Michael wrote:Who would be the complainant in a felony charge? I don't think there will be any complainants at all.
The owner of the destroyed property, obviously; if the damage to the bus/vehicle was greater than $X, felony charges can be given. But, there are different levels of felony, and they can always be negotiated down. So, the owner of the vehicle could refuse to press charges; however, I'm not sure that would prevent the State from filing charges.
The problem is that the act is caught on videotape. Indictments in criminal cases are always stated as "The People of the State of NY v ... Conor McGregor." If the crime is caught on tape, it will almost automatically result in an indictment from the grand jury. The AD will decide on the charge, starting with the most serious and possibly adding several "lesser included" charges.
For ex., it'll be easy for the AD to show the video and tell the jury what's required to issue a "true bill" (an indictment). If the AD charges Conor with "criminal mischief" --that led to the destruction of property in the amount of $X-- and that that violates NYS Penal Code section "xxx.xx (1), don't you think the Grand Jury will indict? You remember the old saying that an AD can "indict a ham sandwich." It's true. I've served on Grand Juries.
However, there's criminal mischief 1st degree, which might be a felony (of class a, b, c, d, or e); and there's criminal mischief in the 3rd degree, which might be a misdemeanor. At trial, a regular jury might decide that he's only guilty of a misdemeanor. Or, to avoid a trial altogether, he might plead out to the lesser offense. I.e., to a first degree misdemeanor, rather than to a third degree felony.