In United States criminal law, all crimes can be broken down into different elements. In order to convict the defendant, these elements of a crime must then be proven in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt. Most crimes require that three essential elements...
Tampering with a criminal case can have very serious consequences. Any attempt to influence the outcome of a case by altering the physical evidence or by influencing the testimony of a witness is a felony. There are heavy fines for case tampering in Arizona, as...
You probably already know that criminal charges are divided into misdemeanors and felonies, and that some crimes are worse than others. However, not every charge is treated the same way. When a classifier is added to a criminal charge, it could change the outcome of...
According to the Arizona penal code, every crime has a definition and a recommended sentence. However, many crimes can also range in severity. When there is a qualifier like “attempted” or “aggravated” it can make the charges more or less severe. Here’s how adding “solicitation”...
Every crime has a classification, whether it’s a petty offense, a misdemeanor, or a felony. However, some qualifiers—such as the word “attempted”—can change how a crime is charged. Because attempting a crime is not as bad as committing a crime, the punishments are not as...
As we roll into 2024, so does Arizona’s rise in hate crimes. And when these types of crimes are publicized, they bring up debates and questions about what this charge means. What qualifies as a hate crime? When does the First Amendment apply? In this...
In the United States, the federal government has a blanket set of laws that apply to everyone, including visitors of the country. While federal laws are in effect for the entire country, each state has the power to create its own set of penal codes....
A penal code is a collection of all the laws that define criminal offenses and their punishments. Each state has a penal code, and Arizona is no exception. Penal codes are used to maintain order. They help protect people from the harmful behavior of others by...
One of the lesser-known charges associated with stolen cars is dismantling them for parts. While taking a car apart is not illegal in itself, you can face extensive consequences if that car was stolen. Not only will chopping a car make you an accessory to...
The Old Wives’ Tale—that hot weather makes people irritable and more likely to commit a crime—may just have some validity. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice gathered nationwide research and published a report in which they tracked seasonal criminal victimization trends for various violent...