{"id":738,"date":"2012-08-03T19:07:10","date_gmt":"2012-08-03T19:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/?page_id=738"},"modified":"2025-08-26T17:19:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T17:19:52","slug":"unlawful-mischief","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/?page_id=738","title":{"rendered":"Unlawful Mischief"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>CR28-801.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS28-801.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Damage Exceeded $1,000<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3701(a) (03\/03\/06)<\/li>\n<li>CR28-806.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS28-806.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Damage Exceeded $250<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3701(b) (03\/03\/06)<\/li>\n<li>CR28-811.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS28-811.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Some Damage<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3701(c) (03\/03\/06)<\/li>\n<li>CR28-816.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vtjuryinstructions.org\/criminal\/MS28-816.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">By Means of Explosive<\/a>, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3701(d) (03\/03\/06)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Reporter&#8217;s Note<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Unlawful mischief is a specific intent crime.\u00a0 The State must prove that the defendant caused damage purposely, but no showing of malice is required.\u00a0\u00a0<em>See<\/em> <u>State v. Lyddy<\/u>, 2025 VT 1, \u00b6\u00b6\u00a030\u201337 (reversing unlawful mischief conviction where instruction erroneously allowed jury to find lower standard of intent than required by statute, and error was not harmless); <u>State v. Jackowski<\/u>, 2006 VT 119, \u00b6 6, 181 Vt. 73 (\u201cThe [Model Penal] Code does not differentiate between \u2018with intent\u2019 and \u2018purposely\u2019; instead, it uses the two terms interchangeably, explaining in its definitions that \u2018 \u201cintentionally\u201d or \u201cwith intent\u201d means purposely.\u2019 \u201d) (quoting MPC \u00a7\u00a01.13(12)); <u>State v. Patch<\/u>, 145 Vt. 344, 351 (1985) (malice not required), <em>abrogated on other grounds by<\/em> <u>Jackowski<\/u>, 2006 VT 119, \u00b6\u00a07.\u00a0 Note that, to the extent <u>Patch<\/u> suggests that a mental state of knowingly is sufficient, <em>see<\/em> 145 Vt. at 352, \u00a0it is likely no longer good law. <em>See<\/em> <u>Jackowski<\/u>, 2006 VT 119, \u00b6\u00a07.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The several subsections of the statute, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3701, relate to the amount of the damage inflicted and the penalties that may be imposed.\u00a0 The word \u201cvalue\u201d refers to the amount of the damage inflicted, not the value of the property which is damaged.\u00a0\u00a0<u>State v. Breznick<\/u>, 134 Vt. 261, 266 (1976).\u00a0 According to the statutory language, \u00a7 3701(c) applies to damages \u201cnot exceeding $250.00,\u201d but the committee concludes that \u00a7 3701(c) actually applies to damages \u201cof some monetary value.\u201d\u00a0 This interpretation is supported by\u00a0<u>Breznick<\/u>, and by reading the various subsections in pari materia.\u00a0The State need not prove that the value of the damages did not exceed $250, and the instructions need not mention the figure of $250. <em>See<\/em> <u>Breznick<\/u>, 134 Vt. at 266 (\u201cUnder the section dealing with minimal damage value, . . . proof of the exact value of the damage done is not required to sustain a conviction.\u201d).\u00a0 Where the defendant is charged under \u00a7\u00a03701(c), the State may not amend the information during trial to a charge that the damages exceeded $250, under \u00a7\u00a03701(b).\u00a0\u00a0<u>State v. Verge<\/u>, 152 Vt. 93 (1989).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Note also that the definition of \u201cdamage\u201d is broad. \u201cThe language of the statutory prohibition in 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3701(c) identifying \u2018any damage\u2019 reflects the Legislature\u2019s intent to broadly prohibit actions that cause injury or impairment to property.\u201d <u>State v. Wells<\/u>, 2025 VT 5, \u00b6 9. \u201cDamage\u201d may include making property dirty or unsanitary and thus temporarily unusable. <em>See<\/em> <u>id<\/u>. \u00b6\u00b6\u00a06\u201312 (jury instructions were consistent with broad definition, and evidence that defendant urinated, spat, and rubbed his genitals on various parts of holding cell, necessitating closure of cell and incurring $75 in clean-up costs, was sufficient to result in \u201csubstantial impairment\u201d to the cell\u2019s use and, thus, constituted \u201cany damage\u201d under \u00a7\u00a03701(c)).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Subsection 3701(d) applies to damages caused \u201cby means of an explosive.\u201d\u00a0 The definition of \u201can explosive\u201d derives from 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 1603(2).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CR28-801.\u00a0 Damage Exceeded $1,000, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3701(a) (03\/03\/06) CR28-806.\u00a0 Damage Exceeded $250, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3701(b) (03\/03\/06) CR28-811.\u00a0 Some Damage, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3701(c) (03\/03\/06) CR28-816.\u00a0 By Means of Explosive, 13 V.S.A. \u00a7 3701(d) (03\/03\/06) Reporter&#8217;s Note Unlawful mischief &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/?page_id=738\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":460,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-738","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=738"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1837,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/738\/revisions\/1837"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vtjuryinstructions.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}