Extortion, often known as blackmail, is one of several white-collar crimes that can result in penalties, jail, and professional license suspension. Although it may appear as if there is no way out of the accusation, the prosecution has a high burden of proof to fulfill. Continue reading to learn what they must prove and how we may assist you. Then contact Chambers Law Firm for a consultation at 714-760-4088.
First, let’s define extortion
Before we look at how we can defend you, let’s look at what the government deems extortion. “Using force or threats to coerce another individual to give you money or other property” is how it’s defined. It can also involve attempting to persuade someone else to give you money or property in return for anything else, or doing the same to coerce a public officer to do an official act. Extortion is a crime in most circumstances in California.
The prosecution must prove three things
The prosecution must establish three things in order for you to be convicted:
- That you illegally injured a person, threatened to accuse them of a crime, or threatened to expose a secret of theirs
- That when you made the threat, you intended to use that fear to obtain consent, money, or property from the person, or to have them perform an official act for you
- As a result of these acts, the person did consent to your demands
We don’t have to establish all three of them are untrue if you’ve been accused of extortion; we just need to show that one of them is incorrect.
We can defend you against extortion charges in a variety of ways
We may seek to establish that one or more of the criteria are false, depending on the facts of your case. We might, for example, prove that you did not threaten the individual. We may be able to prove that you did threaten the individual, but that you did not have their permission to take anything from them. We may be able to prove that you threatened them with the purpose to harm them, but that the other party refused to acquiesce and/or comply with your requests.
Of course, we could just prove that you didn’t do any of the above. We can try to establish that the evidence against you was obtained illegally and so should not be used against you. We may attempt to locate the most beneficial plea agreement if there is a mountain of evidence. One thing is certain: when you deal with Chambers Law Firm, you can be assured that you will receive the finest possible defense from an experienced criminal defense attorney.
