Discussion/Criminal Justice
Sam likes to smoke crack and his addiction and related lifestyle has made him vulnerable to being a victim of crimes. On May 1st, 2020, Sam was smoking crack at his house located at 123 Elm St. Killeen, Texas. Sam was sitting on his couch. His front door was open but the screen door was closed. Sam invited Brad over to his house to watch the football game and smoke crack with him. Brad came over and he and Sam sat on the couch watching the game. When Sam got up to go use the bathroom, Brad removed $40 out of Sam’s wallet which was sitting on the coffee table. Brad placed the money in his sock before Sam came back into the living room.
While Sam and Brad continued watching the game in the living room, Cliff jumped the fence into Sam’s backyard and opened a bedroom window at the rear of Sam’s house. Cliff climbed through the window and picked up Sam’s MP3 player from beside his bed. Brad heard a noise coming from the bedroom and looked over his shoulder and saw Cliff putting Sam’s MP3 player down his pants. Brad yelled, “Cliff is stealing your stuff!” Cliff climbed back out the window but his pants came off and fell on the floor along with Sam’s MP3 player. Cliff ran away without his pants and the MP3 player.
Just as Cliff ran away, Sam and Brad hear yelling coming from the front yard of Sam’s house. They both walked into the living room and looked out the front door. Scott is standing in the front yard yelling at Sam saying Sam owes him 40 dollars. Sam tells Scott he has the money he owes him but when Sam looks in his wallet there is no money in there because Brad stole the money earlier when Sam was in the bathroom. Sam suspects Brad took the money from the look on Brad’s face. Outraged that Sam still doesn’t have his money after promising him earlier, Scott throws the screen door open, enters Sam’s living room, and punches Sam in the nose. Scott then yells at Sam, “That’s for lying to me you son of bitch!” Scott then runs out the door and down the street.
Sam’s nose is bleeding so he walks into his kitchen to get some ice. When Sam enters his kitchen he sees a man passed out on the kitchen floor. It is Jon who is sleeping on the kitchen floor. Sam recognizes Jon as a guy who lives in the neighborhood and who frequently gets drunk and enters random neighbor’s houses without permission because he is too drunk to distinguish their house from his own.
By this time Sam has had enough and calls 911. Sam calls 911 and police are given a description of all of the suspects and are dispatched to Sam’s house. Police know all of the suspects from previous encounters so they are able to quickly detain everyone, including Brad who is still in Sam’s living room, Jon who is still passed out on the kitchen floor, and Cliff and Scott who were fighting each other down the street from Sam’s house when police responded to the neighborhood. Cliff is still not wearing pants.
There is some disagreement with officers of the Killeen Police Department, over what offenses were committed against Sam. Your job is to determine what crime each man committed against Sam. For each suspect (Brad, Cliff, Jon, and Scott) list the crime including the specific section number in the Texas Penal Code. What are the elements for each offense? What is the penalty for each offense? Also refer to Chapter 11 of the OER, Crimes Against Property for guidance.
