Criminal Damage to Property Lawyer in Southern Illinois

Criminal Damage to Property Lawyer in Southern Illinois

Illinois penalizes criminal damage to property based on the property’s nature and value. If your charges fall into the highest category, prosecutors could seek a sentence that includes thousands of dollars in fines and several years in prison.

Combs Waterkotte has defended over 10,000 criminal cases, including many involving destruction, damage, or defacement of property. We’ll fight aggressively to protect your right to a fair process as we seek a positive outcome.

Property Damage Crimes in Southern Illinois

The law has always protected property. Arson and theft were felonies under the common law. A common law misdemeanor known as “malicious mischief” occurred when someone intentionally damaged or defaced the property of another.

When the states began codifying their criminal laws, many adopted the term “criminal mischief” to identify the offense of intentionally damaging property and “vandalism” to identify a crime involving the intentional defacing of property.

Illinois uses much more descriptive terms, including “criminal damage” and “criminal defacement.” Although the basic offenses are treated as misdemeanors, serious damage or defacement can be charged as felonies.

Illinois Statutes Covering Criminal Damage to Property and Related Offenses

Illinois has two offenses referred to as “criminal damage to property.” One is directed to property generally, while the other specifically covers government-supported property. Additionally, the state has laws against defacing property.

Criminal Damage to Property in Southern Illinois

Under Illinois law, criminal damage to property occurs in the following situations:

• Knowingly damaging another’s property
• Recklessly damaging another’s property by fire or explosives
• Knowingly starting a fire on another’s land
• Knowingly injuring another’s domestic animal
• Knowingly interfering with the use of another’s land or building by placing a stink bomb
• Defrauding an insurer by knowingly damaging any property
• Knowingly discharging a firearm at a train
• Knowingly damaging, destroying, or tampering with firefighting equipment
• Intentionally opening a fire hydrant

The statute doesn’t define “damaging.” However, it can be assumed that this word is broad enough to encompass physical harm or functional impairment.

Criminal Damage to Government-Supported Property

Criminal damage to government-supported property happens when the accused knowingly does the following:

• Damages government-supported property without the state’s consent
• Damages government-supported property by fire or explosion
• Starts a fire on government-supported property without the state’s consent
• Places a stink bomb on a government-supported plot of land or building

Property is “government-supported” when it operates in whole or in part using local government funding. This could include school property, government offices, or government-run recreation centers.

Institutional Vandalism in Southern Illinois

Institutional vandalism is a hate crime carried out by damaging property belonging to another person or group. The motive for the damage must be the actual or perceived race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

This statute covers the following property types:

• Churches and other places of religious worship
• Cemeteries, mortuaries, or other places for burying or memorializing the dead
• Schools and educational facilities
• Community centers

The statute also includes the grounds adjacent to the building owned by the institution, group, or individual targeted.

Criminal Defacement of Property

Criminal defacement is equivalent to vandalism in other jurisdictions. It occurs when the accused knowingly performs any of the following acts on another’s property:

• Defaces
• Deforms
• Damages by using paint, writing instruments, or etching tools

This offense can occur regardless of the reason for the defacement. For example, you can’t deface another person’s property to create art or exercise your First Amendment right to free speech.

Possible Defenses to Criminal Damage to Property Charges in Southern Illinois

Your attorney can employ any number of criminal defense strategies in your case, either seeking to disprove an element of the offense or raising an affirmative defense. These strategies may involve the following factual or legal claims:

Consent

It’s not illegal to damage another person’s property if you have their consent. In other words, you can’t be convicted if the alleged victim permitted your actions that allegedly damaged their property, such as creating an art installation.

Claim of Right

Generally, you’re allowed to damage or deface your own property. This claim-of-right defense may allow reasonable mistakes. Specifically, you can defend yourself by arguing that you damaged someone else’s property because you reasonably believed it belonged to you.

For example, suppose that you threw a snowball at a parked vehicle, mistakenly thinking it was your car. If you can show that your vehicle is a similar make and color, a jury may agree with your defense.

Alibi

An alibi is a set of facts showing that you couldn’t have committed the offense in question.

For instance, you might face criminal charges for institutional vandalism because you were with a group of people who were captured on camera defacing property. However, if you left the group before the vandalism occurred, you can present witness testimony to support your alibi.

Lack of Intent

Most criminal damage offenses require that you act “knowingly,” which means you knew about the nature of your conduct and that the prohibited result was practically certain to occur. If the damage was accidental, you didn’t have the requisite knowledge or intent to commit the offense.

Penalties Upon Conviction for Criminal Damage to Property in Southern Illinois

The offense levels for criminal damage to property range from misdemeanors to serious felonies. As a result, the possible term of imprisonment can vary widely. Additionally, for criminal damage convictions involving damage valued at over $10,000, the judge must impose a fine equal to the value of the damage.

The potential punishment you might face for a criminal damage conviction includes the following: