![]() ![]() Robbery was the first common-law theft crime. Thus in many jurisdictions, Trent has an affirmative defense that the money demanded was compensation for services and not the subject of unlawful theft by extortion. Although Trent threatened to expose Tara’s secret if she didn’t pay him one thousand dollars, Trent honestly believed he was owed this money for a job he performed that was directly related to the secret. Trent has probably not committed extortion in many jurisdictions. Trent threatens to tell Tara’s competitor what she is up to if she doesn’t pay him the one thousand dollars. Tara tells Trent she is experiencing “tough times” and can’t afford to pay him. Trent spends several hours performing this task and thereafter demands his one thousand dollars payment. Tara promises to pay Trent one thousand dollars for his time and effort. She asks him to make an appointment with the competitor, ask a lot of questions about the owner of the property, and thereafter bring Tara the information. Tara tells Trent to pretend he is a buyer interested in the property. Tara decides she wants to get the property listing of a competitor by using Trent to obtain information. Tara, a real estate broker, hires Trent to be a real estate sales agent in her small realty office. Note that some of these acts could be legal, as long as they are not performed with the unlawful intent to steal. ![]() The Model Penal Code criminalizes theft by extortion when the defendant obtains property of another by threatening to inflict bodily injury on anyone, commit any criminal offense, accuse anyone of a criminal offense, expose any secret tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule or impair his credit and business repute, take or withhold action as an official, bring about a strike or boycott, testify with respect to another’s legal claim, or inflict any other harm that would not benefit the actor (Model Penal Code § 223.4). The criminal act element required for extortion is typically the theft of property accomplished by a threat to cause future harm to the victim, including the threat to inflict bodily injury, accuse anyone of committing a crime, or reveal a secret that would expose the victim to hatred, contempt, or ridicule (Ga. ![]()
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