Evaluating defendant's attitude toward computer victim

Evaluating defendant's attitude toward computer victim

In some cases, it is important to evaluate the defendant's attitude toward the computer or the victim of the alleged computer crime. Commentators on computer crime suggest that certain attitudes are frequently found to exist among computer criminals.FN83 One of these attitudes is called the Robin Hood syndrome,FN84 an attitude that big computer users are fair game for computer crime because they are using their size to "rip off the consumer," or "everyone else is doing it," or "they don't appreciate me." This attitude may become part of the slant of the defense, or it may be a serious obstacle to the defendant's presenting himself or herself in a credible way. In either case, it is important for the attorney to discern this core feeling about the crime on the part of the defendant as soon as possible.