Questions tagged [criminal-law]
For questions about laws related to crime. Please add a location tag if the question is specific to a particular jurisdiction.
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A student slipped a drug into my coffee — what are the legal ramifications of this situation?
I am a high school Chemistry teacher. This morning, while my back was turned to write on the board, one of my students (age 17) slipped a pill into my coffee mug. This is a thermos-style mug that has ...
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Stealing my own property back?
I have a guitar that I let my friend Joe borrow on the consensus that he would return it in a couple of days. Joe is a mutual friend of my ex Bob.
Bob stole the guitar from Joe once he found out it ...
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Why shouldn't a bank robbery without threats be legal?
So say a bank robber walks into a bank and hands the teller a note saying simply "please give me $1,000" (or maybe even just verbally saying "I need $1,000 please") and if the teller accepts, which ...
user21827
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How would the actions of Hänsel and Gretel in the Grimm tale be interpreted in modern law?
This came up as a layman’s law question. I thought of this when reading the classic Grimm tale Hänsel and Gretel to my children.
The situation is as follows: The witch imprisons Hänsel with the ...
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Daughter dies at party
My 19 year old step daughter attended a party in Illinois. One kid slipped a pill in her drink which caused her to have a heart attack and die.
After watching this play out, this boy didn't even ...
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Why is stealing from an employer a criminal act when stealing from an employee is a civil act?
Here is the full question with all the context and details:
In the majority of cases in the U.S. about theft at a workplace, why is the matter usually tried in a criminal court when the employer is ...
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Why is murder considered a more serious crime than attempted murder?
By its sentencing guidelines (the world over?), murder is considered a more serious crime than attempted murder.
If intent to kill has indeed been proven, does the latter crime reward incompetence ...
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How do people publicly admit to criminal activity and not typically get arrested?
I've noticed that people on YouTube and even on TV would sometimes say things like "I used to take lots of coke a few years ago" or "I used to smoke weed daily until this and that" or "Yea, I smoke ...
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A man killed my son and married one of the witnesses. Can the witness's statements still be used in court against him?
In Florida a career felon, who is a complete stranger to my son, killed my son. He is being prosecuted for this crime in a state court in Florida. There are two witnesses. One of them is the the ...
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Course of action in a criminal case when there is no conceivable defense
I am not a lawyer or a law student; my work is in mathematics, but I like to learn about criminal law as a hobby. I have spent some time googling and searching to find an answer to my question but ...
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Why are people sentenced to prison for terms longer than life?
Albert Morake was sentenced to 1,535 years in prison.
How can a person be sentenced to more than 1 life imprisonment?
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Would Trump's defence work in other courts?
Donald Trump's defence against incitement is essentially the ambiguity of his language: he never explicitly told the crowd to violently attack Congress, but he did use ambiguous words such as "...
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A Swiss watch company seized my watch, saying it was stolen. I bought it 10 years ago. Is that legal?
I have a watch from Blancpain that I bought in 2014 from an individual in Poland (I have a written contract). I've sent the watch to Blancpain in Switzerland for periodic inspection and they seized it,...
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Are lawyers allowed to lie about the law during closing arguments?
In his closing arguments during the Kyle Rittenhouse case, the prosecution said (full quote) that
“You lose the right to self-defence when you’re the one who brought the gun, when you’re the one ...
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Suppose someone kills more people than they intended. Did they murder the extra people?
If a person sets a bomb in a music festival. Based on previous attendance numbers, they expected 60,000 people to show up. 120,000 people showed up and were killed by their bomb. Legally, did they ...
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Can you legally move a dead body to preserve it as evidence?
A fisherman is heading upstream in his boat, and sees a human corpse float past. Obviously even if it wasn't murder, it still warrants a 911 call because it was a death. The river however, is steadily ...
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Isn't a hung jury proof of reasonable doubt?
I don't understand the logic with allowing additional trials after a hung jury. Isn't the fact that the prosecution can't get 12 jurors to agree the accused is guilty proof that guilt was not proven ...
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Is ban evasion illegal?
What is the legality of "Ban Evasions"? This sounds like a dumb question but perhaps enlighten the ignorant.
Ban Evasion, "The creation of a new account on a platform or website after being ...
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Pregnant spouse slipped abortion pills unknowingly. What would the legal ramifications be?
Suppose a partner to a pregnant woman gave her an abortion pill which successfully aborted the pregnancy. Suppose that this was done in a non-violent way, unbeknownst to the woman.
One could argue ...
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What is the legal take on the trolley problem?
From the Wikipedia page on the trolley problem:
There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead,
on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The
trolley ...
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"attempted murder" of a dead man?
This question inspired by an episode of a certain popular TV detective show.
Mr Smith hates Mr Jones, and plots to kill him. Smith enters Jones' house, and shoots him in bed, while also setting up an ...
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Do I have the right to enter into someone house without permission if my child is in there?
Here's the situation
Main persons:
my daughter Maria, 16 years old
my daughter's friend Mario, over 18 years old
My daughter was asked by her friend Mario to hang out at someone's ...
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In the US, is it legal to lie to a business such as a hotel to obtain a discount?
Let's say a hotel chain or a restaurant provides a 50% discount to anyone aged over 70. Would it be legal (as in, no criminal charges could arise from that action) for a patron to lie to the hotel/...
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Why does the victim have to press charges?
Case in point that was in the news:
"BART identifies man in viral video of racist attack on train", East Bay Times
A California man attacked a stranger while expressing his hatred of the victim's ...
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Can a prosecutor hold back charges so they can try again?
Assume I was alleged to have been involved in a bank robbery gone wrong - guns were fired, people were killed and injured, some robbers were arrested at the scene, some escaped etc.
Obviously, there ...
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What crimes did Rosenbaum commit when he engaged Rittenhouse?
The jury has found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of murder of Joseph Rosenbaum based on the defense's claim that he acted in self defense.
Given the facts outlined by this NPR article, it appears that ...
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Why is drunk driving causing accident punished so much worse than just drunk driving?
When people drink and drive and then cause an accident especially where if someone dies they get years and years in prison but just the act of drunk driving is punished way more lenient. Shouldn't ...
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If a law is new but its interpretation is vague, can the courts directly ask the drafters the intent and official interpretation of their law?
The problem with old laws seems to be that many times the drafters aren't alive to tell what their intent or interpretation is of a given law, but in case a law is new and the drafter or drafters are ...
user49663
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If vampires were real, what would one who broke into someone's home to drink their blood be charged with?
This question is of course entirely hypothetical, but I am curious as to what crimes would be applicable in this situation. Alternatively, you could interpret the question as: If someone pretending to ...
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What will happen if one is caught smuggling something that is not illegal?
For example if someone is caught at some major airport trying to smuggle condoms with talcum powder in his butt, or in a hidden compartment in a suitcase for example
Someone might do this with the ...
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If someone orders a pizza in the US and doesn't pay for it, could they be arrested?
If you were to order a pizza in the US and didn't pay for it afterwards, could you be arrested?
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Is it considered kidnapping if an underaged teenager willingly goes with someone else without the permission of their parent or guardian?
I have often read about kidnapping charges being brought against a non-custodial parent during divorce or against an individual when a teenager runs away from home with their respective boyfriends or ...
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Is harmlessly appearing to be a school bus driver a crime?
Hypothetically, if someone who owned a school bus legally drove said school bus to a bus stop 3 minutes before the stop would ordinarily be made, allowed schoolchildren to board without speaking, then ...
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Why is Trump's alleged fraud in New York not prosecuted as a criminal offense?
The New York Attorney General has filed a civil "complaint" against Donald Trump as well as some family members and companies. The allegations are centering around fraud by inflating ...
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Is it true that a teacher can't engage/attack a shooter from behind during a school shooting that is in progress?
I have a cousin who is a teacher and a few years ago we had a long discussion about school shootings and part of this discussion was about what teachers can and cannot do during a school shooting that ...
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Would publicly farting on a picture of the English monarch actually qualify as treason in 1798?
A famous political cartoon from 1798 by Richard Newton claims that farting on a picture of the British monarch would be prosecutable as "TREASON!!!" (caps and multiple exclamation marks in ...
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Why can courts refuse evidence?
The question
Layman here. This question was inspired by this question and random things I've heard/read over the years.
I'm quite confused by a concept that comes up again and again and which people ...
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Can I be charged for murder if I throw peanuts at someone who has a severe peanut allergy and they die as a result of that?
Assuming I already knew that they had a peanut allergy, and my intention was to hurt them, but not necessarily to kill them.
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Can a private person deceive a defendant to obtain evidence?
In the 2019 movie "Badla" (spoilers ahead), Naina was accused of committing a murder in the UK, and her trial is in London. She denies the accusation. Her clever lawyer Badal arrives and ...
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Where can I report criminal intent found on the dark web?
I wasn't sure if I should ask this here or on the Tor site. I think it fits more here.
I came across a Stack Exchange clone on the dark web. I won't go into too much detail or provide a link, but ...
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Can you be punished for planning a crime and what constitutes "planning"?
I just read a different question here on Law.SE that asked something along the lines of "Would it be illegal to do XYZ? I want to do this, but I'm not sure if it's legal."
So, that seems ...
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Can a person purposely provoke someone to hit him and then report a crime?
Say someone purposely provokes another person by insulting him, knowing that this person is easily provoked.
The provoked person then hits him.
Can the person then report a crime or even file a civil ...
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Is it illegal to carry someone else's ID or credit card?
I was watching a video by RealWorldPolice about a high school student who was arrested for carrying a loaded gun into his school in Seattle, WA. Footage of the entire search, detainment, and arrest of ...
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Self incrimination during medical examination
If, during a medical examination, an alleged accused says anything that might incriminate himself, it should be neither recorded nor reported.[emphasis mine]
source: Synopsis of forensic medicine and ...
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Convicted for murder and "victim" found alive
In two works of fiction I read or saw, a person was convicted for murder when the victim was actually alive. (In one case, not quite alive - police take finger prints of an unknown 30 year old woman, ...
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Is a lawyer allowed to follow a client's instructions to hide evidence?
The police arrested a suspect linked to sexual assaults. The police searched his home. It sounds like initially the search warrants were very limited in scope but they widened as things turned up. ...
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Is murder in Washington, DC pardonable by the President?
In most cases murder is a state crime. However, Washington, DC is not covered within any state's jurisdiction. My question is whether the President can pardon someone for committing murder if the ...
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Is presenting a play showing Military characters in a bad light a crime in the US? Or does the First Admendment prevent this?
This is a followup to Is it illegal to wear military surplus clothing?
US Law 10 USC 771 provides that only members of the US military may wear:
...the uniform, or a distinctive part of the uniform, ...
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When a criminal statute is struck down as unconstitutional, what happens to people who were convicted under it?
We just had a question about what happens to convicts if a law is repealed. However, that question's example of homosexual behavior wasn't decriminalized in the US by legislative action, but rather by ...
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Is an attorney allowed to turn on their client?
Inspired by Yakuza Judgement.
Say that Andy the Attorney is potentially representing Dave the defendant. But while they talk, Andy finds Dave to be a repulsive human being who's obviously guilty of ...
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