Legal Question in Criminal Law in Georgia

Tyler was having some personal conflict with a friend. Because they were not getting along, he did not have any wish to communicate with this friend, the second party in this case, who we will call Justin. Tyler and Justin occasionally enjoy going out to the gun range together and shooting their guns together, of course, when they are on good terms. However, because of a dispute involving a night where Justin stole property from Tyler's home, while they were hanging out, Tyler no longer wishes to speak to Justin.

On the last occurrence of the two parties enjoying each others company, Justin accidently left his BB gun in at Tyler's home. He lives there with his girlfriend Madison. The property was stolen by Justin on that same day/evening. Tyler, after speaking with Justin and trying to resolve the missing item, decided to call his losses, and not go further in trying to obtain what was taken (Justin's hostility having much to do with this decision).

Madison woke up one morning, just a few days after the incident, to hear a loud banging at the back door. She is afraid and Tyler is not there. She goes to the door and asks who is there, and in return is responded to by Justin who says "let me in now! I need my bb gun back and am not leaving until I have it!" She responds, "Tyler is not home, which is clear because his car is gone. I am not letting anyone in while he isn't here. I am not the home owner, and you are his friend, not mine. I am sure Tyler will return it as soon as he gets home from work. Was this BB gun taken from you?" "No", Justin responds, "I left it here. But I will not leave until you give it to me, or I will call the police". He is yelling and disrupting the neighbors in the process and Madison becomes aggregated. She then says, "it was your mistake to leave it here, and I don't know where it is to begin with. However, even if I did, I refuse to open this door. You are hostile, for one, and you have taken from us and our home. We were nice enough to spare you from trouble from the cops. Leave the property. As soon as Tyler gets off, I will tell him you came by, and we will return it as soon as we can". Justin then gets in his car and leaves. Tyler later decides to go to Justin's home. When he texted Justin, he responded by saying he was not home. Tyler was already on Justin's road, and could see his car parked in front of his home. Justin lives with his father, who is the owner of the house. Tyler and Justin are normally under much different terms, and it is very common that either parties will stop by each others houses without notifying the other. They are very comfortable and familiar with each other and the way each works, which is why Tyler proceeded with the following actions, without any thought regarding legal matters. He pulls into Justin's driveway. He does not want to have confrontation with Justin, due to the hostile and intolerant responses. So Tyler approaches Justin's vehicle, opens the unlocked car door, and proceeds to return Justin's bb gun. He was not given permission to enter. Justin and his Father exit their home, at that instant. They are both acting in a manner that causes Tyler to feel threatened. Justin is making trespassing accusations. He tries calmly telling them that he was only returning property. The two were watching home from their window, and witnessed him doing so, as well as the fact that he had not taken anything from the car, which didn't have any property in it to begin with. He and his dad wont hear it. Justin uses a baseball bat to then bust out one of Tyler's car windows. When Tyler then enters his car to leave, the father yells that he is calling the cops. After leaving, Tyler calls his father who is the captain of the county jail. He advices that Tyler go to the police station, and let them know what happened. Tyler does so, by explaining the situation, and admitting to entering Justin's car without permission. When he tells an officer what had occurred, he was not informed that he was being recorded in any way. No officer was writing anything down, and because he did not have any warrants nor fled from the scene of a crime to his knowledge, he was not there to make any sort of confessions. He was simply implementing information, with the intention of avoiding any further complications, and to make sure he was free of any trouble. From there, he goes home. Justin later calls to inform him that he and his father decided not to press charges, after talking to the police. Tyler then decides that he will not press charges in regards to his broken window, although the damages are expensive. a week and a half go by when Tyler's dad calls him him that he has a warrant for his arrest, the charge being "entering an auto with the intent to commit a theft or felony". The state was pressing charges based on what he told the police, and he was in fact being recorded that day at that police department. What should he do? He was not informed that he was being recorded, at all. Nor was he in any way, intending to commit a theft or felony. Also, the parties involved chose not to press any charges regarding him trespassing. They stand by that, still. They were hostile and are now very sorry that they acted that way, while Tyler was only returning Justins item, and did it in a way that he could best avoid conflict. please help me. How can that determine his intent? How can they incriminate him based off of his own detail of the event? The police office says that he gave them the information needed to proceed in charging him with entering an auto. They did not entail the part about his intention being to commit a theft. There is no charge for entering an auto that doesn't entail the intent to commit a theft. If he is charged, it should only be for trespassing. He admitted only to entering the car without permission.


Asked on 11/06/14, 3:44 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

I think you meant to post this in the Ethics category, since that is the best topic for cheaters trying to get answers to exams and homework. Instructors are very good at finding out and there is great software to ferret out cheaters. If you made the monumental mistake of using your email address to sign up here, it could be bad.

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Answered on 11/06/14, 3:56 am
Laurie Weiss Weiss Law, P.C.

I suggest that you do your own research since this is obviously an exam question. I also suggest that you delete this question before your professor sees your attempt at cheating.

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Answered on 11/06/14, 6:07 am


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