Crim

Question 1

Malice Aforethought Def

Answer 1

Malice aforethought includes the following mental states:
1. the intent to kill,
2. the intent to inflict serious bodily injury,
3. reckless indifference to a known and unjustifiably high risk to human life (i.e., a “depraved heart”),
4. or the intent to commit certain felonies.

Question 2

1st v 2nd Degree Murder (generally, but look to fact pattern)

Answer 2

Premeditation is the element that distinguishes first-degree murder from other types of murder.

Premeditation means the defendant reflected on the idea of killing (even briefly) or planned the killing prior to carrying it out.

Question 3

Murder Causation Req

Answer 3

To prove murder, the prosecution must show that the defendant caused the victim’s death.
==> The prosecution must prove both actual (but-for) and proximate causation.

An **intervening cause ** will not relieve the defendant of criminal responsibility **unless it was so out of the ordinary that it would be unjust to hold the defendant responsible. ** Consequently, an act that accelerates impending death is a legal cause of the death.

Question 4

Proximate Causation Def

Answer 4

Result must be the natural and probable result of the defendant’s conduct (i.e., not too remote or accidental in its occurrence as to be unforeseeable).

Question 5

Relevancy

Answer 5

Evidence must be relevant to be admissible.

Evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence (i.e., probative) and **is of consequence in determining the action ** (i.e., material).

Question 6

Present Sense Impression

Answer 6

The hearsay exception for present sense impression includes a statement that describes an event while or immediately after the declarant perceived it.

also consider excited utterance

Question 7

Excited Utterance

Answer 7

Excited utterance hearsay exception covers statements relating to a startling event while the declarant is still under the stress of the event.

also consider present sense impression

Question 8

False Imprisonment

Answer 8

False imprisonment occurs in most jurisdictions when a defendant
1. intentionally confines the plaintiff within a limited area
and
2. the plaintiff is conscious of the confinement.

But in most jurisdictions, a defendant who is a private citizen (i.e., not a police officer) is privileged to confine or arrest a plaintiff when:
1. a felony has been committed and
2. the defendant reasonably suspects that the plaintiff committed the felony.

Question 9

Felony Murder

Answer 9

Underlying offenses =
Burglary
Arson
Rape
Robbery
Kidnapping

What does a pirate say when you ask them what noise a dog makes? BARRK