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KN, p. 245 “Was It Burglary or Robbery?” and other questions answered
Crime scene investigations have a few terms associated with them that are sometimes misused or misunderstood. Check out some accepted legal definitions.
Robbery or Burglary?
Robbery is a crime where someone takes an item without permission directly from someone else, without any intention of giving it back, and does this by force or threat of force. The wording of the criminal act may differ slightly from State to State.
A burglary occurs when someone enters a home or business illegally, intending to steal an item or commit a felony while inside the building.
While you might think that robbery and burglary are talking about the same act – a theft of your property – they are indicative of different circumstances. In a robbery, someone actually came and took something from you (often face-to-face), perhaps threatening you while demanding your money or cellphone. But, a burglary occurs when you are not present, like a break-in and theft at your house while you’re at work.
Assault or Battery?
Assault and Battery are sometimes used interchangeably but refer to different legal occurrences. Assault is when a person is threatened with attack (someone says they will hit the targeted person), and battery takes place when a person is physically attacked (someone hits him/her).
Battery is the unlawful use of force resulting in the injury of someone else. Battery always includes assault.
Civil or Criminal Cases?
Civil Actions are brought before the court to protect and enforce private rights.
Criminal Law determines what is criminal behavior and sets punishment to be imposed for that criminal behavior. The idea behind criminal law is to prevent harm to society.
Murder or Homicide or Manslaughter?
Homicide is a legal term for any killing of a human being by another human being and is not always a crime. Hearings are held to determine whether shooting deaths are justifiable killings in self-defense. Murder and manslaughter fall under the category of unlawful homicides.
Murder is an intentional killing when it is:
If you would like to share this article with your friends or post a comment - please click here to visit full story page. - unlawful (not legally justified), and
- committed with “malice aforethought.”
Voluntary Manslaughter occurs when a person:
- is strongly provoked in a situation that could provoke any reasonable person and
- kills in a heat of passion caused by that extreme frustration.
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