Intentional Torts, Essay Example

This is a situation of attempted theft by embezzlement where an employee attempts to embezzle funds or property from the owner. In order to prove the crime the district attorney must prove the alleged intended to take the property and permanently deprive the rightful owner as such. The thief must possess the mental intent or ‘mens rea’ to steal the property. A theft must include the movement of property from one place to another no matter how small. Property can include land, commercial, personal, trade secrets, ideas, services and materials. Theft is defined as taking without the consent of the rightful owner and to permanently deprive the rightful owner of said property. A person can have a defense if they actually never committed the crime rather only thought of the crime but if they carried out the crime in any manner it is no longer considered ‘attempt’.

Key element with proving ‘mens rea’ or intent to deprive the rightful owner is that the rightful owner has full legal right to have authority to exercise substantial control over goods or funds at all time. One must have taken ‘equivocal steps’ toward committing the crime of depriviving the rightful owner of either personal property or real property. This is to prevent the person that only ‘though of committing the offense’ from being charged with ‘attempted embezzlement or larceny’. Hence the prosecutor must prove the item did move even if just a little to prove attempted embezzlement.

The second crime committed is the attempt to falsify documents with the intent to commit theft.-US Code Chapter 31. Falsification of documents is a crime in itself. § 1028-Fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents, authentication features, and information.

• Whoever without lawful authority produces an identification document, authentication feature or false document knowing the document was stolen or reproduced without lawful authority;
• Knowingly possesses with intent to use unlawfully five or more documents, authentication features, or false documents;
• With intent to defraud the United States;
• “knowingly produces, transfers, or possesses a document-making implement or authentication feature with the intent such document-making implement or authentication feature will be used in the production of a false identification document or another document-making implement or authentication feature which will be so used” (“Embezzlement and Theft”);
• Knowingly transfers without lawful authority with the intent to commit or aid or abet “in connection with any unlawful activity constitutes a violation of Federal Law or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law”(“Embezzlement and Theft”)”
• Shall be punished for not more than 15 years of imprisonment.

The crime shifts from attempted embezzlement to embezzlement and to attempt to falsify documents to falsification of documents when the two put the plan into action.

The third crime committed is black mail when the third employee discovers Ben and Jerry’s plot has been put into action and exposes them demanding a sum of money or he will go to the firm and the police.

“The federal blackmail statute (P.L. 103-322, 108 Stat. 2147), enacted in its current form as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and based on earlier statutes dating from 1948 and 1909, makes it a crime to demand money or other items of value from a person in return for not informing on the person’s violation of federal law.”

References

Federal Blackmail Statute (1994) Retrieved January 21, 2010 from, http://www.enotes.com/major-acts-congress/federal-blackmail-statute

Embezzlement (2010) Retrieved January 21, 2010 from, http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/embezzlement

Embezzlement and Theft (2010) Retrieved January 21. 2010 from, http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sup_01_18_10_I_20_31.html