Kidnapping length and charges.

[Kevin]

In Oklahoma:

No person may be convicted of kidnapping unless the State has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each element of the crime. These elements are:

First, unlawful;

Second, (forcible seizure and confinement)/inveiglement;

Third, of another;

Fourth, with intent to (confine)/(send out of the State)/(sell as a slave)/(hold to service);

Fifth, against the person's will.

OR

Fifth, the victim was 12 years of age or less at the time of the offense.

I think consent of the victim would probably work as a defense. At least that's the route I'd take if I was the defense counsel. It'd be an interesting tightrope to walk to avoid a hazing charge though, not that I'd be all that concerned about hazing. It's probably a safe assumption that any organization which includes kidnappings/dropping off as part of its pledging program is also waging a terrorist campaign of some sorts against its pledges, all of which it could be said the pledge consented to.

Hazing in Oklahoma is a misdemeanor and carries up to a 90 day sentence. That beats all hell out of 20 years in the penitentiary, so it's an easy choice as to which one you'd want to be convicted of, and in all honesty, it's unlikely a prosecutor would charge something like this as felony kidnapping and even if they did, if it's a harmless college prank and no one got hurt, it's likely it could be plead down to hazing or some sort of lesser charge with a suspended/deferred sentence of some sort.

Please don't read this as legal advice blessing this sort of activity. I can guarantee you that it's totally against your organization's hazing policy and while a criminal defense attorney sees possibilities in raising some valid defenses, that is the sort of thing I would only do with a prosecutor hell bent on my client being hit with the maximum possible penalty. 9 times out of 10, I'd expect a pretty decent plea agreement and something to go on my client's record (but hopefully not a felony).

[naraht]

Originally Posted by Kevin

In Oklahoma:

No person may be convicted of kidnapping unless the State has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each element of the crime. These elements are:

First, unlawful;

Second, (forcible seizure and confinement)/inveiglement;

Third, of another;

Fourth, with intent to (confine)/(send out of the State)/(sell as a slave)/(hold to service);

Fifth, against the person's will.

OR

Fifth, the victim was 12 years of age or less at the time of the offense.

I think consent of the victim would probably work as a defense. At least that's the route I'd take if I was the defense counsel. It'd be an interesting tightrope to walk to avoid a hazing charge though, not that I'd be all that concerned about hazing. It's probably a safe assumption that any organization which includes kidnappings/dropping off as part of its pledging program is also waging a terrorist campaign of some sorts against its pledges, all of which it could be said the pledge consented to.

Hazing in Oklahoma is a misdemeanor and carries up to a 90 day sentence. That beats all hell out of 20 years in the penitentiary, so it's an easy choice as to which one you'd want to be convicted of, and in all honesty, it's unlikely a prosecutor would charge something like this as felony kidnapping and even if they did, if it's a harmless college prank and no one got hurt, it's likely it could be plead down to hazing or some sort of lesser charge with a suspended/deferred sentence of some sort.

Please don't read this as legal advice blessing this sort of activity. I can guarantee you that it's totally against your organization's hazing policy and while a criminal defense attorney sees possibilities in raising some valid defenses, that is the sort of thing I would only do with a prosecutor hell bent on my client being hit with the maximum possible penalty. 9 times out of 10, I'd expect a pretty decent plea agreement and something to go on my client's record (but hopefully not a felony).

The third point is wierd, do they have problems with people sort of Kidnapping themselves?

I would imagine in most cases the "Nobody got hurt" concept would tend to keep Felonies off the table (major exception I could see is something like the 7th or 8th DUI).

The Prosecutor in Ohio seems to be throwing everything that he can up against the wall to try to put Castro away. My guess is that if the City Prosecutors don't manage to get convictions that add up to Castro *never* comes up for Parole that they'll be looking for new Jobs.