Actus Reus Flashcards
Define “actus reus”
A (1) Volitional (2) Act that (3) Causes (4) a Social Harm
Define “volitional”
A bodily movement due to the product of effort or determination of the actor; A willed bodily movement
Describe the behaviors that are not volitional under MPC §2.01
- Reflexive behaviors
- Behaviors performed while unconscious
- Convulsions*
- Sleepwalking
- Behaviors performed under hypnosis*
- Prosecutorial discretion exists to time-frame these behaviors
Why is habitual behavior considered volitional?
Habitual behavior is formed by repeated conscious behavior
Define “time-framing”
Evaluation of earlier points in time (than the moment of the crime) in which to determine if an actor engaged in volitional conduct
Why don’t the philosophical rationales support the punishment of non-volitional acts?
- Retributivism - Person does not deserve punishment
- Rehabilitation - No character defect to correct
- Incapacitation - Makes sense for civil punishment but there is no moral condemnation for criminal punishment
- Specific Deterrence - Punishment will not decrease future likelihood
- General Deterrence - Could be justified under certain circumstances
Define “act” and explain why there is no punishment based on thoughts alone
Affirmative conduct by the defendant.
Act required because (1) freedom in society and (2) difficulty of knowing a person’s thoughts
List the situations in which an omission can create a duty to act and explain why there is typically no duty otherwise
Generally no duty because (1) freedom in society and (2) acting could make things worse.
1. Special status relationship (parent-child, spouse, master-seaman)
2. Creation of the harm
3. Voluntary assumption of care in a manner that prevents others from rendering aid
4. Statutory duty
5. Contractual duty
Describe the two situations in which possession is the equivalent of acting
- Person knowingly procures or receives an item
- Person retains possession of an item after being aware of it for a sufficient period of time to have ended control over it
Define constructive possession
Obtaining possession over an item without having actual possession. Must exercise dominion and control over the place/location where the item is and/or the person who has actual possession
List the factors for determining if a cause is superseding
- De minimis contribution - Original causal role was too minor to justify criminal punishment
- Foreseeability of the intervening cause
- Defendant’s mens rea - “Intended consequences can never be too remote”
- Dangerous forces that come to rest - Active force comes to a rest in a position of apparent safety
- Free, deliberate, informed human intervention
- Omissions - Rarely a superseding cause
What are the two types of intervening causes and what is their relationship to foreseeability
- Responsive intervening cause - An act that occurs in reaction to the defendant’s prior wrongful conduct.
- Does not relieve initial wrongdoer unless the response was abnormal and, if so, not foreseeable - Coincidental intervening cause - A non-reactive act that happens to place the victim in a situation where the intervening cause can act upon them
- Relieves the initial wrongdoer unless the intervention was foreseeable
What is the MPC’s (§2.03) definition of proximate cause
Defendant is liable as long as their actions were not too remote or too accidental in the chain of events
Define a social harm
“The negation, endangering, or destruction of an individual, group, or state interest which was deemed socially valuable”; Denial of a socially valuable interest
List the three types of crimes / social harms
- Result crimes (e.g., murder)
- Conduct crimes (e.g., drunk driving)
- Attendant circumstances (e.g., burglary)
