Law enforcement investigate all sorts of call for services, some of them are cut and dry when determining what occurred and whether or not a crime was committed.
The law itself has evolved based off of both the needs associated with the governed, as well as societal progression as a whole. Laws are created and changed according to what exactly occurs throughout different societies. That being said, the topic of discussion today will be centered on one of those types of laws, it was created directly in response to a need throughout society.
In multiple states there are laws concerning grand theft auto aka carjacking aka auto theft…whatever you want to call it. Although the wordings may differ slightly, majority of the time the laws associated with this criminal action are similar in nature.
The important element here is intent, specifically the intent to defraud or “permanently” deprive the owner of the vehicle access to said vehicle. So right off the back you can see the limitations associated with this type of wording, proving that a criminal intended to “Permanently” deprive the owner of the vehicle of access can be problematic in court. In addition to that, what about joyriders or teens that take their parents car but intend on returning it in the end.
There used to be a major hole when utilizing this charge, however societies have agreed in multiple states to change or add a law to address the weaknesses associated with this criminal charge.
Nowadays, majority of municipalities have implemented something to the effect of an Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle clause or law that just about covers everything that the general auto theft laws can’t be applied to.
These laws are often times left vague on purpose so that a judge would have the ability to make an interpretation when it comes to determining the punishment and/or determining whether the guilty party deserves punishment at all.
LEOs deal with both grand theft auto and unauthorized use incidents on the regular basis, having strong laws or clauses associated with the law makes determining an appropriate charge when dealing with said incidents a lot easier. In addition to that, when the incident gets to court and needs to be addressed it can be under the proper law pertaining to the incident that occurred.
Obvious, the best way to not even have to be bothered with these types of law is to not commit the criminal action in the first place. However, if someone does find themselves in a predicament where they are nervous about their future they will at least have comfort in knowing that the courts can adequately make a determination based off the laws in place within that jurisdiction….
Carjacking or Unauthorized Use…