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Speak Up! - View Question #622 |
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Question: How can I be charged with Grafitti without the police catching me in the act?
Answer: Graffiti is more generally known as criminal damage. Damaging someones property can be a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the dollar amount of the damage. (A.R.S. § 13-1602).
A charge of criminal damage can be made against you when the prosecution believes it has enough evidence to have a judge or jury convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that you committed the offense. The officer who arrests you does not have to witness the damage when you did it. In fact, there doesnt have to be an eye-witness to the offense at all.
It is possible, for example, that someone else saw you commit the crime and reported it to the police. It is also conceivable that the officer saw the graffiti on a wall, and when questioning you about something else, noticed that your notebook had similar drawings and sayings as the graffiti. The state would still have to be able to convince the judge or jury that you did it, however, for you to be found guilty. The charge, by itself, is not evidence.
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| 31 thru 35 of 49 comments |
On 11/06/03
DRE / LMS, TAGING KREW from MI said:
I THINK THAT PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO GRAFITTI BECAUSE IS ART AND THERE SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM
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On 10/31/03
?????????? from Othe said:
i think that the cops r wasting there time tryin 2 stop grafitti. its not like people r going 2 stop! there alwase has been grafitti and there alwase will beur tag is a part of u and who u r so if u dont do grafitti and u read this u should deffently start!
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On 10/20/03
WiRED from IN said:
Grafitti is much more than a couple of chicken scratches on a sign post, a couple of poorly spray painted messages in an alleyway. Krylon is like blood to a grafitti artist. Its essential, a part of life. Good citizens, yes, they have their points, they don't want to see it on their property, but it doesn't mean you should stop. Grafitti is the art that builds a city. The art that takes walls, like sheets of paper, and transforms them into someone's dreams. Think about what you're doing when you tell an artist to stop, if it isn't harming you or your property, I see no reason why it should st
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On 10/12/03
witr from CA said:
listen!!!!i dont think grafitti should be illegal...2 many people r doin it and it cannot be stopped.....the police can hastle "us" for writing but were nevr gonnna stop!!!!!i think the cops have nothing else to do......they just hastling cause it's a newe thing teenagers are doing like me.....c'mon onther people r out there doin sick thing's such as rapists cereal killers and what the cops are all in on it ..... thats y them killers are still out there...........they just got nuthing else to do........peace out'XX
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On 10/12/03
Jeff from FL said:
Problem being, Private Property being private and all, it is up to the owner of it if they want to have their place painted up.
Maybe they like it all brick and mortar... it's not up to you,
it's up to them.
...or perhaps some tyrannical demi-socialist "beatification coucil" or "standards & zoning review board" or some carpola like that...
but that'sa whole other can of statist worms...
I'll bet in a major city, any one, you can find at LEAST one land/property owner who just says 'have at it' with the side of his building.
-- Of course... that would mean anyone could go about pai
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