Crim / Crim Pro Flashcards
Actus Reus
Voluntary v. Involuntary
Mens Rea
Strict Liability, Specific and General Intent, Knowingly, Recklessness, Criminal Negligence, Negligence
Concurrence
Must have concurrence between actus reus and mens rea
Causation
Defendant’s act must be factual and proximate cause
Accomplice Liability (parties)
principal, accomplice, or accessory after the fact
Accomplice
With intent crime be committed, aids, counsels, or encourages principal; Mere presence not enough; Liable for crime itself and all foreseeable crimes
Accessory After the Fact
intent to help felon escape, avoid arrest/trial, receives, relieves, or assists known felon after felony completed; “Obstruction of justice only” – NOT liable for crimes by principal
Inchoate (not fully completed) Offenses
Solicitation, Conspiracy, and Attempt
Solicitation (elements)
1) asking someone to commit a crime 2) w/ specific intent person commit the crime
Solicitation (liability)
i. If the party solicited actually commits the requested crime, the solicitor will also be liable for the crime;
ii. If the party solicited refuses, it is no defense
Conspiracy (elements)
1) agreement between two or more; 2) intent to enter into agreement; 3) intent to achieve unlawful purpose or objective, AND 4) overt act in furtherance of conspiracy (majority rule)
Conspiracy (liability)
each conspirator is liable for all crimes of other conspirators if FORESEEABLE and IN FURTHERANCE of the conspiracy
Conspiracy (defense)
Withdrawal - must communicate intent to withdraw to all other conspirators before the target crime occurs; BUT NO withdrawal from liability for the conspiracy itself
(note: No impossibility, NO merger)
Attempt (elements)
1) specific intent to commit a crime AND 2) a substantial step in the direction of the commission of the crime or come dangerously close (mere preparation not enough)
Attempt (defenses)
(1) Merger (attempt merges with committed crime);
(2) Legal Impossibility (NOT factual impossibility);
(note: abandonment is NO defense once substantial steps have begun)
Crimes Against the Person
Murder, Voluntary Manslaughter, Involuntary Manslaughter, Battery, Assault, Rape, Kidnapping, and Mayhem
Homicide
Killing of another human caused by the defendant
Murder (definition)
unlawful killing with malice aforethought
Murder (types)
1) intent to kill; 2) intent to commit serious bodily injury; 3) reckless indifference to unjustifiably high risk to life; OR 4) intent to commit a felony (felony murder - BARRK)
Murder (Depraved Heart)
Reckless–indifference to known, high risk of death, evidencing an abandoned and malignant heart
Murder (Felony Murder Rule)
Killing in the commission of, or the attempt to commit, an inherently dangerous felony:
(1) During the perpetration: from attempt until felon reaches a place of temporary safety;
(2) Inherently dangerous felonies (“BARRK”); minority also include non dangerous felonies committed in a dangerous manner;
(3) Felony must be independent from an act that caused death;
(4) Proximate cause (must be foreseeable);
(5) Vicarious liability: NO felony murder rule under majority rule if non-felon (victim or police) kills a felon;
(6) Under agency theory, defendant NOT liable when innocent party killed unless death caused by defendant or his agent
Murder (First Degree)
(1) Statutory;
(2) Common law–premeditation and deliberation;
(3) Inherently dangerous felony under the felony murder rule
Voluntary Manslaughter (definition)
would be murder but for existence of adequate provocation
Voluntary Manslaughter (elements)
1) sudden and intense subjective and objective passion (reasonable person would lose control); 2) heat of passion (no cooling off period)
Voluntary Manslaughter (Imperfect Self-Defense)
possible VMS from imperfect SD - unreasonable but honest belief in need to use deadly force
Involuntary Manslaughter (elements)
1) intent to inflict slight bodily injury, OR 2) criminal negligence (“gross deviation” from the standard of care of a reasonable person).
Involuntary Manslaughter (Misdemeanor-Manslaughter Rule)
a killing while committing a malum in se misdemeanor (inherently wrongful) BUT NOT committing a malum prohibitum misdemeanor (wrongful only because of statute)
Battery
unlawful application of force causing harmful or offensive contact to another (general intent)
Assault
either 1) attempted battery OR 2) intentional creation of reasonable apprehension of imminent bodily harm (Note - if offensive contact, it’s battery and assault merges with battery)
Rape
unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman by a man, not her husband, without her consent
Kidnapping
unlawful confinement involving movement or concealment of victim in a secret place
Mayhem
dismemberment or disablement of a body part
Crimes Against Personal Property
1) Larceny; 2) Embezzlement, 3) False Pretenses, 4) Receiving Stolen Property
Larceny
1) trespassory taking; 2) carrying away; 3) of personal property; 4) of another; 5) intent to permanently deprive at time of taking
Embezzlement
1) fraudulent conversion; 2) of personal property; 3) of another; 4) by person in lawful possession of that property
False Pretenses
1) obtaining title; 2) to personal property of another; 3) by intentional false statement of past or existing fact; 4) with intent to defraud the other
Receiving Stolen Property
1) Receiving possession and control, 2) of stolen personal property, 3) known to have been obtained in a manner constituting a criminal offense, 4) by another, 5) with the intent to permanently deprive
Crimes Against Person and Personal Property
1) Robbery, and 2) Extortion
Robbery
(larceny + assault) - 1) taking; 2) of personal property of another; 3) from person’s person or presence; 4) by use of force or fear; 5) with intent to permanently deprive