A Dash of Sult N Papper 04/19/20> Organized Crime and Criminal Mischief….H’mmm.

in #dailydose4 years ago (edited)

image.png

I've been looking...

I’ve been looking at the Texas Statutes and spent a little time in the Penal Section recently, very interesting reading I must say.

Normally, I’m a pretty law abiding member of my community but things can change in the blink of an eye so I thought it might be in my best interest to read up on a few things.

A couple of...

A couple of sections that caught my interest were the sections on “Organized Crime” and “Criminal Mischief”. I have no plans on organizing a crime gang and pulling off bank robberies but the longer I sit around with idle time, well you just never know what I might decide to do.

I’m glad I took the time to read the section on organized crime, for some reason I thought that to qualify under that section it would involve more than just three people, but I was wrong.

Three people is...

Three people is all it takes here in Texas and I suspect that if you live in another state here in the USA chances are your state will have similar qualifications.

I have enough family members that I can be the “king pin” of my own “organized crime family”. How’s the Sult N Papper crime family sound?
Yea, it really isn’t that great of name. Maybe we should go with the “Papper Mafia”, that’s sounds better to me, what do you think?

Before we dig...

Before we dig in to the details of organized crime I would like to discuss “criminal mischief’ first. I got to thinking about CV19 and protests that are starting to spring up around the country and just what a person might be “charged’ with if they happened to get involved in one of those protests.

The first thing that came to mind was criminal mischief, I don’t know why that was, but it just sort of sounded right to me.

Well, here in Texas criminal mischief is found under Sec.28. 03. of the Texas Statutes and it reads:
CRIMINAL MISCHIEF. (a) A person commits an offense if, without the effective consent of the owner:
(1) he intentionally or knowingly damages or destroys the tangible property of the owner;
(2) he intentionally or knowingly tampers with the tangible property of the owner and causes pecuniary loss or substantial inconvenience to the owner or a third person; or
(3) he intentionally or knowingly makes markings, including inscriptions, slogans, drawings, or paintings, on the tangible property of the owner.

That seems like pretty cut and dried description of what constitutes criminal mischief. First and foremost is that there has to be some sort of property involved and the owner didn’t give effective consent for you to mess with his property. I think we can pretty much agree that the wording of this section makes that pretty clear.

Number 2 of Sec.28.03 is where I guess the applicability of the section would apply to just a friendly protest if you were to block the entrance to building or parking lot by sitting down in the way and refusing to move.

Surely that would fall under the term “substantial inconvenience” to the owner or someone else wanting to gain access or egress from the location. So criminal mischief doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to destroy any property or even deface it to have committed the crime of criminal mischief.

So here is...

So here is a tip; if you decide to go out and protest anything anytime soon.

Stay on your feet and keep moving, even if you are just walking back and forth in a large group you can cause the same result as if you were stationary on the ground, just keep circling back and blocking the driveway or parking lot using the public sidewalk. Unless of course you want to be arrested; then by all means sit your ass down and wait for the cops to arrive and haul you away.

Before we move...

Before we move on to organized crime can you think of anything that might seem like “ordinary” but would fit the criteria to be criminal mischief?
If so please leave your thoughts in the comments below. I actually thought of one myself and that sort of paved the way for me to look at organized crime.

Let's say you...

Let’s say you get stopped by a law enforcement officer while you are just driving down the road. You comply with his demands for your driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance.

You figure he’ll write you ticket and you’ll be on your way in 5 or 10 minutes at the most. So that 10 minutes goes by and he’s still back in his patrol car and talking on his radio, the next thing you know two more squad cars pull up and block you in and then a slew of tow trucks show up as well.

The next thing you know is that you are handcuffed in the back of the patrol car. You had forgotten about some previous tickets that you had never taken care of and the judge issued a warrant for your arrest. Those cops are going to make sure you see the judge before you get released so off to the jail you go.

Now your car...

Now your car is legally parked on the street but the cop has it towed away by one of those tow truck drivers.

So now, besides the ticket you just got and the outstanding tickets you had, you now have towing and storage charges that the tow truck company is going to charge you before you can get your car back from them.

Correct me if I am wrong; but it sounds to me that some “criminal mischief” just took place.

You didn't give...

You didn’t give “effective consent” to anyone to tow your car away, in fact you’re telling the cop that you would have your wife or friend come get the car and to please just let it sit there, it was legally parked.

Your pleading with him did you no good you law breaker; he is going to” teach you a lesson”, that is what is running through his mind the whole time you are pleading with him.

Well, with the...

Well, with the no effective consent that tow truck driver just committed criminal mischief in my book according to the Texas Penal Code Sec. 28.03.

That tow truck driver may not have damaged or destroyed your property which number 1 lists; but he damn sure is in violation under number 2.

Not only did he cause “substantial inconvenience” by towing it away you also have pecuniary loss in that you’ll have to pay money to him to get the car back.

I will also wager a dime to a dollar that when you finally do see your car again that tow truck driver will have also qualified under section 3 as well in committing criminal mischief; because it is standard operating procedure for them to write on the car the date, time, location, what agency ordered the tow and any other pertinent information.

I can assure...

I can assure you that if my truck ever gets towed, by any tow truck I didn’t call, you can bet my first move is going to be a trip to the county district attorney’s office to file a criminal mischief complaint against the tow truck company’s owner. If the DA doesn’t want to file charges against the tow truck company then I will make sure to file a claim against him or her as well.

Just because it's...

Just because it’s “the normal way they do things” which is probably what the DA would tell you, it doesn’t make it right or lawful. I just showed you with state’s own statute that it is a violation of the Texas Penal Code.

So someone besides me is going to end up paying for my inconvenience.

That scenario is...

That scenario is what led me to think about organized crime and criminal gangs. I have always contended that cops are the modern day stage coach robbers and so I figured I’d try to this altogether under organized crime. This photo shows a motorcycle being towed away as the young lady who was riding it is fixin' to be hauled off to jail.

Organized Crime is found under section 71 of the Texas Penal Code here is what it reads;
Sec. 71.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter,
(a) "Combination" means three or more persons who collaborate in carrying on criminal activities, although:
(1) participants may not know each other's identity;
(2) membership in the combination may change from time to time; and
(3) participants may stand in a wholesaler-retailer or other arm's-length relationship in illicit distribution operations.
(b) "Conspires to commit" means that a person agrees with one or more persons that they or one or more of them engage in conduct that would constitute the offense and that person and one or more of them perform an overt act in pursuance of the agreement. An agreement constituting conspiring to commit may be inferred from the acts of the parties.
(c) "Profits" means property constituting or derived from any proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, from an offense listed in Section 71.02.
(d) "Criminal street gang" means three or more persons having a common identifying sign or symbol or an identifiable leadership who continuously or regularly associate in the commission of criminal activities.

So we have...

So we have the definitions we need and I think we have at least three people who have conspired to take my truck. The three are; the cop who pulled me over, the dispatcher who put the call out over the radio for the tow truck to show up, and the tow truck driver. That sounds like an organized crime ring or gang if I ever heard of one.

Section 71.02 lays...

Section 71.02 lays out what constitutes the “crime” so let’s take a look at that;
Sec. 71.02. ENGAGING IN ORGANIZED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.
(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination or as a member of a criminal street gang, the person commits or conspires to commit one or more of the following:
(1) murder, capital murder, arson, aggravated robbery, robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated kidnapping, kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, continuous sexual abuse of young child or children, solicitation of a minor, forgery, deadly conduct, assault punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, burglary of a motor vehicle, or unauthorized use of a motor vehicle;

We now have our three people engaging in organized crime per the description given in Sec. 71.02 , and the charges it would seem have been escalated to a felony now; not just criminal mischief.
Taking my truck while having a gun in the cop’s possession would surely be considered aggravated robbery on his part and at the very least it would be theft.

Even if it couldn’t qualify as a felony it would definitely be a Class A misdemeanor as burglary of a motor vehicle or unauthorized use of motor vehicle since they were taking my truck to earn an illegal profit from it at my expense. But now these folks are not just organized crime but a “criminal street gang”.

If we go...

If we go back to the definitions in section 71.01 d.; we clearly see that this group fits the bill of particulars when it comes to qualifying as such. (d) "Criminal street gang" means three or more persons having a common identifying sign or symbol or an identifiable leadership who continuously or regularly associate in the commission of criminal activities.

The cops and...

The cops and the tow truck company both use flashing strobe lights on their vehicles so that is a common identifying sign or symbol. Plus, there is only three in my situation, but the whole police force is included in the criminal street gang since they all drive similar identified cars and uniforms distinguishing identifiable leadership.

If the cops were honest about what they are doing they would have this motto on the their cars instead of the "to serve and protect" they so falsely advertise.

Seriously folks, you can’t make this shit up, these people fit the description to a “T” when you read the definitions and descriptions of the activities.

I might just have to get myself into some trouble just to expose this criminal activity by having firsthand knowledge by being a victim of their illegal activities.

I am going to end it right here for now, I need to go check on the Papper Mafia and see what’s for dinner.

Until next time,
The “king pin”
Sult

Sort:  

The rules are for real people, not cops.

I'd bet the tow truck drivers would be in hot water themselves if they weren't complicit in that scenario.

What they call law enforcement is no more or less than the most well funded and credible distributor of violence and intimidation on the local level.

Law and policing exist to protect the property of the rich, as that excerpt lays out plainly. The rest if fluff to help legitimize them by appealing to emotions or axiology.

I'd say you are pretty spot on...thanks for dropping in and reading and commenting.

You know how I feel about 'search and seizure'. Makes me crazy, and you are utterly correct: It's a criminal activity. I really like the way you connected the dots here.

It got me thinking about what an ordinary 'citizen' can do about it. Then I got to thinking about the statutes, codes and laws.

Laws are never, ever, written with the intent to stop crime. They are written with the intent to make the penalties stern enough to make the general population not seriously consider the activities. They want to take the 'profit motive' out of 'criminal activity'. IE: You rob a bank and get $240,000. Even if you manage to get the entire pile hidden but get caught for the crime you will do 20 years. You could have made the same or more working at McDonalds. Profit motive.

I'd guess the tow companies would be the 'weak link' in vehicle seizure. I've got a lawyer friend that has a bit of a nasty streak and I think I'll discuss this with her. See if there's anything useable in that action. You can borrow money from the guy on the corner for a better rate than you can get from a tow company 'storing' your car. Should be regulated like the title loan industry...

Thanks Sult. I believe you've hit a homer here.

When you discuss that with your lawyer friend make sure to stress that the vehicle is "legally parked" even though it was the result of the "traffic stop". I think that is key in the scenario. I have seen and know folks that this exact situation with the traffic stop occurred. There was no justifiable reason for the tow and the "fees"ended up being $400 for them to get their car back for less than 72 hours in the storage lot.

But if they had just pulled up; parked their car in that same spot and walked away from it that car could have sat there for days before anyone, including a cop, would have even paid any attention to it.

The "laws" ( codes and statutes) are all about profit motive for sure and not only to keep the general population from considering doing some crimes but to raise revenues for the government, the government stands to profit very greatly from a lot of "crimes" that have no real victim. That little court house by me does over $12 million a year in "traffic fines" based on a quick study I did one year. That number was based on the court being a 40 week year and not a 52 week year.
I' m glad this prompted you to do some thinking, that is really what I try to do, get people to think about things. We need to start challenging things and thinking is the first step in that process.
Please let us know after you talk with her, I'd be curious to know what she says.

Thanks for the continued support, very much appreciated!
Sult