Crime and punishment 1 General expressions: to commit a crime to offend the law ein Verbrechen begehen to commit suicide He committed suicide. Selbstmord begehen delinquency –> juvenile/youth delinquency Kriminalität crime rate Verbrechens-, Kriminalitätsrate offender syn: lawbreaker, delinquent Übeltäter, Gesetzesbrecher perpetrator the perpetrator of this crime Täter recidivist Wiederholungstäter felon (Schwer)verbrecher felony (schweres) Verbrechen victim Opfer Crimes: theft person: thief (pl. thieves); to steal Diebstahl robbery to rob a person/a place Raub pickpocket action: pickpocketing Taschendieb burglary 2 Einbruch to threaten noun: threat (be)drohen to assault to attack; an assault/attack angreifen thug a violent criminal Schläger viciously cruelly, brutally bösartig, brutal to mug to attack and rob someone überfallen und berauben arsonist –> to set fire Brandstifter sniper ambush Heckenschütze to ambush Überfall aus dem Hinterhalt Some soldiers were killed in an ambush. white-collar crime Wirtschaftsverbrechen cybercrime person: cybercriminal Internetkriminalität to vandalize noun: vandalism verwüsten property Eigentum to extort money He extorted money from her. Geld erpressen to bully someone person: bully tyrannisieren, mobben to slander to bribe to betray jmd. verleumden noun: bribery bestechen verraten 3 to abduct someone child abduction; person: abductor entführen to kidnap someone; to hijack a car/plane to forge noun: forgery fälschen abuse (noun) to abuse Missbrauch rape (vb/n) person: rapist vergewaltigen, Vergewaltigung sexual harassment murder sexuelle Belästigung person: murderer Mord manslaughter Totschlag homicide (sp) Mord, Totschlag genocide Völkermord assassination to assassinate; person: assassin Ermordung (besonders eines namhaften Politikers) conspiracy Verschwörung treason Hochverrat traitor Verräter Police investigation: warrant Haftbefehl search warrant Durchsuchungsbefehl to investigate (z.B. eine Straftat) untersuchen suspect Verdächtige(r) suspicion adj.: suspicious Verdacht to arrest <–> to release festnehmen, verhaften custody The suspect will remain in custody until Gewahrsam, Haft his trial. 4 Lawsuit: court –> juvenile court Gerichtshof courtroom Gerichtssaal trial Gerichtsverfahren, Prozess accused syn.: defendant defender Angeklagte Verteidiger attorney (A.E.) barrister (B.E.); lawyer Rechtsanwalt prosecution to prosecute strafrechtliche Verfolgung public prosecutor Staatsanwalt judge Richter jury group of 12 jurors whose task it is to find Jury the verdict juror a member of a jury Geschworener to sue progressive form: suing (auf Schadenersatz) verklagen to bring a charge against charge to accuse someone of a crime He was arrested on charges of burglary jmd. anklagen Beschuldigung, Anklage and theft. accusation 5 to accuse An-, Beschuldigung; Anklage indictment Anklage to blame s.b. for s.th. –> to blame oneself for s.th. jdm. die Schuld an etwas geben culprit Schuldige, Übeltäter witness Zeuge evidence some evidence (uncountable!) Beweis synonym: proof to prove beweisen to confess noun: confession gestehen to plead guilty <–> to plead not guilty sich für schuldig bekennen to plead - pleaded/pled - pleaded/pled to deny leugnen; verweigern to testify (vor Gericht) aussagen, bezeugen to take an oath Eid ablegen perjury to commit perjury to cross-examine s.b. Meineid jmd. ins Kreuzverhör nehmen conviction –> a convicted criminal Verurteilung verdict decision of the jury whether a defendant Urteilsspruch (der Geschwore- is guilty or not nen) –> a unanimous verdict einstimmig unanimous to acquit of (a crime) noun: acquittal innocence –> to be innocent to caution s.b. to appeal freisprechen Unschuld jdn. (ver)warnen They intend to appeal against their convic- (bei Gericht) Berufung einlegen tions; court of appeal 6 Punishment: penalty punishment Strafe life sentence lebenslange Freiheitsstrafe fine Geldstrafe reward Belohnung to condemn etwas verdammen, verurteilen to sentence noun: sentence verurteilen inmate syn.: prisoner, convict Gefängnisinsasse, Häftling to jail to imprison einsperren solitary confinement Einzelhaft to sentence to death zum Tode verurteilen capital punishment death penalty Todesstrafe death row to be on death row Todestrakt irrevocable irreversible unwiderruflich bail The defendant was released on bail. Kaution, Bürgschaft probation syn.: parole –> to be on parole/probation Bewährung probation officer Bewährungshelfer borstal detention centre Erziehungsanstalt community service work that is not paid that someone does to gemeinnützige Arbeit help other people, sometimes as Sozialstunden (ableisten) punishment for a crime 7 Miscellaneous expressions: social worker to rehabilitate Sozialarbeiter noun: rehabilitation rehabilitieren; (Drogenab-hängige) therapieren deterrent something that discourages people to do Abschreckung s.th. as they are afraid of the consequences curfew to be under curfew Ausgangssperre surveillance to keep somebody under surveillance Überwachung hotspot Brennpunkt conviction <–> doubt; to be convinced Überzeugung CCTV closed circuit television Fernseh-(Video-)überwachung right to privacy Recht auf Privatsphäre to spy on ausspionieren metal detector Metalldetektor legislation Gesetzgebung constitution e.g. the American Constitution Verfassung severe <–> lenient; e.g. severe/tough sentences schwerwiegend, hart security adj.: secure Sicherheit to advocate befürworten to estimate schätzen humane human e.g. a humane punishment human menschlich