Statue - § 28-1009.01. Interference with a service animal A person commits the o
ID: 396270 • Letter: S
Question
Statue - § 28-1009.01. Interference with a service animal A person commits the offense of interference with a service animal when he or she (a) intentionally impedes, interferes, or threatens to impede or interfere or (b) attempts to intentionally impede, interfere, or threaten to impede or interfere with an animal that he or she knows or has reason to believe is a service animal for a blind or visually impaired person, a deaf or hearing-impaired person, or a physically limited person.
a) What are the two basic elements of nearly every criminal offense? Explain how those elements are included in the statute above. That is, what words from the statute above describe the two basic elements?
b) What is the evidentiary burden of proof (or burden of persuasion) for criminal cases? How does it differ from the evidentiary burden of proof (or burden of persuasion) for civil cases?
Assume that this is what happened: Zoey is a blind woman with a service dog named Ranger. While Zoey was out walking with Ranger one day, Jane saw Zoey and Ranger and started to pet the dog. Zoey asked Jane to stop petting Ranger and explained that he was a working dog. Jane stopped petting Ranger and watched Zoey and Ranger walk away. It was then that Jane noticed that Ranger, although walking normally, was leaving drops of blood from his back paw with every step. Jane thought Ranger might have glass in his foot. She ran to catch up with Zoey and then took hold of Ranger’s collar and gently picked up Ranger’s back foot to begin inspecting it for glass. Zoey protested loudly and accused Jane of illegally interfering with her service dog.
c) Outline how a prosecutor would plan his or her case presentation for the case above against Jane. What elements would need to be proven and what facts would be used to prove each element?
d) What defenses would be available to Jane in this circumstance? What evidence might she offer to assert her defenses? Explain your answers.
Explanation / Answer
a) The compulsory elements of a crime are:
In the given statute, the compulsory elements of the crime are denoted as:
b) Burden of proof basically is the requirement of proving the charge against the defendant. It usually has 2 components – burden of production and burden of persuasion. Usually the plaintiff or his prosecutor has the responsibility of proving the arguments against the defendant.
In criminal cases, the burden of proof is used to prove the accused guilty by proving that he had committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. However in civil cases, the burden of proof can be based on preponderance of evidence i.e. it is more than 50% likely that the accused may have committed the crime.
c) In the given case, the prosecutor can provide a line of evidence stating that though being asked not to interfere by Zoey, Jane persisted on disturbing Zoey and Ranger. The prosecutor can charge against Jane that she interfered in the plaintiff’s and her dog’s course of action and thus can be accused on the basis of “Actus Reus”.
d) Jane can provide proof of the medical evidence that Ranger was hurt and she was just trying to help the animal. She can ask the court to get Ranger medically examined, which will help in proving her defense.
http://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/2-4-the-burden-of-proof/
https://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/evidence/outline-evidence-law/burden-of-proof-and-presumptions/burden-of-proof/