Carrie Underwood sings about being a jilted lover. While she is home, her boyfriend is out carousing with other women. What Carrie did when she found out is well known. She "dug [her] key into the side of his pretty little souped up four wheel drive, carved [her] name into his leather seat. [She] took a Louisville slugger to both head lights, [and] slashed a hole in all four tires." While Underwood may have gotten her revenge, in New York State, she may have also committed a felony.
New York State Penal Law includes a crime called Criminal Mischief, which can range from an A misdemeanor to a B felony. Intentionally damaging the property of another and causing damages exceeding $250 is a class E felony (PL 145.05). If the damage exceeded $1,500, it would be a class D felony (PL 145.10). Thus, it may be okay for Underwood to sing about destroying her ex-boyfriend's car, but if anyone were to actually do it, they could be looking at over a year in prison.
Most criminal mischief cases are the A misdemeanor kind, under PL 145.00. It requires the intentional damage of property or reckless damage of property in an amount exceeding $250. The primary difference between E felony criminal mischief and A misdemeanor criminal mischief is intent. To be charged with a felony, you must intend to do damage while to be charged with the misdemeanor you may merely have acted recklessly. As an example, I once represented an inebriated defendant who saw his girlfriend talking to another man inside a bar. When he pounded on the glass to get her attention, the glass broke. He was charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief because he did not intentionally damage the glass, his conduct was merely reckless. In any event, I was able to convince the District Attorney to drop all charges against him.
The star-crossed lover scenario could easily result in similar charges. Girl meets boy. Dad forbids girl to see boy. Boy comes calling at night and throws pebbles at girl's window. Pebble hits window and it breaks. While boy may have been trying a romantic recreation of Romeo and Juliet, Dad (and the police) see a violation of PL 145.00.
The most serious form of criminal mischief, PL 145.12, is a B felony for intentionally damaging property by means of an explosive. As you might imagine, prosecutions under this statute are far more rare than under the misdemeanor statute. However, just as Ms. Underwood warns her ex-boyfriend to think next time before he cheats, she should be warned before she further damages his car. Putting a firecracker in his exhaust pipe might be good revenge, and make for a catchy tune, but it could also result in a prosecution for the B felony of criminal mischief.
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