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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The principle of legality in criminal law, and the common law
In criminal law we find the principle of legality (and similar or subsumed principles such as nulla poena sine lege, or everything that is not forbidden is allowed, etc.). According to a prominent ...
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Remanded for a plea of Not Guilty for Reasons of Insanity?
In this scenario, someone is arrested and accused of a racism crime, for example sending racist messages through an online social media platform to another person of the same ethnicity as the offender....
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A tricky question about cybercrime
Let’s say I hack into a database when I’m in America, but the database servers are physically in Iran, but to complicate it even more- the company that owns the database is European.
These are just ...
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How many lawyers can one defendant have?
In the large-scale lawsuit against alleged "Reichsbürger" in Germany, it is reported that each defendant has 2 to 4 lawyers. Obviously, that complicates things not only for the accused, but ...
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Is falsification of USPS tracking information (by a USPS employee) a crime?
The United States Postal Service (USPS) provides tracking information for parcels they are handling (e.g., the delivery of an item purchased from Amazon.com). The tracking information shows how the ...
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Is a victim's testimony alone sufficient evidence to support a felony conviction?
If, for example, a woman accuses a man of harassing her, can the man be convicted of a felony and sent to prison solely on the basis of the victim's testimony as the sole witness in the case without ...
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Court closure incident by Judge Juan Merchan in Trump NY trial: Would this be structural error or harmless?
Yesterday, Judge Juan Merchan of the NY Supreme Court , trial division temporarily closed the court to the public by removing the press and jurors to address insolent behavior by a defense witness in ...
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Can you be charged with incitement for using reverse psychology to get someone to commit a crime?
Let's say an online service makes an unpopular business decision, and people are coming up with ways to protest the change. If I tell someone to download LOIC (a network stress testing tool that is ...
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Can I physically restrain criminal in public places?
A week ago, I saw a creep crouching down outside of the womens washroom and staring inside. Can I tackle and physically restrain him until police arrives?
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Which law criminalises suspended/former teachers having sex with 16-year old pupils?
A UK school teacher is about to be put in jail for having sex with schoolboys, 15 and 16 years old.
This question is only about the 16-year old part of the story:
The jury was told that it was a ...
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If a student takes a confiscated item from teacher, is this considered theft?
I am a teacher in Florida and I confiscated an item from a student who willingly gave it to me. When I was busy working, the student took the item back without my consent. Is this considered theft of ...
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Can you be found guilty of a crime even if it's not you who is on trial?
If you are pressing charges against someone for assault, and during the trial against them, it is found that you are guilty of trying to kidnap their child and that's why they attacked you, could you ...
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Can a Court Commissioner be sued for for wrongly charging a crime and issuing an arrest warrant?
In Maryland, anyone can press criminal charges against another person (without any involvement of police) simply by going down to the courthouse and filing a written complaint with a judicial official ...
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If someone is reverse-scammed while trying to commit a crime, can they get the scammer without incriminating themselves?
Carl wants to commit a crime. He gets input from Scarlet. Little does Carl know that Scarlet is a Scammer, and leads Carl into a scam. Under normal circumstances, Carl might press charges against ...
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Hung Jury - time for a retrial
Imagine a person is charged with a felony but not a particularly serious felony. Perhaps the defendant is looking at doing a few months in prison. There is a trial and most but not all members of the ...
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Are there countries where defendants are fully compensated for their time if they’re found not guilty?
Let’s say you’re an underwater welder with a net profit rate of $500/hour of work. The government puts you on trial for a murder you didn’t commit. The proceedings take a long time and the court is ...
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Are there countries where the defendant has the right to be absent from their trial?
In the U.S. the Supreme Court has ruled that the defendant must be present at the start of their criminal trial in order for it to be valid. Are there countries where the defendant has the right to ...
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Misdemeanor crime. Bein charged w/ hx and have documentaton of another person taking ownership
Would someone still be charged with a misdemeanor crime if another person wrote a letter stating that he take ownership of said crime?
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Is there a statute of limitations for a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN)?
Last November a relative was issued with an FPN for littering in Lambeth, SW London. She claims it was an accident, a tissue fell from her pocket when she took out her phone and she didn't notice. We ...
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Could Judge Merchan put Donald Trump on house arrest during the current criminal trial?
Could Judge Merchan put Donald Trump under house arrest where he would have to be in his penthouse in Trump Tower when he is not in court or going or coming to court? And maybe give him the weekends ...
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Being paid not to press charges
A situation occurred where a girl punched a male student after this student bothered her. The school official called all parents in with the male student and parents played the victim, and the ...
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Can a probable cause statement be used on two different people after the first charge on a person is dismissed [closed]
The incident occured a month before any charges were issued.The incident involved Joe Smith Jr,the officer detained Joe Smith Jr and ended up just making Joe Smith Jr sign a no trespassing order.A ...
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What rights does a dead body have? Can crimes be committed against one?
Say Nate the nutcase happens to find a dead body on the road. Being a nutcase, he takes the dead body, and does a bunch of "weird stuff" stuff to it (e.g. satanic rituals, maybe necrophilia, ...
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Who gets to select/know the identities of the Jurors in an anonymous Jury?
Do the prosecutors know who they are? What about the defense attorneys?
How does the usual process of jury selection even work in such a scenario?
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Can anti-Israel protesters be charged with obstruct movement to a public place
According to PC647c, "It is a crime to willfully and maliciously obstructs the free movement of any person on any street, sidewalk, or other public place"
It would seem on this viral video ...
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On what basis are Miranda rights enforced?
According to a previous answer to one of my questions, you don't have a constitutional right to a Miranda warning, my question then is how did the USA universally develop Miranda if it was not through ...
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Breaking and entering vs trespassing
Scenario:
A person is caught on the roof of a building without having any prior authorization to be there.
When asked to leave by security/building personnel he complies.
Security reports to the ...
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Can my stepdad steal from my room when I’m gone? [closed]
Yesterday, my stepdad accused me and my brother of stealing his batons and a few other things. My brother and I had no awareness to the fact that any of these items were missing. When we denied ...
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When a court orders a new criminal trial, can prosecutors still decline to press charges?
Recently, the NY Court of Appeals ordered a new trial in Harvey Weinstein’s case.
The incumbent Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, has said, via a spokesperson, that he will do everything in his power to re-...
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Is paying a news publisher to not publish negative press about you legal?
Today, I saw on the news that the prosecution in the current criminal case against former President Trump brought in a tabloid publisher to testify that Trump paid him to not publish negative press ...
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Details of David Pecker's immunity contract
Is the contract granting David Pecker's immunity in the current criminal trial of Donald Trump public?
After being subpoenaed, I assume Pecker felt that the same evidence would come out whether he ...
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Base offence element intimate image abuse
Being as revenge porn has been introduced into the SOA 2003 and there is now in existence a summary offence of sharing an intimate image without consent does that mean that theoretically the average ...
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What is poisoning?
I am once again asking for an analysis of an ugo lord video.
In the video a prankster woman puts very spicy hot sauce on her boyfriends food without his knowledge. Ugo states that it is "100% ...
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Pleading Not Guilty when you are guilty [duplicate]
As I understand it, a criminal defense lawyer is an officer of the court. As such, he is not allowed to lie. If a lawyer knows that his client is guilty of the charge, can he still plead not guilty ...
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If a user posts illegal content on a service hosted by an entity, who is liable? [duplicate]
Suppose a user posts problematic content on a service hosted by an entity (a hobbyist or a small business). The content is stored in databases provided by the entity. This entity may be storing these ...
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Does Spain have extraterritorial jurisdiction?
Does Spain have extraterritorial jurisdiction for any crimes?
The extraterritorial jurisdiction in Spain could be for:
Crimes committed by a Spanish national abroad.
Crimes committed by a guest ...
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What jail time would be imposed for felony false imprisonment plead down from 4 felony rape? [closed]
In California, what is the amount of jail time given for a felony false imprisonment conviction in a guilty plea from rape charges?
I’m asking in general and I am also interest in knowing how often no ...
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Assuming Trump was convicted in NY hush money trial, would his federal habeas appeal after exhaustion of state appeals, be subject to AEDPA?
Trump's hush money criminal trial at the state level begins today in New York. Assuming Trump is convicted and exhausts his state level appeals, my understanding is that any federal relief he may seek ...
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Does the UK have an equivalent to the Cheek defence?
In essence, in the UK, can someone raise a defence of an unreasonable yet good-faith misunderstanding if charged with tax evasion?
In Cheek v. US, the US Supreme Court stated that a defendant’s mere ...
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Questions related to confidentiality obligations [closed]
If I accidentally find out that someone else committed a crime, and I don't sue him, will I be punished if it later turns out that I knew in some way? In the above example, what happens if it is not ‘...
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Why isn't there financial safety if I am arrested illegally? [closed]
I have been arrested approximately 14 times in my life and never Mirandized. The last time I was arrested, about 8 police officers stood around me asking me what I was doing. After I explained every ...
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(US) San Francisco: worst that can happen if you enter a shop and start eating?
I'm sick and tired of having to spend 25 hours a day just to get change for sufficient food, and to go without for months consecutive.
Assuming, if provided a DA does not prosecute—What's the absolute ...
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What laws apply to the possession of pocket knives by minors in California?
What, if any, California laws regarding the possession of pocket knives apply specifically to minors?
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Can a person challenge a criminal charge if it never went to court? [duplicate]
Is it possible for a person challenge or expunge a 25 year old felony charge that comes up on a background check if no court records exist because the case was never brought to court?
What is the ...
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Aiding and abetting indirectly/where the principal is not the person intended by D (English Law)
If X encourages Y to commit crime A, but, rather than commit the crime himself (and unknown to X), Y then encourages a third party Z to commit crime A.
X could be charged with inchoate liability for ...
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Jurisdiction of the Scottish criminal courts (multi-jurisdictional case)
Recently, the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 came into force. The author, J. K. Rowling, on X (formerly known as Twitter), asked the police to arrest her if she had violated the law. ...
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Is this protest group committing a crime by moving food into a shop's donations bin?
A Scottish group called This Is Rigged, protesting the cost of living crisis, has been entering supermarkets and moving items such as food and baby formula from the shelves straight into the food bank ...
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Why was dueling legal?
Dueling has, historically, been legal in many places. In common-law jurisdictions, why was it not considered murder if someone dies and attempted murder or assault if not? Did the common-law or ...
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What does it mean for a crime to be committed "in the presence of" a person?
ORS 133.225 (Arrest by private person), subsection 1, says in part, emphasis added:
A private person may arrest another person for any crime committed in the presence of the private person if the ...
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If a getaway driver drives away while a bank robbery is in progress, will he/she still be arrested as a participant in this crime?
Consider a situation in which a group of four people drive to a bank and then three of them go into the bank to rob it, and while those three are inside the bank robbing it, the driver has a sudden ...
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