NEW ORLEANS PROPERTY CRIME LAWYER

In New Orleans, it is illegal to purposefully destroy or damage someone else’s property. While this may seem like a minor crime — and in many incidences, it is — being convicted on a criminal damage to property charge in New Orleans carries stiff financial penalties and can have negative impacts on your future. The most important thing you can do to protect yourself from the severe consequences of a conviction is to hire a New Orleans criminal damage to property lawyer.

When Should I Call a New Orleans Lawyer for Criminal Damage to Property?

If you are charged with criminal damage to property or are even being investigated for this crime, it is important to speak to an experienced New Orleans criminal damage to property lawyer as soon as possible so he or she can begin working on your case and ensuring that your rights are upheld throughout the investigation and the criminal legal process. Even if your charge is a misdemeanor, it can appear on criminal background checks which can create difficulty when you are applying for certain jobs, attempting to secure housing, or even applying to attend college.

Here is What You Need to Know About Criminal Damage to Property in New Orleans

Criminal damage to property in New Orleans is defined as the intentional damaging of any property of another, without the consent of the owner. This includes intentional damage of a dwelling, house, apartment, or other structure used in whole or in part as a home, residence, or place of abode by a person who leased or rented the property.

New Orleans Criminal Damage to Property Laws

There are several laws in place in Louisiana to prevent individuals from committing criminal damage to property crimes. The types of property crimes that an individual can be charged with include:

• Criminal mischief: This is a misdemeanor crime involving damage to someone’s property as a result of activities such as intentionally preventing a property owner from enjoying full use of their property, pulling a fire alarm unnecessarily, making a false police report, or refusing to leave a business establishment after being asked the property owner or manager.
• Simple criminal damage to property: This charge is also a misdemeanor that occurs when an individual is suspected of intentionally causing up to $1,000 in damage by any means except by fire or explosion. If the damage is more than $1,000 or an intentional fire was the cause of the damage, the charge becomes a felony and the penalties worsen in accordance with the value of property damage that was sustained.
• Aggravated criminal damage to property: This charge is given when an individual is suspected of intentionally causing damage to someone else’s property while knowing that there was a high likelihood that someone could get hurt.

Other crimes that can result in a charge of criminal damage to property include criminal tampering, graffiti, use or possession of injurious substances, and desecration resulting in damage to a gravesite or memorial.