VANDALISM

Potential defenses to vandalism charges:

• Identity: someone other than the accused caused the damages​​

• Intent: the damage was an accident or unavoidable under the circumstances

• Value: the damage doesn't amount to a felony because it is less than $400 worth (it would still be a crime, but only a misdemeanor)

• Ownership: you owned the property you damaged or destroyed, or you genuinely and reasonably believed you owned it

• Consent: the owner of the property gave you permission

Example: you are painting a mural on a wall, but you already talked to the owner of the building and got their blessing. That wouldn't be vandalism.

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But, these are not defenses:

• Oops, I keyed the wrong car! - if you intended to cause damages to a particular person's property, but accidentally caused damages to a different person, it would not be a defense to the crime of vandalism, because there is still the intent and the damage, so all the elements are still technically met. Sorry!

• I did it, but they deserved it after what they did to me! - if your significant other cheated on you really bad, and you react by breaking all their stuff, you can still get charged with vandalism. While your actions might feel justified, from a purely legal standpoint, this isn't a defense to a crime.

Exception: Let's say someone pulls a knife on you and, thinking fast, you throw a rock through their car window to distract them so you can get away--not to exact revenge. In that situation, you would have an argument that your actions weren't malicious, instead they were necessary and potentially a reasonable act of self-defense.

• I didn't do it because I was mad, I just did it because I don't really care! - a lot of people think the word "malicious" means you have to do something angrily or with ill-will toward someone else, but really it's broader than that. If you spray a tag on a wall, it doesn't matter if you have no idea whose wall it is.