When pranks become crimes

/in , , /by

Planning to commit a crime? Maybe it’s not a good idea to tape it.

Here’s a useful tip if you might be planning to tape yourself threatening strangers with what appears to be a real handgun: think twice before you post those tapes on Instagram.

That’s a lesson learned the hard way by Daron Stinson, a 21-year-old Philadelphia security guard. In mid-February this year, in a pick-up truck driven by a 19-year-old accomplice, Stinson cruised through streets of the city’s Spring Garden section. In random drive-by incidents, he accosted strangers, then brandished a realistic-looking black handgun (in reality a pellet gun), and aimed and fired at them, recording their terrified reactions on a cellphone camera.

The duo taped frightened pedestrians diving to snow-covered sidewalks, and sprinting away, only to slip on icy streets. In one episode, they threaten a middle-aged man clearing his sidewalk, demanding that he put his bag of rock salt in the back of their pick-up. In another, Stinson chats up a woman, asking for her phone number, then pulls the gun on her when she hesitates. In several encounters, the youths shout profanities at their victims, then drive away shrieking with laughter.

Police investigating the incidents had a strong lead: Stinson had posted his recordings of the encounters to the Instagram website, in his account there bearing the user name “funniestnphilly.” Some of the tapes, broadcast on local TV stations, were labeled “#drive-by pranks,” and contained commentary, including one statement that “All of this is jokes.”

Philadelphia cops were not amused, and arrested Stinson on a variety of charges, including simple and aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, robbery, and making terroristic threats, among others. Stinson, who had no prior criminal record, was held in jail in lieu of $125,000 bail. Eventually, in June he saw several charges dropped (assault, robbery, conspiracy), and entered guilty pleas to others, drawing probation terms of up to four years. His accomplice drew similar terms.

Even worse: no calls from producers of Candid Camera, or even Jackass.

You Don’t Have to Be a Gang Member to Be Charged with “Gang Assault”

/0 Comments/in , /by

What is meant by “Gang Assault” in New York State?

Sometimes, a legal term means exactly what you think it does. In other cases, not so much. So you may very well be surprised to learn that in New York, you can be charged for either of two felonies known as “gang assault,” even if you don’t have, and never had, any connection with a gang.

That’s right. It may be a little difficult to get your mind around, but a gang-assault charge has no requirement to show you are, or ever have been, part of any organization, much less that you’ve previously acted or conspired with anything like what most people would think of when they hear the word “gang.”

Two sections of the state penal code define “gang assault.” The more serious charge is first-degree gang assault, which section 120.07 defines as committing any crime that intentionally causes serious physical injury to someone while “aided by two or more other persons” at the scene. It’s a class B felony, punishable by a prison sentence from five to 25 years. More serious injuries bring more serious charges.

Second-degree gang assault, found in section 120.06 of the New York penal code, makes committing a crime which intentionally causes physical injury to someone while aided by two or more persons a Class C felony, punishable by from 3.5 to 15 years in state prison. New York’s penal code has many other non-gang types of assault, and the least serious of these, third-degree assault, is a misdemeanor, not a felony, with a maximum sentence of a year in jail.

Gang affiliation is not a requirement

So even though the penalties are quite severe, “gang assault” charges are not limited to real members of a criminal gang. Besides a crime, intent and injury, all the prosecutor would need to establish is that you were one of three or more people acting, at least for the moment, together – even if you had never previously met either those fighting on your side or your opponents.

So instead of scenes you might find in gangster movies, gang-assault charges are more likely to arise from more ordinary situations – for example, a run-of-the-mill street fight or a Friday night barroom altercation that gets out of hand. In fact, New York’s gang-assault provisions weren’t written to crack down on organized crime, just to provide harsher penalties to discourage larger-scale assaults.

Wrong place, wrong time

Here’s another surprise: you can be convicted on gang-assault charges even without any evidence showing you were the one who actually caused the injury. If you’re considered part of a gang assault, you can be held responsible for an injury inflicted by another person on your side of the fight, if you were in the mix and “requested, commanded, importuned or aided” the person who actually caused the injury.