6. Crimes Against Person Flashcards
Assault
♣ Two theories of assault at common law:
- Assault as a Threat
o words alone are usually insufficient
o intentional creation of victim’s reasonable apprehension of imminent bodily harm - Assault as an Attempted Battery
o specific intent crime
Battery
♣ Unlawful application of force to the person resulting in bodily injury or offensive touching.
♣ General intent crime
Rape
o Common law:
♣ Unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman by a man other than her husband without effective consent
o Modern Statutes
♣ Slightest penetration is sufficient to complete the crime
♣ Marital status insignificant
♣ Lack of consent: (consent will not be found if either)
• 1. Penetration is accomplished by force or threat of immediate bodily harm
• 2. Victim is incapable of consenting due to lack of capacity
• 3. Victim is fraudulently caused to believe the act is not intercourse
- Fraud or trickery alone does not constitute rape.
False Imprisonment
♣ Unlawful confinement of a person without their consent
♣ Consent cannot be obtained through coercion, threat or deception
Kidnapping
♣ Unlawful confinement of a person that involves either:
• 1. Some movement of the victim or
• 2. Concealment of the victim in an unknown, hidden or secret location
Murder
Unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought
Murder
“malice aforethought”
• Arises when no mitigating facts reduce the killing to a lesser crime and D commits the killing with one of the following mental states:
o 1. Intent to kill
o 2. Intent to inflict great bodily injury
o 3. Depraved/malignant heart
♣ a killing committed with reckless indifference to an unjustifiable risk of human life
o 4. Felony murder
♣ killing caused during the attempt or commission of an inherently dangerous or statutorily enumerated felony
- statutorily enumerated felony: statute dictates that a killing resulting from the crime constitutes felony murder.
- Intent required: the intent necessary to commit the underlying felony
Murder
“causation”
D’s act must be both the actual and proximate cause of the victim’s death
o Any act by D hastening the victim’s death, even if already inevitable, is considered a cause.
Statutory Modifications to Common Law Murder
- Statutory Modifications to Common Law Murder
o Most jurisdictions classify murder crimes into various “degrees” by statute
♣ FIRST-DEGREE MURDER
• 1. Deliberate and Premeditated
o D must have killed in a dispassionate manner
and must have considered or reflected on his
killing even if only momentarily
♣ Specific intent crime: voluntary intoxication
and mistake of fact are valid defenses
• 2. Felony Murder
o killing during an enumerated felony
♣ SECOND-DEGREE MURDER
• A homicide not arising to first-degree murder
Felony Murder
o A killing that occurs during the attempt or commission of certain enumerated felonies
♣ Intent to commit felony murder = the intent necessary to commit the underlying felony
o Felonies allowing for felony murder
♣ 1. Inherently dangerous felonies
♣ 2. Statutorily enumerated felonies
o Limitations on Liability for Felony Murder
♣ D must be guilty of the underlying felony
♣ Victims death must be a foreseeable result of the felony
♣ Victim’s death must be caused before D reaches a place of temporary safety
♣ D is not liable for the death of a co-felon killed by police or the original victim in majority of states
Voluntary Manslaughter
A killing resulting from an adequate provocation (heat of passion) or imperfect self-defense
o Adequate Provocation (required elements)
♣ 1. Provocation would cause sudden and intense passion in an ordinary person, causing him to lose self-control
♣ 2. D was in fact provoked
♣ 3. There was insufficient time for an ordinary person to cool off between the provocation and the killing
♣ 4. D did not cool off between the provocation and the killing
o Imperfect Self-Defense
♣ If D murders while acting in self-defense, his criminal liability can be reduced to voluntary manslaughter if either:
• 1. D initiated the altercation that required self-defense or
• 2. D unreasonably believed deadly force was necessary
Involuntary Manslaughter
A killing committed with criminal negligence or during the commission of an unlawful act not constituting felony murder.
♣ Criminal Negligence
• Arises if D is grossly negligent
♣ Commission of an Unlawful Act
• Misdemeanor
o A killing resulting from a misdemeanor will give rise to involuntary manslaughter if either:
♣ 1. Act was inherently wrongful or
♣ 2. Death was a foreseeable or natural consequence of the misdemeanor act
• Felonies
o Any killing caused during the commission of a felony not giving rise to felony murder will be at least involuntary manslaughter.
