Page 67 - CARS Standard Program

Aggravated Battery
Generally defined as:
1. intentionally or knowingly causing great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement;
2. using a deadly weapon
In addition, states may charge aggravated battery if the victim was pregnant at the time of the offense and the offender knew or should have known that the victim was pregnant. Some states have increased penalties for assault or battery on persons 65 years or older. Sentencing in this situation can be incarceration, restitution up to $10,000 and up to 500 hours of community service.
Culpable Negligence
Although there are several violations that can be defined as culpable (criminal) negligence, we should be concerned with two in particular:
1. whoever, through culpable negligence, exposes another person to personal injury; and,
2. whoever, through culpable negligence, inflicts personal injury on another.
Unlike most criminal cases, where INTENT to commit the criminal act is of primary consideration, culpable negligence considers the OMISSION or COMMISSION of an action on the part of the person charged that resulted in the exposure to another person of the likelihood of personal injury or if the omission or commission of the action inflicts personal injury on another.
Consider a situation in which a Recovery Agent has located a “skip” but the collateral (vehicle) is blocked behind the debtor’s residence. The Recovery Agent knows he cannot affect a peaceful repossession so he quietly approaches the collateral and lets the air out of two of the vehicle’s tires, hoping the debtor will leave the collateral to go get help at which time the Recovery Agent can take possession. As the Recovery Agent sits back to wait, the debtor, with a very pregnant wife, rushes from the residence and jumps in the vehicle for a quick ride to the hospital. Unable to steer because of the flat tires, the debtor hits a curb and drives into a light pole.
Whether or not there is bodily injury to the debtor or his wife, there exists the possibly of a charge of culpable negligence. An additional charge of Wrongful Repossession may be added. Had the Recovery Agent simply initiated surveillance, he could have followed the debtor to the hospital and secured the collateral there without incident.
Harassment
Generally defined, harassment means “to engage in a Course of Conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress in such person and serves no legitimate purpose.” Course of conduct means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose. A