Full question:
What jeopardy is my son in if he was caught on an employees camera phone handing over pot to another friend (employee) in the store? There is no physical evidence remaining. The problem is the employee with the camera phone is extorting from my son weekly if not more by demanding free pot or he says he'll go to the police with his 'evidence.' My son has to find the pot, give it to the girl involved and she gives it to him so he won't go to the authorities. The extortion never ends. My son is not a dealer and only provided what he did at the time since he knew the girl from school. What can we do to stop this person from continuing his extortion? The camera phone showed the pot and cash.
- Category: Criminal
- Subcategory: Extortion
- Date:
- State: Colorado
Answer:
Users of illegal drugs may be susceptible to blackmail, especially if exposure of drug use could cost them their jobs. Your son is in great jeopardy if he continues to engage in criminal acts due to threats. I suggest contacting a local criminal attorney who can review all the facts and evidence involved. Blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal embarrassing, disgraceful or damaging information about a person to the public, family, spouse or associates unless money is paid to purchase silence. It is a form of extortion. Because the information is usually substantially true, it is not revealing the information that is criminal, but demanding money to withhold it. Blackmail has been defined in the broad sense to mean "compelling someone to act against their will or gaining or attempting to gain something of value." Courts vary on interpreting what "something of value" includes, but it is not necessarily a money payment in all cases. A criminal complaint is typically filed with the local police department or prosecutor's office.
A person obtains property by extortion when he compels or induces another person to deliver such property to himself or to a third person by means of instilling in him a fear that, if the property is not so delivered, the actor or another will:
(i) Cause physical injury to some person in the future; or
(ii) Cause damage to property; or
(iii) Engage in other conduct constituting a crime; or
(iv) Accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be instituted against him; or
(v) Expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule; or
(vi) Cause a strike, boycott or other collective labor group action injurious to some person's business; except that such a threat shall not be deemed extortion when the property is demanded or received for the benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act; or
(vii) Testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information with respect to another's legal claim or defense; or
(viii) Use or abuse his position as a public servant by performing some act within or related to his official duties, or by failing or refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some person adversely; or
(ix) Perform any other act which would not in itself materially benefit the actor but which is calculated to harm another person materially with respect to his health, safety, business, calling, career, financial condition, reputation or personal relationships.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.
