San Diego Criminal Lawyers Blog
If you have been charged with stalking in the state of California, you could be facing some grim time behind bars. Now is the time to get a proficient, tough attorney at bat for you.
What Constitutes Stalking?
When someone persists in malicious, unwanted behavior that any reasonable person would be wary of, criminal charges could ensue. The types of behavior that could lead to stalking charges include:
- Following and/or surveilling them;
- Insistently calling, sending gifts, texting, or otherwise contacting someone, hanging around their place of work or school; showing up around their home, or repeatedly “running into them” in social settings;
- Threatening, upsetting, or intimidating them;
- Trying to garner personal information from their co-workers, friends, or family;
- Ruining, defacing, or destroying their property and/or belongings.
Aggravated Stalking
Aggravated stalking involves threats that might lead the victim to fear bodily harm and/or death.
Facts About Stalking
Stalking is a crime that triggers dread in victims, families, and communities, and it is regrettably far more common than one might think:
- Each year, about 13.5 million people are stalked in America;
- About 30% of women and 12% of men in this country will have some involvement with a stalker at some time;
- Over seven in ten stalking victims endure threats of physical harm;
- 84% of stalking victims concede that they are worried about their safety;
- 10% of stalking cases drag on for five years or more;
- One in five stalkers threaten victims with weapons;
- Roughly12% of stalkers eventually relocate to escape their stalkers;
- 40% of stalkers are current or previous intimate partners;
- 20% of stalkers are strangers to their victims;
- One-third of stalkers have participated in previous stalking ventures;
- Four percent of stalkers are authority figures.
Penalties for Stalking
The court may issue several orders to protect the victim of stalking:
- The stalker must stay away from the victim’s school, home, workplace, or other specific locations;
- The stalker may not contact, threaten, or intimidate the victim and household members;
- The stalker must comply with any other court orders.
Additional legal penalties for stalking depend on the type of offense and the number of offenses:
- Misdemeanor stalking: one year in jail and $1,000 in fines;
- Violating a Protective Order: two to four years imprisonment;
- Felony Stalking: two to five years in prison.
If a victim of stalking has a reasonable long-term fear of being physically harmed or killed by the stalker, and the stalker is convicted of a felony, the court will also restrict the stalker from possessing, owning, or having any contact with a firearm, and they will have to surrender any firearms they already have in their possession.
Your Legal Advocate
Clearly, the penalties associated with stalking at any level can be life-altering. The aggressive, knowledgeable criminal defense attorneys at Boertje & Associates will fight for the best possible outcomes for you. To discuss this, schedule a confidential consultation in our San Diego office today.