate use of a dangerous instrument or displays or threatens the use of what appears to be a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.” Second-degree robbery is any other forcible theft that causes physical injury. Other states, such as Arkansas, distinguish between?robbery?and?aggravated robbery. There, a robbery occurs when someone uses or threatens to immediately employ physical force with the purpose of committing a theft. The crime is aggravated if the defendant was armed with a deadly weapon, represents that he is armed or inflicts or attempts to inflict serious physical injury.?As in the case of theft crimes, robbery is a specific intent crime, requiring intent to deprive the owner of property. Thus, a negligent or reckless mental state is insufficient.

Carjacking and mugging are classic examples of robbery and are typically punished as first-degree robbery or aggravated robbery when guns are used in the process.

The crime of robbery is distinct from theft and usually punished more severely because the property is taken from the owner’s person or her immediate presence, which escalates the danger to the victim. The property must be close enough to the victim that he could have prevented the defendant from taking it but for the use of force or threat of force.?Robbery is considered a continuing offense because it does not end until the perpetrator has reached a place of safety.?Thus, if the force or threat does not occur when the property is taken, but occurs while the perpetrator is transporting the property to another location, a robbery has still occurred.

Burglary

A person commits the offense of?burglary?when, without authority and with the intent to commit a felony or theft, he enters the structure, building or dwelling house of another. The purpose of entering is usually to commit a theft, but in most states, the intent to commit any felony will suffice. Thus, a crucial element of burglary is that the defendant intended to commit a theft or a felony.

Burglary is often referred to as breaking and entering, and confusion have arisen over whether mere entry constitutes a breaking. A Pennsylvania court ruled that breaking could be constructive if permission for entry is gained by deceiving the homeowner. In that case, the defendant rang the doorbell and told the owner he was there to read a utility meter in her basement. The homeowner granted permission and the defendant entered the home. The defendant took a bucket of pennies and exited the home. The court affirmed the burglary conviction and found that the defendant’s deception vitiated any consent the homeowner gave him to enter, thus the defendant was not privileged to enter, and a?constructive breaking?had occurred.

Litigation has also addressed what constitutes an?entry?for burglary purposes. When only an instrument crosses the threshold of a structure, no entry has been established if the instrument was only used to accomplish the breaking. However, if the instrument is used to commit the felony, the entry of the instrument will suffice to establish the element of breaking. For example, if someone breaks a victim’s window and throws a bottle filled with gasoline inside and starts a fire, even though the defendant did not use the bottle to break the window, entry occurred when the bottle crossed the threshold of the structure.

The law provides greater penalties for burglary of a home than for burglary of other structures.

Forgery

Forgery?occurs when someone, with the intent to defraud, knowingly alters a written document without permission. Forgery is often committed by the use of a fraudulent check, but it includes other types of writings as well. Many states distinguish between degrees of forgery and assign greater penalties and sentences depending on the amount of the loss.

A forgery has not occurred if someone signs another’s signature with permission. For example, if someone receives permission to sign a loan document secured by a mortgage in another’s name and does so, there has been no forgery because (1) he received permission and acted within that permission, and (2) there was no intent to defraud.

The law bans production, preservation, transportation and marketing of any kind ?of ?pornographic?materials.

The law bans production, preservation, transportation and marketing of any kind ?of ?pornographic?materials.

?Criminal Damage and Arson

A person who without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to another intending to destroy or damage any such property or being reckless as to whether any such property would be destroyed or damaged shall be guilty of an offence.

The Criminal Damage Act 1971 sets out three offences of criminal damage:

·????????Section 1 (1) Simple criminal damage

·????????Section 1 (2) Aggravated criminal

·????????Section 1 (3) Criminal damage by arson

Conclusion

Property crimes are very serious offenses. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most familiar types of crimes committed throughout the state. Crimes involving property is broad category that includes any sort of offense that involves damage private or public property. Though property crimes not only involves taking of property, does not involve force or threat of force against a victim but these are serious offences and make damages to individuals.