Legal Question in Criminal Law in California
Your house is it your responsibilty?
A house is raided by the swat team for credit card fraud, the mother and her son go to jail. The dad does not go to jail due to the fact he is at work and unaware of the illegal activities going on at his house. Is he responsible by law to be aware of everything that is happening at his home? and how does he do so while at work?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Your house is it your responsibilty?
SWAT teams do not conduct raids over credit card fraud. They are only called in where there is reason to expect armed resistance, as often occurs in cases involving violence, gangs, drugs, etc. Credit card fraud generally would not warrant such a response, though it could if the suspects had a violent criminal history.
Owning and living in a home where a crime takes place does not make a person guilty of that crime, or of any other. Even if there are a series of crimes which take place over many years, that alone is not enough to make the homeowner guilty of any crime. The law will not presume that he took part in or knew of the crime, but the police will investigate his role and will want to question him.
Civil liability is a separate issue. The man you describe could be financially responsible for the harm caused by his minor children, if they were involved in the fraud. But civil liability will not get him jailed, which is what your question asked.
Re: Your house is it your responsibilty?
Do you mean does he have to turn himself in or contact the police or can he be charged? If he has not been contacted, he should talk to an attorney immediately anyway, this could mean federal or state time depending on what went on.
Even if he says he did not know what was going on at the time, he really still needs an attorney because he can still be convicted, despite his denials.
Re: Your house is it your responsibilty?
Your responibility is as far as the evidence showed you either agreed to participate in or aided the illegal enterprise.
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