Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer BlogThe Florida crime of burglary of a dwelling or structure is committed when a person enters (or remains) in the dwelling or structure of another with the intent to commit a crime in that dwelling or structure. A common manner in which the crime of burglary is committed in Florida is when a person breaks into a house intending to steal something from that house. The crime seems to require that a person actually enters the house or other structure. However, that is not necessarily the case. If the person crawls under a house to steal something (such as copper wiring) or goes onto the roof to steal something, that is considered “entering” the dwelling or structure and also subjects that person to an arrest and prosecution for burglary. The word “enters” in the burglary criminal law refers to an invisible, vertical plane that surrounds a house. If a person breaks that plane with the intent to commit a crime, even if he never literally enters the house or structure, it is considered a burglary in Florida.
Articles Posted in Theft Crimes
Jacksonville, Florida Supervisor at DCF Arrested on Theft Charges
A woman who held the position of supervisor at the Department of Children and Family Services (“DCF”) was arrested for allegedly stealing money that was intended for recipients of government assistance, according to an article on www.News4Jax.com. She was arrested on charges of grand theft, criminal use of personal information and scheming to defraud according to the article. The total amount of money that was reportedly stolen was approximately $24,000.
This type of theft, which is often categorized as a white collar crime, is committed in Florida when a person takes the property of another for his/her own use without authorization. The penalties for the crime of theft in Florida depend on a variety of factors, including the value of that which is stolen. Where money has been stolen in an amount equal to or greater than $20,000 but less than $100,000, the crime is grand theft which is a second degree felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.
As criminal defense lawyers representing a person who has been accused of such a theft or white collar crime, in addition to evaluating the evidence to determine if there is sufficient evidence to prove the defendant committed the crime, it is always important to evaluate the evidence to make sure the amount the state alleges was stolen is accurate and not based on any presumptions or speculation. This could mean the difference between a first degree, second degree or third degree felony or even a misdemeanor and potentially many years in prison and/or on probation.
Florida Law Focuses on Mortgage Fraud
In the second quarter of 2008, Florida ranked 4th in the nation in percentage of home foreclosures. As a result of the increase in foreclosures in Florida, the Florida legislature and law enforcement officials are cracking down on what they consider mortgage fraud. This year, Florida passed into law the Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Prevention Act, which specifically deals with what is referred to as “rescue foreclosure” schemes to defraud. In such cases, the government alleges that companies target individuals who are headed towards foreclosure, offer them a loan to avoid foreclosure and deceive them into signing over the title to the property which is then sold by the company, often after collecting fees, refinancing and stripping the home of equity. The law allows homeowners a five day period to cancel any such contract and provides for significant financial penalties for any company that violates the law. The Florida Attorney General’s Office is currently pursuing a lawsuit against National Foreclosure Management claiming they defrauded Florida homeowners out of approximately $1.7 million in home equity.
Do Higher Unemployment and a Bad Economy Increase Crime Rates in Jacksonville, Florida?
It is no secret that the housing market crashed months ago and the financial markets seemed to follow resulting in difficult economic times for people throughout Jacksonville and Florida. Politicians and media liberally are using the words recession, and even depression, to predict what is, or may be, happening to our economy. Another condition that logically follows from crashing housing and financial markets and a slowing economy is rising unemployment.
One question that we considered theoretically is whether the current economic state would have any effect on crime rates. I came across an article at Forbes.com which indicated that the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis analyzed crime in 28 U.S. cities to determine if there is a connection between unemployment and low wages and crime. According to the report, there is very little correlation between rising unemployment and lower wages and an increase in the crime rate over a short period of time. When there was a connection, it seemed to result in a minimal rise in crime and mainly in the area of property crimes such as theft and burglary. Other studies have analyzed the longer term effects of unemployment and poverty and crime, i.e. in terms of many years, not months, and found a greater connection.
DNA Increasingly Used to Solve Property Crimes
The use of DNA evidence by Jacksonville police and the Jacksonville State Attorney’s office, among other agencies, involves collecting biological material, analyzing the material, developing a profile and then attempting to compare it to profiles in state and/or federal databases where the DNA profiles of various people are stored. In the past, this process was expensive and lengthy and thereby reserved primarily for violent crimes such as murder and rape. However, the cost and time involved in DNA investigations and analyses have come down to the point that law enforcement officials are using DNA to solve property crimes such as burglary, theft and auto theft. Back in the late 1980’s, when DNA analysis was in its early stages, large DNA samples were required for them to be useful, and it was expensive and time consuming to complete the analysis and comparison. Today, the process can be done with much less of a sample and, in some cases, it can take several hours and less than $100. As a result, law enforcement officials are increasingly of the opinion that a criminal investigation involving DNA is feasible for certain property crimes, particularly when the FBI estimates that the cost of property crimes in the United States was approximately $17.6 billion in 2007.
Just about any biological material can be used as a DNA sample. For instance, if a burglar decides to take a bite out of some food at the house from which he/she is stealing, if a thief leaves skin cells in the car he/she stole or if a thief cuts him/herself on a broken window used to gain entry into a house or building, there could be DNA that could be used to tie that person to the scene of the crime. When police decide to conduct an investigation involving DNA collection and analysis, they are five times more likely to identify a suspect than with fingerprints alone.
What Does a Defendant Need to Know to Commit the Federal Crime of Aggravated Identity Fraud?
Largely in an effort to crack down on illegal aliens in the United States, the government enacted the federal crime of aggravated identity fraud which is punishable by a mandatory two year prison sentence. This is a very severe mechanism used by the federal government to address the issue of illegal aliens coming into the US and obtaining fake social security cards and other forms of identification in an effort to obtain jobs and other benefits.
However, it is not clear, and the circuits are divided as to, what exactly the government needs to prove to establish that a person is guilty of the federal crime of aggravated identity fraud. The criminal law provides that a person commits aggravated identity fraud when he/she knowingly and without authority uses a means of identification of another person. For example, an illegal alien may come to the United States and create a fake social security card using nine numbers chosen at random. If those nine numbers do not form the sequence of a real person’s social security card, did the person who created the social security card commit the crime? In other words, in order to be guilty of aggravated identity fraud and receive the mandatory two year prison sentence, does the person who created the fake social security card need to know that he/she is using the card without authority or does he/she need to know that the social security number actually belongs to another person?
If it is the latter, it makes the crime much harder to prove as the government would ostensibly have to show that the social security number was a real one that actually belonged to another person and the defendant knew it. Clearly, it would be easier for the government to merely have to prove that the defendant knew he/she was improperly using the social security card or number regardless of whether he/she in fact knew if it belonged to anyone else.
If You Were Arrested for Theft at a Department Store, You May Get a Letter Threatening You to Send Them Money.
Several times now, we have heard from clients in and around Jacksonville, Florida who have been arrested for the crime of theft at a department store that they have received letters threatening them with civil and/or criminal action if they do not pay money, often at least $200, to the department store within thirty days. Is this proper? We do not think it is the way these letters are worded. In fact, depending on the way the letter is worded, it may be illegal.
For example, we had a recent client who was arrested for allegedly stealing a shirt from a large, national department store with a couple of locations in Jacksonville, Florida. The shirt in question was returned to the department store undamaged immediately upon the arrest. Within a couple weeks of her arrest for petit theft, she received a letter from the loss prevention department of that store saying that “[o]nce liability is established under said statute, the retailer has ‘ . . . a cause of action for threefold the actual damages sustained and, in any such action, is entitled to minimum damages in the amount of $200 . . . .'” The letter goes on to demand $200 within thirty days from our client or face further legal action.
The statute the letter refers to is Florida Statutes, § 772.11. That statute does give department stores and others who have been the victim of theft crimes a right to civil action against the people who committed those crimes. However, what the statute requires and what is not mentioned in the letter these department stores send out is that the department store has to prove not just liability but also some injury. In other words, the department store has to prove that a person committed the theft AND ALSO that the store was damaged by the theft.
Protect Against Identity Theft
According to the Florida Attorney General’s Office, this week is Identity Theft Week in Florida and throughout the country. The purpose of Identity Theft Week is to raise awareness as to the various ways people are at risk of having their identities and financial information stolen. As the Internet and other technology have become more popular, thieves have come up with numerous ways to try to learn identification and financial information from unsuspecting victims.
For instance, as the Florida Attorney General’s website notes, “phishing” is a common way thieves try to get people to provide their identification and financial information. Phishing is the process by which a thief will send out mass emails to people that appear to come from legitimate entities like a bank, credit card company or retailer. The email may say that there is a problem with the person’s bank account or credit card and request certain information that would allow the thief to access financial information.
Banks and credit card companies do not request such information via email. If you have received an email asking for any information that could lead to access to your financial information (such as a social security number, date of birth, credit card number, PIN), you can call the Florida Attorney General’s Office at 1.866.966.7226 to report the incident and help determine if a communication is valid.
New Low Tech Credit Card Theft on the Rise in Florida
Credit card theft/fraud is a crime that is increasing throughout Jacksonville, Florida and the entire country. As people become more proficient with computers and the Internet, those with criminal intentions are finding ways to misappropriate credit card numbers and other financial accounts. As high tech credit card thefts is increasing, so are more low tech attempts to commit credit card theft.
For instance, one type of credit card theft called shaving is becoming increasingly popular. This type of credit card theft involves a thief trying different combinations of 16 digit numbers until he/she finds one that matches a valid credit card account. The match can be verified by initiating a credit card purchase on the Internet or over the phone. Once the thief finds a valid credit card number, he/she will obtain an old, expired credit card and shave off the numbers. The new, valid numbers are then glued on to the card. The thief then damages the magnetic strip on the credit card so the store clerk has to manually enter the new credit card numbers into the credit card machine, and the purchase goes through.
This is not the smoothest way to commit credit card theft, but it is apparently working, particularly in stores that have a high volume of customers with young store clerks who do not take the time to inspect a credit card when it is presented. Surely, most of us could identify one of these altered cards if we took the time to look at it, but consider that many store clerks do not pay attention to a credit card other than to briefly determine whether it has a signature.
Two Jacksonville, Florida Area Mothers Arrested for Allegedly Using Children to Assist Their Shoplifting
Two mothers were recently arrested in Clay County, Florida for the crime of shoplifting for allegedly using their children to hide clothing, according to an article on News4jax.com. In a prior post, I discussed the various signs police and loss prevention officers look for to detect shoplifters. One of those signs is entering the store with something that can be used to conceal and steal merchandise. Common examples include loose clothing, large shopping bags and strollers, but anything that can be used to conceal items can bring a shopper to the attention of the authorities.