1. The Essential Elements of Crime

Question 1

Involuntary movements that are not considered criminal “acts”:

Answer 1

(1) One that is not the product of the actor’s volition. (e.g., being pushed)
(2) Sleepwalking or otherwise unconscious conduct.
(3) a reflex or convulsion.

Question 2

A failure to act can be the basis for criminal liability, provided three requirements are satisfied.

Answer 2

1. You need a legal duty to act,
2. You need knowledge of the facts giving rise to the duty, and
3. You need the the ability to help.

Question 3

Five ways a legal duty to act can arise:

Answer 3

(1) By statute (Examples: filing tax returns, professionals reporting child abuse)
(2) By contract (Examples: babysitter, doctor, lifeguard)
(3) By the status relationship between the D and the victim
(4) By the voluntary assumption of care (Example: If D starts rescuing V, D has a duty to follow through; D cannot abandon the effort unreasonably, if the rescue effort was undertaken voluntarily.)
(5) By creation of the peril Example: If D caused the problem initially, D has a duty to help.

Question 4

MBE Specific Intent

Answer 4

When the crime requires not just the desire to do the act, but also the desire to achieve a specific result.

Question 5

There are two defenses that are available only for specific intent crimes. They are:

Answer 5

1. Voluntary intoxication; and

2. An unreasonable mistake of fact .

Question 6

MBE Malice

Answer 6

When a defendant acts intentionally or with reckless disregard of an obvious or known risk.

Question 7

MBE Malice Crimes

Answer 7

1. Murder

2. Arson

Question 8

MBE General Intent

Answer 8

The defendant need only be

generally aware of the factors constituting the crime; he need not intend a specific result.

Question 9

MBE General Intent Crimes:

Answer 9

1. Battery
2. Forcible Rape
3. False Imprisonment
4. Kidnaping

Question 10

Strict Liability

Answer 10

When the crime requires simply doing the act; no mental state is needed.

Question 11

NY Intent

Answer 11

The defendant acts intentionally when it is his conscious desire to achieve a particular result. (In other words, that is what the defendant wants to do.)

Question 12

NY Knowledge

Answer 12

The defendant acts knowingly when he is aware of what he is doing. With respect to a result, the defendant acts knowingly when he is aware that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause that result.

Question 13

NY Recklessness

Answer 13

The defendant acts recklessly when he is aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk and consciously disregards that risk.

Question 14

NY Negligence

Answer 14

The defendant acts negligently when he should have been aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk.

Question 15

Actual Causation

Answer 15

A defendant is an actual cause (the “cause-in-fact”) if the bad result would not have happened but for the defendant’s conduct.

Question 16

Proximate Causation

Answer 16

A defendant is a proximate cause if the bad result is a natural and probable consequence of the defendant’s conduct.

Question 17

Proximate Causation and Eggshell Victims:

Answer 17

D will be considered a proximate cause even if the victim’s preexisting weakness contributed to the bad result.

Question 18

The concurrence principle

Answer 18

The defendant must have the required mental state at the same time as he engages in the culpable act.