About Criminal Offenses - Glossary

Criminal offenses are those that violate public law. Federal and state laws classify criminal offenses into two different categories depending on their severity: misdemeanors and felonies. Felonies are much more serious crimes than misdemeanors, and hence have much harsher sentences. Below you will find some basic definitions related to the criminal law.

Age of Consent   Criminal forfeiture   Domestic Violence Injuction   DUI   Drug Crime   Drug Offender Probation   Felony   Juvenile Court  Juvenile Crime  Misdemeanor   Probation   Sexual Harassment   Ten Day Rule   Traffic Violation   Victim   White Collar Crime 10/20/life Statue

Age of Consent
Minimum age at which a person is considered legally capable of given consent to any kind of sexual activity. Any sexual behavior with a person under the age of consent is severely punished by the law.

Criminal Forfeiture
Punishment imposed on an individual following a conviction. Criminal forfeiture requires that the government indict the property used in or obtained with proceeds from the crime. Upon completion of a criminal trial, if the defendant is found guilty, criminal forfeiture proceedings are conducted in the court before a judge. The proceedings may result in a verdict forfeiting the property.

Domestic violence Injunction
Established in section 741.30 of the Florida Statutes, an injunction for protection against domestic violence is a court order demanding a person not to threaten, batter or harass another one. The injunction may or may not prohibit any contact between both individuals. Sometimes called a "restraining order," an injunction prohibits the person to whom it is directed from continuing with any acts or threats of violence. The injunction can be temporary or permanent.

Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
A serious offense committed when driving a motor vehicle after alcohol or drugs consumption. The limit to be considered "over the legal limit" varies from state to state.

Drug Crime
The unlawful possession, manufacture, distribution, transportation, or trafficking of drugs.

Drug offender probation
A form of intensive supervision which emphasizes treatment of drug offenders in accordance with individualized treatment plans.

Felony
A serious crime that is generally punishable by more than one year of imprisonment of up to death by execution. You have the right to a jury trial if charged with a felony crime. Felonies include murder, aggravated assault, rape, robbery, burglary, manslaughter, kidnapping, arson, aggravated battery, child abuse, and DUI manslaughter.

Juvenile Court
Special court handling problems of delinquent, neglected, or abused children.

Juvenile Crime
Crimes that are committed by children who are under 18 years old.

Misdemeanor
A crime punishable by less than one year of imprisonment. Interfering with an officer while he is engaged in official duties is considered a misdemeanor.Petit theft is also considered a misdemeanor.

Probation
A form of community supervision requiring specified contacts with parole and probation officers and other terms and conditions determined by the court.

Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is a legal term used to identify an unwelcome and unsolicited attention of intimate or sexual nature in the workplace or at school. The term sexual harassment includes a wide range of behaviors from mild annoyances to serious sexual abuses. For a behavior to be considered as sexual harassment it must be, in general, unwanted, of sexual nature or gender directed, and must interfere with the ability of someone to perform at his/her work or at school. It is also important to note that the harasser may be of either a female or a male and that the victim does not need to be of the opposite gender.
Sexual harassment may involve visual, verbal and/or physical behaviors including, not limited to, the following:

• Making sexually explicit gestures
• Sexually suggestive jokes
• Displaying sexually explicit objects or pictures
• Unwelcome sexual propositions
• Demands for sexual favors
• Unwelcome comments about an individual's body or appearance.
• Unnecessary and unwanted physical contact such as touching or hugging
• Coerced kissing or fondling
• Physical assault

Ten Day Rule
This rule states that you have 10 days from the DUI arrest date to request a formal review hearing and challenge the Administrative Suspension of your driver license. If this hearing is requested within this 10 day period, a temporary license will be issued to you. This license is usually good for up to seven days after the hearing. If the formal review hearing is not requested within this ten day period, your license will be suspended. The suspension will apply for 6 to 18 months, depending on your specific case. You are allowed to drive using your citation as a driving permit during the first 10 days after your DUI arrest.

Traffic Violation
A mix of regulatory and penal offenses based on violations of state statutes and municipal ordinances relating to the operation of vehicles. Reckless driving, excessive speeding and operating a vehicle without having a driver's licence are examples of traffic violations.

Victim
As defined by chapter 960 of the Florida Statutes "any person who suffers personal physical injury or death as a direct result of a crime"

White Collar Offense
Usually a non-violent offense committed in a business or professional setting to get financial gain. White collar offenses include fraud, money laundering, perjury, forgery, credit card fraud, mail fraud, extortion, computer hacking, and bankruptcy fraud.

10/20/life Statute
When a firearm is used in the commission of a crime, the crime may be enhanced to a higher-level degree felony, and the possible punishment may be greatly increased. Under the 10/20/life statute, if a person is convicted of one of the crimes listed in the statute and a firearm was used, they could face a minimum mandatory sentence of:

• Ten years if they carried a firearm
• Twenty years if the firearm was discharged during the crime
• Twenty-five years to life, if any person was seriously injured or died as the result of a discharge from the firearm during the crime