S1154 - changes to penalties for property crimes
The penalties for most property crimes are determined by the dollar value of the property in question - under the old law, less than 1000$ was up to 30 days, 1000$ to 5000$ was up to 5 years, and more than 5000$ was up to 10 years. S1154 changes the dollar values for most property crimes, so that they are now:
< $2000 misdemeanor and up to 30 days
> $2000 but < $10,000 felony and up to 5 years
> $10,000 felony and up to 10 years
This includes many seldom used property offenses, some of which I didn't even know existed, but the more common ones include:
Malicious injury to personal property
Forgery (no dollar amount = up to 3 years, < 10k up to 5 years, > 10k up to 10 years)
Larceny (petty larceny and grand larceny)
Shoplifting
Receiving stolen goods
Embezzlement (public officials)
Breach of trust with fraudulent intent
Obtaining signature or property by false pretenses
Failure to return rental property
Possession of stolen vehicle
Insurance fraud
Also, defrauding an innkeeper, although punishable by up to 6 months, can now be tried in the magistrate court.
*** S1154 gives jurisdiction to the magistrate and municipal courts to hear forgery with no dollar amount, which has a potential sentence of up to 3 years ***
Edit: corrected the potential sentence for forgery no dollar amount, H/T to Stuart Sarratt, law student extraordinaire and newly minted blogger at the Just Cause Blog.
Comments
This poses another interesting question for the applicability of the S1154 savings clause. If defendants do get the benefit of reduced sentences, then the next issue to be litigated will be whether the increased dollar value in property crimes should be viewed as an element of the offense (which would bring them within within the clause) or sentence reductions (which may not).
Posted by: Stuart Sarratt | July 15, 2010 9:00 PM
Oh, one more thing, 6 months in magistrate court is nothing. Unless I'm misreading the amended forgery statute, 16-13-10 now provides: "If the forgery does not involve a dollar amount, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor under the jurisdiction of the magistrates or municipal court, notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 22-3-540, 22-3-545, 22-3-550, and 14-25-65, and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”
Posted by: Stuart Sarratt | July 15, 2010 9:14 PM
Thank you for the correction - I wouldn't have caught that if you didn't point it out.
Not sure what you mean by 6 months in magistrate court is nothing.
Posted by: BFrederick | July 15, 2010 9:33 PM
I see now - they've given magistrates authority to impose a three year sentence? WTH.
Posted by: BFrederick | July 15, 2010 9:38 PM
Yeah I've always thought there should be some sort of font weight like italics for sarcasm; it just doesn't come across well in text.
Posted by: Stuart Sarratt | July 15, 2010 10:59 PM
I have a question, on a third offence property charge what is the max time you can receive if it has no dollar amount
Posted by: travis green | September 24, 2010 3:00 AM