Stalking

Stalking refers to harassing or threatening behavior that is engaged in repeatedly. It can either be physical stalking, where a person is following another person, appearing at a person’s home or place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects, or vandalizing one’s property, or it can by cyberstalking which involves using the internet or other electronic means to harass.

All states have anti-stalking laws, but the legal definitions vary. Some state laws require that the perpetrator make a credible threat of violence against the victim whereas others require only that the stalker’s conduct constitute an implied threat. In California, the punishment can be 1 year in county jail and/or $1,000; if probation is granted or sentenced suspended. Any person who violates a restraining order, injunction or any other court order in effect should be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three or four years. In addition to these penalties, the court may order a person convicted of a felony to register as a sex offender.

California was the first state to pass an anti-stalking law in 1990 and it can be addressed in both criminal and civil laws. According to the law, a stalker is someone who wilfully , maliciously and repeatedly follows or harasses another victim and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place the victim or victim’s immediate family in fear for their safety. The victim does not have to prove that the stalker had the intent to carry out the threat.

Concerns about stalking have even risen to the federal level when John Lennon and Rebecca Schaefer were murdered due to obsessed fans. Such high-profile cases raised the public’s awareness of this crime but the majority of stalking victims are ordinary people, mostly women who are being pursued and threatened by someone with whom they have had a prior relationship. If you are being stalking, make sure to get help immediately!

There’s no substitute for a strong criminal attorney,
call Wing & Parisi at (916) 441-4888.

Contact us online or call at (916) 441-4888 for a free and confidential initial consultation, available in Spanish. We appear in state and federal courts in the Sacramento and Davis communities as well as throughout Placer and San Joaquin counties.

The Law Office of Wing & Parisi serves clients in the Sacramento and Davis communities as well as throughout Placer County and San Joaquin County. Hablamos espanol.