Crimes against Persons
Crimes against persons are those criminal conducts punishable under penal law and which are mainly committed against individuals as the victims (Gardner & Anderson, 2014, p.25). In such categories of crimes, the perpetrator or offender normally has the intention to cause the victim actual grievous bodily injury and harm. Examples of crimes under this category include rape, assault and murder.
Crimes against Property
These are a category of crimes in which the offender intends to take another person’s property with the intention of permanently depriving the owner of the property without necessarily intending to use force against them. Examples of these crimes according to Samaha (2016) include larceny, vandalism, shoplifting, burglary, theft, arson, vandalism and motor vehicle theft.
Crimes of Public Morality
These are crimes that involve deviance or social deviation from what the society considers to be moral and ethical standards of human behavior. Examples of offences under this category of crimes include drug abuse, prostitution, gambling, obscenity, pornography, lewdness, bestiality, fornication, bigamy, indecency, adultery and seduction (Gardner & Anderson, 2014).
White-Collar Crime
White collar crimes according to Cliff and Desilets (2014), are forms of corporate crimes committed by government and business professionals or civil servants in private and public corporations and which are motivated financially. They are non-violent crimes involving fraudulent transactions that aim at swindling public funds for personal gains. Examples are bribery, fraud, racketeering, money laundering, forgery, embezzlement, insider trading, copyright infringement, and identity theft.
Cyber Crime
A cyber-crime is a crime that involves the use of computers technology and computer internet to engage in a criminal activities. According to Das and Nayak (2013), cybercrime refers to any criminal activity in which the offender uses computer or computer networks as a target, tool or place for committing the acts (p. 142). Examples include hacking, piracy, online transaction fraud, and phishing and identity theft.
1. The category of crime involved in this scenario is crimes against morality. David S. should be charged with the offense of indecency or indecent exposure under section 314 of the California Penal Code as he was shouting in public while without clothes on and drug abuse because his alcohol limit was twice the legal limit. According to this section, David would be liable to pay $500 fine or imprisonment for not more than a year.
2. The relevant category of crime applicable in this scenario is cybercrime. The specific criminal charges I would apply against Gary M. are cyber stalking and intention to commit an indecent act with a minor under section 288.2 of the California Penal Code 646.9 since this provision criminalizes stalking which Gary was clearly doing online. The penalty for this crime under this statute could be a fine of up to $1000 or imprisonment in a county jail for a year since it is a misdemeanor.
. The category of crime involved here is the white-collar crimes. I would charge Elaine R. with the offences of accounting fraud or fraudulent falsification of company accounts and money laundering under California Penal Code 186.10 since she sent some of the money in her offshore accounts. Under the California penal laws, money laundering offense is considered a ‘wobbler’ hence prosecutors may prefer charges based on a misdemeanor or felony based on the criminal history of the defendant. As a misdemeanor, the penalty for Elaine’s crime would be to serve one year in county jail or pay a fine of $1000. As a felony, she would be liable to up to 4 years imprisonment or a fine of $250000 or two times the amount laundered, whichever is greater.
References
Cliff, G., & Desilets, C. (2014). White collar crime: What it is and where it's going. Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, 28(2), 482-523.
Das, S., & Nayak, T. (2013, October). Impact of cyber crime: Issues and challenges. International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Emerging Technologies, 6(2), 142-153.
Gardner, T. J., & Anderson, T. M. (2014). Criminal law. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Samaha, J. (2016). Criminal law. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
