Have you been charged with grand theft or embezzlement? If so, working with an experienced criminal defense attorney can help you understand the details of the criminal statutes in question and identify potential defense strategies to pursue a favorable resolution to your case. Read on to learn more.
Understanding Grand Theft Charges
Grand theft involves the unlawful taking of property with the intent to deprive its owner of its use or possession. It differs from petty theft in the value of the property involved. Petty theft typically involves property with smaller values and usually constitutes a misdemeanor offense. Grand theft involves more valuable property and usually constitutes a felony offense.
Under Florida law, a person may commit third-degree grand theft when they take:
- Property valued at $40 or more taken from a dwelling
- Property values at $750 or more but less than $20,000
- A will or other testamentary instrument
- A firearm
- A motor vehicle
- A commercially farmed animal
- A fire extinguisher installed in a building
- 2,000 or more pieces of citrus fruit
- A stop sign
- Any amount of controlled substance
A person commits second-degree grand theft in Florida when they steal:
- Property from more than 20 dwellings
- Property valued at more than $20,000 but less than $100,000
- Cargo valued at less than $50,000
- Emergency medical equipment valued at $300 or more taken from a medical facility, vehicle, or aircraft
- Property from a law enforcement vehicle valued at $300 or more
A person commits first-degree grand theft under Florida law when they steal:
- Property valued at $100,000 or more
- Cargo valued at $50,000 or more
- Property while using a motor vehicle as an instrument other than a getaway vehicle and damaging another party’s property
- Property while causing property damage of more than $1,0000
Understanding Embezzlement Charges
Embezzlement is the taking of property that another party has entrusted to the perpetrator’s care. Unlike grand theft, in which an offender must obtain possession of the property, a person who commits embezzlement usually has access to, possession, or control of the property before the crime occurs and uses that possession to carry out the theft.
Embezzlement usually occurs in the context of an employer-employee relationship or in a trust, where the party entrusted with property converts it to their gain or use. For example, a trustee may embezzle money from a trust by transferring funds from the trust’s bank account to the trustee’s personal account.
Note that Florida criminal law does not have a specific embezzlement statute. Instead, people who commit embezzlement will face prosecution under Florida’s grand/petty theft statute.
Common Defenses Strategies Against Embezzlement and Grand Theft Charges
Common defenses to a theft prosecution include:
- Lack of criminal intent: Florida’s theft statute requires the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intended to deprive an owner of their property. A defendant might fight a grand theft or embezzlement charge by arguing that they did not intend to do so.
- Mistake of fact: A defendant might argue that they did not intend to steal the property at issue but instead mistakenly took it. For example, they might allege that, while they took the item, they did so mistaking it for their own property rather than someone else’s.
- Authorization: A defendant may defeat a theft/embezzlement charge by proving they had authorization from the owner to take the property, such as proof of the owner’s sale of the property to the defendant.
- Duress/coercion: Defendants might avoid criminal liability for theft/embezzlement by showing that another party forced them to commit the crime by threats against them or other people.
Contact Our Panama City Criminal Defense Lawyer Today
If you’ve been charged with grand theft or embezzlement, you need experienced legal advocacy to fight back and assert your rights. Contact The Sombathy Law Firm today for a confidential consultation with a criminal defense attorney to discuss your legal options for facing your grand theft or embezzlement charges.
