Impersonating Someone Could Lead To 10 Years in Prison
Video Transcribed: Hi, this is Wagoner County attorney Stuart Ericson. Today we’re going to talk about falsely personating another to create liability in Oklahoma.
That is a felony offense to falsely personate another and there are certain elements to that crime. As with every crime, the state has to prove each and every element of any crime charged against a person beyond a reasonable doubt. If it goes to a jury trial, that is the standard.
So the elements are that the defendant personated another person. So there has to be another person who does exist that you are trying to assume their identity. And, of course, you would have to intentionally falsely assume that identity while taking on the character and giving out information and intending that to be true.
A common scenario would be you’re pulled over and you give somebody else’s name, date of birth, or use somebody else’s driver’s license as your identity. That’s kind of the classic case of falsely personating another because you’re trying to avoid it yourself and you’re taking on the identity of somebody else, and, boy, they could have some consequences to that as well.
Those are the basic elements that are found in Title 21, Section 1531.4, and carries up to 10 years in prison, so that is a serious crime when you try to assume the identity of somebody else and that person can get in trouble. That is a felony offense. As with everything, everything is facts driven.
Again, as your defense attorney, I would want to get all the police reports and see how all those facts developed, how it came to be, the police contact, whether that was valid or not, what the police reports say about what my client actually said, how it all went down, and then we would analyze it, see what the plea bargain would be, and then, of course, as with every criminal case, decide, “Do we plead this out? Do we fight it?” Those are all decisions that need to be made based on the police reports, the facts, and then my own talks with the client, the person charged with the offense.
If you have any questions about that, please reach out to me. I am an Oklahoma felony defense lawyer at wagonerlawyer.com.
