Motor Vehicle

Vegas Defense Lawyer Explains Motor Vehicle Property Crimes

Nevada has policies in place designed to secure public order and protect property rights. To ensure that property owners are secure in their ownership and not unlawfully and unfairly deprived of their property, the state of Nevada has made certain types of property offenses illegal. The statutes that detail unlawful property crimes are found within Chapter 205 of Title 15, which is Nevada’s penal code.

Chapter 205 is further divided into different subcategories of offenses for each of the different kinds of property crimes that have been prohibited under Nevada law. One of those subcategories relates to crimes involving motor vehicles.

If you have been accused of any of the crimes related to motor vehicles, you should take appropriate legal action to minimize the chances of conviction and to limit the penalties that you could face. You could be looking at jail time and a permanent criminal record, so you need to decide how to plead, determine what evidence to present, and otherwise develop a comprehensive legal strategy.

LV Criminal Defense can help. Our Vegas defense attorneys have extensive experience providing representation to defendants accused of property crimes including offenses related to motor vehicles. As soon as you have been accused of wrongdoing, you should give us a call so we can provide advice throughout the process of navigating the criminal justice system.

Nevada Laws on Motor Vehicle Theft and Related Offenses

The subsection of Chapter 205 that deals with motor vehicles include Nevada Revised Statute section 205.271 through Nevada Revised Statute section 205.2747. Collectively, these statutes address many issues connected with crimes related to motor vehicles including the following:

• N.R.S. 205.271 defines what owner means for purposes of the statutes applicable to motor vehicle offenses.
• N.R.S. 205.2715 defines the crime of unlawful taking of a vehicle. The statute explains what inference means in the context of the law, and imposes penalties for the unlawful taking of a vehicle.
• N.R.S. 205.273 explains offenses involving stolen vehicles, defines such offenses, establishes a penalty for these offenses, and sets forth a rule entitling the owner of the vehicle to restitution.
• N.R.S. 205.274 explains the crime of injuring a vehicle or tampering with a vehicle and imposes penalties for this unlawful conduct.
• N.R.S. 205.2741 explains the offense of throwing a substance at a bicycle or motor vehicle and explains the offense of willfully damaging a bicycle or motor vehicle. The statute defines the crime and imposes certain penalties on defendants who willfully cause damage.
• N.R.S. 205.2745 explains the penalties associated with operating a premises on which illegally obtained motor vehicles are destroyed, disassembled, stored for illegal purposes, or reassembled. The statute explains when it is illegal to own such premises, what prosecutors must prove to secure a conviction, and what the penalties are.
• N.R.S. 205.2747 explains the crime of unlawfully transferring or assigning a right of interest in a motor vehicle and imposes penalties for this offense.

Within each of these statutes, defendants can find specific examples of the elements of each crime connected to a motor vehicle that prosecutors must prove in order for a defendant to be convicted of wrongdoing.

For example, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle in N.R.S. 205.2715 is defined to involve taking, carrying away, or driving a vehicle that belongs to someone else without the consent of the car’s owner but also without the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the vehicle.

In other words, if you take a car without permission but you don’t intend to take the car forever, you could be charged with the unlawful taking of a vehicle. This particular offense is considered to be a gross misdemeanor, which means you could be looking at jail time and a fine if convicted. The statute also makes clear that if you are in possession of a vehicle without the express consent of the owner, this is enough evidence to infer that you took and carried away the vehicle.

Another offense defined within the motor vehicle subsection of Chapter 205, the offense of injuring or tampering with a vehicle, has totally different elements that a prosecutor must prove in order to secure a conviction.

According to N.R.S. 205.274, you can be found guilty of this offense if, acting alone or with others, you willfully break, injure, or tamper with any part or parts of a vehicle for purposes of injuring, defacing, or destroying the vehicle or for purposes of temporarily or permanently preventing the operation of the vehicle. You can also be charged for tampering with or breaking parts of the vehicle in any manner that is willfully or maliciously intended to interfere with the running of the vehicle.

If you are charged under this statute for willfully breaking, injuring, or tampering with any part of the car to render the car unable to be driven or prevent operation of the vehicle, you can be found guilty of a public offense based on the value of the loss resulting from your actions.

The same statute also makes it a misdemeanor offense to climb into a vehicle without the consent of the person in charge of that vehicle in order to carry out a crime, engage in malicious mischief, or cause injury to the vehicle. Entering the vehicle and attempting to manipulate vehicle parts such as the starting crank or brakes can also result in a misdemeanor charge.