Such statutes might cover the desecration of a church or synagogue, the destruction of jail or prison property by inmates, and the intentional destruction of property belonging to a public utility.ĭestructive acts will not be excused merely because the defendants acted out of what they thought was a noble purpose.
Some state statutes impose more stringent penalties for the destruction of certain types of property. If there is no proof that the defendant intentionally damaged the property, the defendant cannot be convicted of the crime but can be held liable for monetary damages in a civil action. In the absence of proof of damage, the defendant may be guilty of Trespass, but not vandalism. To obtain a conviction the prosecution must ordinarily prove that the accused damaged or destroyed some property, that the property did not belong to the accused, and that the accused acted willfully and with malice. Penalties also depend on the value of the property destroyed or the cost of repairing it.
Generally, the attempt to commit vandalism is an offense as well, but the penalties for attempted vandalism are not as severe as the penalties for a completed act. A group of individuals can be convicted of conspiring or acting concertedly to commit vandalism. Frequently, these statutes employ the terms criminal mischief, malicious mischief, or malicious trespass as opposed to vandalism. Vandalism is a general term that may not actually appear in criminal statutes. In addition, a person who commits vandalism may be sued in a civil tort action for damages so that the damaged property can be repaired or replaced. The penalties upon conviction may be a fine, a jail sentence, an order to pay for repairs or replacement, or all three.
The recklessness of the act imputes both intent and malice.īecause the destruction of public and private property poses a threat to society, modern statutes make vandalism a crime. Vandalism is a malicious act and may reflect personal ill will, although the perpetrators need not know their victim to commit vandalism. It includes behavior such as breaking windows, slashing tires, spray painting a wall with graffiti, and destroying a computer system through the use of a computer virus. The intentional destruction of property is popularly referred to as vandalism. The intentional and malicious destruction of or damage to the property of another.
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