1. General Principles Flashcards
What is a felony?
Crime punishable by death OR by imprisonment for more than one year.
Common Law Felonies include burglary, arson, robbery, rape, kidnapping, larceny, murder, manslaughter, and mayhem.
What is a misdemeanor?
Crime punishable by imprisonment for no more than one year OR by a fine only.
Define malum prohibitum.
Criminal conduct that is wrongful only because it violates a statute (e.g., illegal drug use, driving without a license).
Define malum in se.
Criminal conduct that is deemed to be inherently wrongful (e.g., murder, rape, robbery).
List the five classification schemes based on intent.
- Specific intent crime
- General intent crime
- Criminal negligence
- Strict liability crime
- Malice crime
What is a specific intent crime?
A crime in which the defendant’s guilt requires proof that they intended to bring about a specifically prohibited harm.
List examples of specific intent crimes.
- Assault
- Attempt
- Burglary
- Conspiracy
- Embezzlement
- False pretenses
- Forgery
- Intent-to-kill murder
- Larceny
- Larceny by trick
- Robbery
- Solicitation
- Voluntary manslaughter
What defines a general intent crime?
A crime in which the defendant’s guilt requires proof of committing a criminal act while possessing a generally bad state of mind.
What is meant by ‘generally bad state of mind’?
A person can possess this state when a criminal act is reckless or criminally negligent, or when they intentionally commit a criminal act without intending specific harm.
List examples of general intent crimes.
- Battery
- Depraved-heart murder
- False imprisonment
- Involuntary manslaughter
- Kidnapping
- Rape
Define criminal negligence.
Negligence that causes a greater risk of harm than ordinary negligence, occurring when the defendant is consciously aware of the risk.
What is a strict liability crime?
A crime in which the defendant’s guilt requires proof ONLY that they voluntarily engaged in prohibited conduct.
List examples of strict liability crimes.
- Regulatory offenses (e.g., traffic violations)
- Public welfare offenses (e.g., selling alcohol to minors)
- Morality crimes (e.g., statutory rape)
Define malice crimes.
A crime in which the defendant acts intentionally or with reckless disregard of an obvious risk that a harmful result will occur.
List examples of malice crimes.
- Arson
- Common law murder
What is the defense of mistake of fact?
Mistake of fact may be a defense only if it negates the state of mind required for the crime.
For malice and general intent crimes, there is an extra requirement that the mistake of fact must be reasonable (i.e., the type of mistake that a reasonable person would have made under the circumstances).
What is actus reus?
The guilty act, which must be a voluntary conscious act causing an unlawful result or an omission when there is a legal duty to act.
What constitutes a voluntary conscious act?
Acts that are habitual but done unconsciously are considered conscious and voluntary.
List situations that create a legal duty to act.
- By statute (e.g., failure to file a tax return)
- By contract (e.g., lifeguard’s duty)
- Based on relationship (e.g., parent for child)
- Voluntary undertaking (e.g., abandoning a rescue)
- Creating a risk of peril
NO ACTUS REUS:
-Involuntary Acts that are reflexive, convulsive, or performed while unconscious
-bad thoughts, unaccompanied by action.
What is vicarious liability for actus reus?
A prosecutor may satisfy the actus reus element by showing the defendant was responsible for the criminal acts of another party.
What is mens rea?
The guilty mind, which must be shown concurrent with the guilty act, except for strict liability crimes.
List the six types of mens rea.
- Purposely
- Knowingly
- Intentionally
- Willfully
- Recklessly
- Criminally negligent
Define purposely mens rea.
A person acts purposely when they have a conscious motivation or desire to bring about a specific result.
Define knowingly mens rea.
A person acts knowingly when they have knowledge or substantial certainty that their action will produce a certain result.
Define intentionally mens rea.
A person acts intentionally when they act purposely or knowingly.
Define willfully mens rea.
A person acts willfully when they act purposely or knowingly with moral turpitude.
Define recklessly mens rea.
A person acts recklessly when they act with awareness and conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk.
Define criminally negligent mens rea.
A person acts in a criminally negligent manner when they should have known of the high degree of risk created by their action.
What is the doctrine of transferred intent?
Applies when a defendant intends criminal conduct against one party but harms another; the mental state for the intended victim satisfies the mens rea for the actual victim.
ONLY applies to Completed Crimes, NOT attempt crimes!
What is required for causation in specific intent crimes?
The defendant’s conduct must be both the actual and proximate cause of the harm.
What is actual cause?
Satisfaction can be met by:
* But-For Causation
* Substantial Factor Test
* Acceleration of Result
what is Acceleration of Result?
When a defendant’s conduct speeds up or hastens an inevitable death, even by a very brief amount of time, the defendant is considered an actual cause of the victim’s death.
Define proximate cause in crimes involving criminal negligence or recklessness
Requires showing that resultant harm was within the risk created by the defendant’s conduct.
Define proximate cause in crimes involving specific intent
Requires showing that the resultant harm is sufficiently similar to that which was intended
What are foreseeable intervening causes?
If an intervening cause is foreseeable, it is NOT superseding, and the defendant remains responsible for the resulting harm.
-a third party’s ordinary negligence;
-a victim’s special sensitivities or vulnerabilities, even if unknown to the defendant; and
-Conduct by a victim or third party that is dependent on OR responsive to the defendant’s conduct, so long as it is NOT an abnormal response.
What are unforeseeable intervening causes?
If an intervening cause is unforeseeable, it IS superseding, and the defendant is relieved of responsibility for the harm.
-A third party’s criminally negligent or reckless conduct; and
-Conduct by a victim or third party that is coincidental or independent of the defendant’s conduct.
