What law is broken when you hire thugs specifically to harass a person?
Lets say NJ (because the laws of other states I’m less familiar with).
You are Joe Moneyroids and you’ve decided that, since you have more money then sense, you are going to target/stalk/harass someone. You have hired & regularly pay PIs to follow, stalk, threaten, and create situations where deaths can easily occur.
The PIs are well aware of what they are being paid for and use electronic tracking and eavesdropping bugs to make surveillance easy and dangerous car chases are even easier. The PIs all keep in touch with each other on 2way handhelds/Nextels to keep you informed, even though you are not there.
Q1: What laws are being broken and by whom?
Q2: What would be the likely criminal penalties for being a PI hired to create these intentionally dangerous situations (if convicted) should, as a direct result, someone get hurt? Killed?
Q3: What would be the likely criminal penalties (if convicted for hiring the PIs to do just that?
Q4: if Joe Moneyroids was across state lines and hired these people to do this, would the penalties be more or less?
Q5: If Joe Moneyroids employed this sort of tactic on more than one occasion or if a pattern could be discovered, demonstrated and/or proved, would RICO apply?
Q6: If at some point the target is legitimately in fear of losing their life, at what point does self-defense attach?
As long as whatever is done is legal I see no problem. Some things may be shitty to do but not actually illegal. As soon as it crosses into illegal acts then you (general “you”) can be in trouble.
It’s pretty hard to give meaningful answers to questions this broad, but I’ll give it a go.
Depends what they do; 2. by the people who are conspiring to do them, and the people who are doing them. The laws against homicide or assaulting people, as well as conspiracy to do those things, might be broken. Depends. New Jersey has criminal laws against harassment, stalking and terroristic threats as well.
You’d be a murderer or an attempted murderer, or you’d be guilty of some other form of homicide if you killed somebody. Otherwise, see above. Depends what you did.
Prison. How much depends what you did.
Probably not.
If it was a pattern of murders, could, yes. Otherwise, probably not. But it depends what he did.
When the belief that harm to his or her person is imminent becomes reasonable.
Nope, not at all. Assume that these are all “for hire” thugs. Goons that even bailbondsmen wouldn’t hire or wanna-bees too stupid to know where this leads them.
Still, if an increase in income or indirect benefits that cause an increase in income derive from an illegal act, wouldn’t that make any business with this as a branch a criminal enterprise?
Heh, might apply to Moneyroids alright… but its off topic. Funny, but off topic.
The RICO act considers “racketeering activities” to include “violation of state statutes against gambling, murder, kidnapping, extortion, arson, robbery, bribery, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical”.
So what you described sounds like “extortion” if you are having goons threaten people for financial gain.