1. Use in electronic mail or electronic communication any words or language threatening to inflict bodily harm to any person or to that person’s child, sibling, spouse or dependent, or physical injury to the property of any person, or for the purpose of extorting money or other things of value from any person.
2. Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of threatening, terrifying or harassing any person.
3. Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another and to knowingly make any false statement concerning death, injury, illness, disfigurement, indecent conduct, or criminal conduct of the person electronically mailed or of any member of the person’s family or household with the intent to threaten, terrify or harass.  And finally,
4. Knowingly permit an electronic communication device under the person’s control to be used for any purpose prohibited by this section.  (PAY ATTENTION TO THIS – It is against the law to let someone borrow your cell phone when you know they are going to use it to harass someone).

Cyberstalking is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than two years or a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both.  But if you commit the crime while violating a restraining order, or while on probation or pretrial release, etc., or you’ve done it before, or the prosecution proves that a “credible threat” has been communicated, then the punishment increases to imprisonment for not more than five (5) years or a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both.  Miss. Code Ann § 97-45-15.

There are several federal statutes that criminalize forms of cyberstalking as well, and it is important for your lawyer to be familiar with all of them.  Cyberstalking is a relatively new, high-tech crime, and it has equally high-tech defenses.  If you are accused of cyberstalking give me a call at 601-991-1099 or contact me here.  I have defended computer crimes since 1999, and I am here to help.

No, not corn-squeezin’, white-lightnin’ bootlegging.  This is the new bootlegging, and it has to do with bootleg or pirated DVDs.

Movie pirating and bootlegging cost the motion picture industry billions of dollars each year, and so Hollywood – led by the Motion Picture Association of America, the same people that rate movies - has lobbied the federal government and the states to make bootlegging videos and DVDs a crime.  The federal government and at least 43 states now recognize bootlegging and pirating motion pictures to be a crime.  Mississippi entered the war on bootleg movies in 2005.

Mississippi Code Annotated Section 97-23-92 makes it a crime to “knowingly operate the audiovisual recording function of any device in a motion picture theater while a motion picture is being exhibited without the consent of the theater owner.”  A person convicted of this crime can be punished by a fine not to exceed $1000.00 or imprisonment for up to six months in the county jail.  In addition, the statute states that the theater owner cannot be liable for “detaining” you if they catch you until law enforcement can get there.

This crime is in the “offenses against trade” section of the Mississippi Code, along with shoplifting, scalping tickets, home repair fraud, etc.  It is a theft of intellectual property, and the variations on this type of theft can get complicated very quickly (downloading movies on the internet, peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing, etc.).  Because it is complicated, if you are accused of this type of crime, you will need a lawyer who understands at least the basic technology involved.

My advice is to not even try to take a recording device into a movie theater, and to be very careful when buying DVDs, games, and movies, no matter what the format.  Also, please know what you are doing when you are purchasing movies for download online.  I don’t enjoy paying $8.50 at the movie theater either – and that does not even include the popcorn - but the amount of loss caused by bootlegging and piracy only increases the prices for all of us.

If you are accused of or arrested for any type of bootlegging or intellectual property theft, give me a call.  I’ve done these types of cases before, and I’ll be glad to help you if I can.

The SunHerald is reporting today that a homeless man in Biloxi was arrested over the weekend for misdemeanor impersonating a police officer.  The man availed himself of a meal at Jazzeppi’s Ristorante and Martini Bar, told a restaurant employee that he was a cop, then attempted to skip out on the bill.  His bail was set at $25,630, which sounds relatively high for a misdemeanor, but it is impossible to pass judgment on the amount of bail without knowing all the facts considered by the court.

Mississippi has several different laws pertaining to impersonation of a law enforcement officer:

• Miss. Code Ann. § 97-7-43 and 44 make it illegal to falsely or willfully assume or pretend to be an officer or employee “acting under the authority of” the State of Mississippi, or any part thereof (county, city, etc.).  This would include most police officers and sheriff’s department personnel.
• Miss. Code Ann. § 45-3-29 makes it illegal to impersonate a state highway patrolman, including wearing any of the insignia thereof.
• Miss. Code Ann. § 41-29-159(e) makes it illegal to impersonate the director, or any agent of, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

All of these crimes are misdemeanors, with punishments ranging from a small fine, to imprisonment for up to one year.

Typical fact patterns having to do with these crimes look something like the situation that happened this weekend.  Bail Agents sometimes unfortunately get caught up in these kinds of situations as well.  Other problems include using police lights, etc.

Perjury occurs when you deliberately lie in a legal proceeding after having taken an oath to tell the truth.  Perjury requires that you lie about a “material matter,” which means it must be relevant to the case at hand.  In other words, if you are on the witness stand testifying about the crime of larceny, and the lawyer asks you how much you weigh, and you fudge it a bit, then you haven’t committed perjury, unless your weight is relevant to the case.

Perjury  can be committed in criminal cases, civil cases, or “in any case where an oath or affirmation is required by law . . . .”  This would cover lying on an affidavit or sworn statement given to law enforcement.  In order to be convicted of perjury, two witnesses must testify to the truth of matter about which you swore falsely, or at least one witness must testify, along with corroborating circumstances.

The penalties for perjury can be severe.  If you are convicted of perjury for lying on the trial of any capital or felony offense, you can be imprisoned for not less than ten years.  In any other case, you can be imprisoned for a term of no more than ten years.

It is also a crime to “suborn” perjury, which means to get someone else to lie for you in a case, matter, or proceeding.  Subornation of perjury can get you imprisoned for a term of up to ten years as well.

This post begins a new series on this blog.  Each week I am going to feature two new crimes – a Mississippi state crime on Monday and a federal crime on Friday.  I will define each crime, discuss the possible punishments, and hopefully provide some useful information.  Don’t hold your breath each Monday and Friday, though; I’ve got several big trials coming up and I may have to skip a post or two.  If you’ve got something specific you’d like me to cover please send me an email to clarence@guthriefirm.com.

This week we are going to discuss the offense of shoplifting.  You don’t have to be a legal scholar to understand what shoplifting is – shoplifting is taking (stealing, pilfering, ganking, deboing, jacking, thieving, pinching, plundering, swiping, confiscating) something from a store without paying for it.  The prosecutor must show that you meant to steal the merchandise, and this “intent to steal” is presumed if you:

1. conceal the merchandise;
2. take the merchandise from the premises of the store;
3. alter, swap, or remove the pricetags on the merchandise;
4. transfer the merchandise from one container to another (a number of people get caught because they accidentally put something in their purse instead of their shopping basket); or
5. cause the cash register or scan device to ring up a price that is less than the stated price of the merchandise.

Shoplifting is a misdemeanor if the price of the merchandise is less than $500.00, and it is a felony if more than $500.00.  First offense misdemeanor shoplifting carries a punishment of a fine of not more than $1000.00 and up to six months in jail.  Second offense misdemeanor shoplifting carries the same penalties.  For a third offense, the offense then becomes a felony, and the punishments increase to a fine of not more than $5000.00, and imprisonment of up to five years.

If the price of the merchandise is over $500.00, the first offense is a felony, and is punished according to the laws regarding grand larceny, which carries a punishment of a fine of up to $10,000.00 and imprisonment for a term not to exceed ten years for a first offense.

Other statutes in Mississippi make it a criminal act to remove a “theft detection device” from merchandise, or to possess or use a “theft detection device remover” without proper permission.  It is also specifically against the law to aid and abet shoplifting by a minor, and the penalities for this are harsh.

Finally, in addition to the criminal penalties for shoplifting, there are civil penalties as well, if the “victim” decides to pursue them.  For instance, if you are caught and convicted of shoplifting at Dillard’s Department Store in the mall, Dillard’s can sue you for $200.00, or three times the actual value of the stolen merchandise, whichever is greater.  It does not matter if the merchandise was returned or not.  They must give you 30 days written notice and an opportunity to settle up with them before they pursue this civil remedy, which is in addition to the criminal trouble you may be in.

I should have seen it coming.  Yesterday I discussed aiding and abetting, and accessory before the fact.  Naturally I was asked the completely logical question of “Is there such a thing as accessory after the fact?”  Absolutely, there is.

Section 97-1-5 of the Mississippi Code Annotated defines accessory after the fact, stating as follows:

Every person who shall be convicted of having concealed, received, or relieved any felon, or having aided or assisted any felon, knowing that such person had committed a felony, with intent to enable such felon to escape or to avoid arrest, trial, conviction or punishment, after the commission of such felony, on conviction thereof shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not exceeding five years, or in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both; and in prosecution for such offenses it shall not be necessary to aver in the indictment or to prove on the trial that the principal has been convicted or tried.

1. that a felony has been committed
2. that you ”concealed, received, relieved, aided or assisted a felon, knowing that such person had committed a felony,” and
3. that this assistance or aid was rendered “with the intent to enable such felon to escape or avoid arrest, trial, conviction or punishment after the commission of such felony.”

Mangum v. State, 762 So.2d 337 (Miss. 2000).  Notice this distinction:  You can’t be guilty of accessory after the fact to a misdemeanor offense in Mississippi.  Federal law, however, makes no distinction between felonies and misdemeanors.  18 U.S.C. § 3.

In Mississippi, “aiding and abetting” and “accessory before the fact” are how you can be charged with a crime when you didn’t even do it.  

If you “help” someone to commit a crime, that is, you know of someone’s plan to commit a crime, and you do something to help them commit it, you have “aided and abetted” them.  Even if you were not present when the crime was committed, if the government can show that you had knowledge of the crime before or after the fact, and you assisted in it through advice, actions, or financial support, then you can be charged with aiding and abetting.    ”Accessory Before the Fact” is closely-related.  The government must show that you planned, arranged for, or counseled or commanded another person to commit a felony, but were not present when the felony was committed by the other person.  These two crimes are also known as “accomplice liability.”

Examples of aiding and abetting:

• driving the getaway car
• watching and doing nothing to stop your friends from assaulting someone
• filling illegal prescriptions for a relative

Examples of accessory before the fact:

• buying and/or supplying the weapon used in the robbery
• telling the burglar which doors are unlocked 

In 2005, the Mississippi Supreme Court explained the distinction in these two crimes, holding that ”Aiding and abetting and acting as an accessory-before-the-fact are two wholly distinct crimes. The primary difference is that if a person is actually or constructively present at the offense, due to his participation, he is an aider and abettor; if not present, he is an accessory-before-the-fact.” Dilworth v. State, 909 So.2d 731, 734 (Miss. 2005). 

If you aided and abetted in the commission of the offense, it is the law that you are “just as guilty under the law as if [you] had committed the whole crime with [your] own hand.” Id.  And you can be punished the same as well.

This law firm will aggressively defends all criminal matters, no matter how the government says you are involved.  Call Clarence immediately for the best possible results.

Back to the basics with this one.

A misdemeanor is defined under Mississippi law as  “a criminal offense punishable by a maximum possible sentence of confinement for one year or less, a fine, or both.”  Uniform Circuit and County Court Rule 6.01.  The Mississippi Legislature has defined a felony as ”any violation of law punished with death or confinement in the penitentiary.”  Miss. Code Ann. § 1-3-11.

These definitions, one provided by the courts and one provided by the legislature, don’t exactly compliment each other.  But, in general, a felony is any crime for which a person can be imprisoned for one or more years in a state or federal prison, and a misdemeanor is any other lesser crime.  Any incarceration resulting from a misdemeanor conviction will probably be served in a local county jail or detention center, and longer incarceration resulting from a felony conviction will probably be served at one of the state facilities maintained by the Mississippi Department of Corrections. 

The distinctions between a felony and a misdemeanor come up in many different areas of the law, including sentencing hearings, expungements, use of prior convictions to enhance subsequent punishments, etc.  And, of course, federal criminal law is different than Mississippi state law in many of these areas. 

If you’ve been accused of a crime, felony or misdemeanor, state or federal, you need to know your options before making any life-changing decisions.  Contact us for a free review of your case.

Recently, 22 members of the Jackson State University Sonic Boom marching band were caught up in an investigation into alleged hazing of freshmen band members.  Ultimately they received varying degrees of punishment from JSU depending on their level of culpability, including getting kicked out of the band, community service, fines, classes, and suspensions. 

These were punishments that the university applied administratively, but know this: Mississippi is one of 42 states in which hazing has been defined as a crime.  Section 97-3-105 of the Mississippi Code Annotated is a very straightforward statute.  Read it yourself:

1. A person is guilty of hazing in the first degree when, in the course of another person’s initiation into or affiliation with any organization, he intentionally or recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of physical injury to such other person or a third person and thereby causes such injury.
2. Any person violating the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or both.
3. A person is guilty of hazing in the second degree when, in the course of another person’s initiation into or affiliation with any organization, he intentionally or recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of physical injury to such other person or a third person.
4. Any person violating the provisions of subsection (3) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
5. The provisions of this section shall be in addition to other criminal laws, and actions taken pursuant to this section shall not bar prosecutions for other violations of criminal law.

So Mississippi recognizes two degrees of hazing, both classified as misdemeanors, depending on whether someone gets hurt or not.  Again, these are the criminal penalties that can be enforced by the state against you, but this does not necessarily stop the institution from punishing you administratively according to their disciplinary policy.

A recent academic study found that 55% of college students involved in clubs, teams, and organizations have experienced some form of hazing.  It is a wide-spread problem, with lasting consequences if you are convicted in court or punished by your school.  If you’ve been accused in a hazing incident, don’t make a rash decision without knowing your rights.  Give me a call for a free consultation.