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Violence and Theft Crimes
Personal crimes, or crimes where the victim and the offender have direct or attempted contact, can be categorized as follows: crimes of violence and crimes of theft. Violence crimes always involve victim-offender contact, whereas theft crimes may occur with or without contact between victim and offender. Personal crimes involving victim-offender contact are considered more serious than those without contact.
Crimes of Violence
A crime of violence constitutes an aggravated felony, that is, the sentence provided for such crime is at least one year. For a crime to be violent, an essential element is the use of physical force committed against another person or against the property of another person. An attempted or threatened use of such force may also constitute a crime of violence.
Violent crimes include murder, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, robbery and terrorism, among others. Murder is committed when a person intentionally kills another, and the killing is considered unlawful, that is, there are no justifiable reasons, such as self-defense, for the killing. Manslaughter is still an unlawful killing but it is not coupled with intent.
Robbery is a crime of both theft and violence. It is committed by the use of force or fear as a means to take personal property permanently from another person. A holdup of a convenience store is a classic example of robbery.
Crimes of Theft
Theft, or larceny, is stealing another person's personal property with the intent of permanently depriving the other of possession. Two common forms of theft are embezzlement and false pretenses (or fraud). Embezzlement occurs when an employee/agent diverts the money or property intended for the employer/principal to the former's personal use. Fraud is present when a thief uses trickery to induce the victim to voluntarily give money or property.
A theft can be grand (first-degree) or petty (second-degree). A theft is considered grand if the property taken is valued more than the minimum amount established by state law, or if the property is taken directly from another person without the use of force or fear, or when specific types of property, such as auto or animals, are taken. Any theft, which is not considered as grand, is petty theft.
The crimes of violence and theft carry severe penalties in general. Hence, if a case is filed against you, find a criminal defense lawyer who can represent you in court.