Today is

INFO

Accomplice

Arrest

Drunk Driving Arrests

Courts

Wisconsin Circuit Court Websites

Trials

Jury Selection

Jury Trials

Jury Trial Order

Jury Trial Procedures

Jury Instructions

No Double Jeopardy

Proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

Sequestration Of Jurors

Web Details

CRIMES & OWI

Defenses

Affirmative Defenses

Justification

Mitigating Circumstances

Coercion

Imperfect Self Defense

Necessity

Provocation

Crimes Against Property

Theft Crimes

Larceny

White Collar Crimes

Embezzlement

Extortion, the crime that is often referred to in lay terms as "blackmail", is the use of threat of harm to the person or reputation of the victim or the victim's family members to compel the victim to pay money or act (or not act) against the victim's will, with specific intent to acquire the property of another. Extortion is a specific intent theft crime.

Harm Threatened

To sustain a charge of extortion, the harm threatened need not be physical harm, although it can be physical harm to the victim or to any member of the victim's family, and in that instance, the harm need only be sufficient to cause bodily injury, but it also can be a threat of harm to the reputation of the victim or any of the victim's family members. The threat need not be carried out, nor need it be actually possible, but it must be reasonable for the victim to believe that the threat can be carried out and can cause harm.

People Threatened

Unlike robbery, where the taking of property must be from the person of the victim or in the presence of the victim, extortion threats need not be made in person, nor to a person in the vicinity of the victim. In fact, the threats can be made over the phone, via e-mail, or through any medium of communication suitable to deliver the message to the victim.

Timing of Threats

Also unlike the threat of force required for the crime of robbery, where the threat must exist contemporaneously with the taking of property, for the crime of extortion, the threat need not exist contemporaneously with the acquisition of or the demand for property. In fact, the threat of harm (whether to life, limb or property) seldom concurs with the acquisition of property in an extortion crime.

In an extortion, the threat made is usually for a future harm, but the timing is critical for the prosecution and defense of an extortion charge, because some jurisdictions recognize that the actual commission of the crime occurs when the threat is made, while other jurisdictions recognize the commision of the crime upon the receipt of property. In all jurisdictions, the crime that is sought to be prevented is the threat of harm.

Truth of Threats

Truth is no defense in the crime of extortion. Even if the basis upon which the extortion rests is a truth, it is still a crime to threaten a person to compel actions (or lack or actions) or payment of money. The basis of this premise rests upon the fact that a person has a right to expose the crimes of another person.

Threats To Collect Debts

In some jurisdictions, a collector cannot threaten a debtor in order to collect a debt that is due the collector. In other jurisdictions, a collector can threated a debtor in order to compel the debtor to pay his debt, because the law perceives that the property acquired through the collection efforts, and thus as a result of the threats, is the collector's property, so he is not seeking to acquire the property of another, but rather to reacquire his own property.

Van Wagner & Wood Can Help

If you are under investigation for extortion, if you have accused of extortion, or if you have been convicted and believe your conviction or sentence were wrong, call the attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood (608-284-1200) for a free first-impression analysis of your case.

Van Wagner & Wood can really help.

Contact Van Wagner & Wood

Van Wagner & Wood, S.C.
608-284-1200

Address:

Fax:

Website Address:

Offices of Van Wagner & Wood

Van Wagner & Wood's office is located at Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. and Doty Street. 10 East Doty is located on the outside of the first circle surrounding the capitol building. You can park under the building by entering the parking lot from Doty Street. If you park under 10 East Doty, the offices of Van Wagner & Wood will validate your parking ticket so that you do not have to pay to park. If the parking ramp is full, there are numerous parking places surrounding 10 East Doty, as well as a public parking ramp on State street.

Appeals & Serious Crimes - Homicide - Murder

Van Wagner & Wood's criminal defense lawyers handle appeals to both the Appellate Court and the Supreme Court, as well as both state and Federal court systems for people convicted of a crime who believe their conviction or sentence were wrong. Most often, the appeals that they handle are to federal court because very few attorneys handle these types of appeals; Attorney Chris Van Wagner was a US Attorney in Wisconsin before entering private practice. Often times, people from across the United States hire Attorney Van Wagner for a Federal or a state appeal for serious crimes including homicide, RICO (Racketeering), felony murder, negligent homicide, vehicular homicide, or sexual assault. Attorney Tracey Wood handles appeals to Wisconsin State Court of Appeals and Wisconsin Supreme Court for charges or convictions stemming from a Wisconsin trial.

Federal Crimes

Drug Crimes

Adams (Adams, Wisconsin Dells), Ashland (Ashland), Barron (Barron), Bayfield (Washburn, Bayfield), Buffalo (Buffalo City, Mondovi), Burnett (Siren), Chippewa (Chippewa Falls), Clark (Abbotsford), Columbia (Columbus), Crawford (Prairie du Chien), Dane (Belleville, Black Earth, Blue Mounds, Brooklyn, Cambridge, Cottage Grove, Cross Plains, Dane, Deerfield, DeForest, Fitchburg, McFarland, Madison, Maple Bluff, Marshall, Mazomanie, Middleton, Monona, Mount Horeb, Oregon, Rockdale, Shorewood Hills, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, Verona, Waunakee, Windsor), Douglas (Superior), Dunn (Menomonie), Eau Claire (Abbotsford, Eau Claire), Grant (Mount Hope, Lancaster, Fennimore), Green (Monroe), Iowa (Mineral Point, Dodgeville), Jackson (Black River Falls), Jefferson (Jefferson), Juneau (Mauston), La Crosse (LaCrosse, Lafayette, Darlington), Marathon (Wausau), Monroe (Sparta), Pepin (Durand), Pierce (River Falls), Polk (St Croix Falls), Portage (Stevens Point), Price (Park Falls), Richland (Richland Center), Rock (Janesville), Rusk (Ladysmith), St Croix (Hudson), Sauk (Sauk City), Taylor (Medford), Trempealeau (Whitehall), Washburn (Spooner), and Wood (Wisconsin Dells) counties.

Drunk Driving (OWI, DUI, DWI)

Sexual Assault & Sex Crimes