Crim & Crim Pro Flashcards
What is the Reply Letter Doctrine?
Under the reply letter doctrine (an evidence doctrine), a document may be authenticated by evidence that it was written in response to a communication, so long as it is unlikely, based on the contents, that it was written by someone other than the recipient of the first communication
Does an offender at a probation hearing have an absolute right to counsel?
No.
An offender does not have an absolute constitutional right to counsel at a probation revocation hearing when an already-imposed sentence is executed as a result of the revocation of probation. Instead, an offender only has such a right if it is necessary for a fair trial.
Common-law murder
the unlawful killing of another human being committed with malice aforethought
Redline Rule
Under the Redline doctrine, a defendant is generally not guilty of felony murder when a victim or a police officer, acting in self-defense or trying to prevent the escape of the defendant or his co-felon, kills the co-felon. However, this is only applicable as a defense to felony murder for the death of a co-felon during a felony.
False Pretenses
False pretenses requires (i) obtaining title to the property (ii) of another person (iii) through the reliance of that person (iv) on a known false representation of a material past or present fact, and (v) the representation is made with the intent to defraud.
How do you authenticate voice evidence?
A voice can be identified by any person who has heard the voice at any time.
How may a defendant challenge a facially warrant in an attempt to suppress evidence obtained?
A defendant can successfully challenge a facially valid warrant only when the defendant can establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that: (i) the affidavit contained false statements that were made by the affiant knowingly, intentionally, or with a reckless disregard for their truth; and (ii) the false statements were necessary to the finding of probable cause.
What is the extent of prosecutorial immunity?
A prosecutor is absolutely immune from civil liability for damages resulting from his prosecutorial acts unless it is clear that the prosecutor did not have jurisdiction
Conspiracy + Majority Rule
Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to accomplish an unlawful purpose with the intent to accomplish that purpose. The majority rule requires an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy, although the common law does not. A conspirator can be convicted of both the offense of conspiracy and all substantive crimes committed by any other co-conspirators acting in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Larceny
Larceny is the (i) trespassory (ii) taking and carrying away (iii) of the personal property of another (iv) with the intent to permanently deprive that person of the property. If the defendant intends only to borrow the property with the ability to do so, then larceny does not occur because there is no intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property.
Doctrine of Transferred Intent
When a defendant acts with an intent to cause harm to one person and that act directly results in harm to another person. Under the doctrine of transferred intent, the defendant is treated as having the intent to cause harm to the person harmed.
Larceny by Trick
A defendant is guilty of larceny by trick if she obtains possession (but not title) to property owned by another through fraud or deceit, with the intent to permanently deprive the victim of that property, resulting in the conversion of the property.
i.e. larceny w/o the trespassory taking
Solicitation
Solicitation is the enticing, encouraging, requesting, or commanding of another person to commit a crime with the intent that the other person commits the crime
Is factual impossibility a defense to solicitation?
Nope.
Factual impossibility is NOT a defense to solicitation.
What is factual impossibility?
Factual impossibility is not a defense to solicitation.
(Think of the fact pattern where the girl tries to poison her hippy parents with the wrong berries.)
Factual impossibility isn’t a defense to the crime of attempt.
When is involuntary intoxication a defense?
When it serves to negate an element of the crime.
Involuntary intoxication is a defense when the intoxication serves to negate an element of the crime, including general as well as specific-intent and malice crimes. To be considered involuntary, the intoxicating substance must have been taken without knowledge of the intoxicating nature of the substance, including substances taken pursuant to medical advice.
Common law conspiracy
At common law, a conspirator cannot be convicted of conspiracy if all other conspirators are acquitted at the same trial, because there must be more than one conspirator to have a conspiracy.
Takes two tango
Tell me about bigamy
Two marriages concurrently.
Bigamy is a strict-liability crime and does not require a mens rea, or guilty mind. Rather, proof of the actus reus, the bad or unlawful act, is sufficient for a conviction.
Yikes.
Can a person be convicted as an accomplice to a crime even if he was not involved in the principal’s criminal actions?
YES.
An accomplice is responsible for the crime to the same extent as the principal. An accomplice who is neither physically nor constructively present during the commission of the crime, but who possesses the requisite intent, is an accessory before the fact
Can a person be convicted as an accomplice even if the principal was not convicted? (Modern approach)
YES.
By modern statute, in a majority of jurisdictions, an accomplice may be convicted of a crime even if the principal is not tried, is not convicted, has been given immunity from prosecution, or is acquitted.
Forgery
Forgery is the making of a false writing with apparent legal significance and with the intent to defraud. Making includes creating, altering, or fraudulently inducing another to sign a document when that person is unaware of the significance of the document.
When is malice aforethought required, and what is it?
Common-law murder is the unlawful killing of another human being committed with malice aforethought. “Malice aforethought” includes reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life.
Accomplice (Majority and MPC)
An accomplice is a person who, with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of the offense, aids or abets a principal prior to or during the commission of the crime. However, a person is not guilty as an accomplice when that person’s action is itself an essential element of the crime. When the crime requires another party (i.e., the crime of distributing drugs requires a purchaser), the other party is not, simply by engaging in the criminal act, guilty of the crime as an accomplice.
Involuntary manslaughter
Involuntary manslaughter is an unintentional homicide committed with criminal negligence or during an unlawful act.
First degree murder
First-degree murder is a statutorily created category of murder that requires premeditation and deliberation with a specific intent to kill.
Deliberate means the defendant made the decision to kill in a cool and dispassionate manner.
Depending on the jurisdiction, felony murder may also constitute first-degree murder.
When is a murder premeditated?
A murder is premeditated if the defendant had enough time to reflect on the idea of or plan the killing. The amount of time needed for premeditation may be brief as long as after forming the intent to kill, the defendant had sufficient time to become fully conscious of the intent and to consider the killing.
Relevant for findings of FIRST DEGREE MURDER.
Second degree murder
n some jurisdictions, second-degree murder is a codification of common-law murder. In other jurisdictions, second-degree murder is codified as a murder that is committed without premeditation and deliberation, which typically includes killings that occur when the intent is not to kill but to commit serious bodily injury, or killings committed with a depraved heart.
When does malice aforethought exist?
Malice aforethought exists if the defendant acts with any of the following mental states: (1) intent to kill, (2) intent to inflict serious bodily injury, (3) reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life, or (4) intent to commit a felony.
Relevant to: CL MURDER
Voluntary Manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is a killing that would be murder but for the existence of adequate provocation. Provocation is adequate if there is a sudden and intense passion in the mind of a reasonable person that would cause her to lose control, the defendant was in fact provoked, there was not sufficient time for cooling off, and the defendant did not in fact cool off between the provocation and the killing.
Fact Pattern:
Bob walks in and sees spouse cheating on him. In a blind rage, kills spouse or other.
Bob’s been cuckholded!
Voluntary Manslaughter.
Voluntary manslaughter is a killing that would be murder but for the existence of adequate provocation. Provocation is adequate if there is a sudden and intense passion in the mind of a reasonable person that would cause her to lose control, the defendant was in fact provoked, there was not sufficient time for cooling off, and the defendant did not in fact cool off between the provocation and the killing.
Arson
Common-law arson is the (1) malicious burning of the (2) dwelling of another. The crime of arson is a malice crime requiring a reckless disregard of a high risk of harm.
MPC Test for Insanity
tl;dr At the time of the crimes, due to mental illness, defendant (A) couldn’t understand it was wrong OR (B) conform action to the law.
Under the MPC test: A defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity if, at the time of the conduct, he, as a result of a mental disease or defect, did not have substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the act or to conform his conduct to the law.
MPC combines the M’Naghten and irresistible-impulse tests
Pinkerton Rule
The “Pinkerton Rule” says that every co-conspirator is guilty of any substantive offense committed in furtherance of the conspiracy, regardless of actual knowledge of its commission.
Name of the rule that says every co-conspirator is guilty of any substantive offense committed in furtherance of the conspiracy, regardless of actual knowledge of its commission.
The “Pinkerton Rule”
Can voluntary intoxication be a defense to a specific-intent crime?
Not if the intent was formed before intoxication.
You can’t get drunk/high to commit a crime.
Under the MPC if the if the requisite mens rea is not stated in a criminal statute, it is established if _________________________.
the defendant acted at least recklessly.
What are the levels of cupability from LOWEST to HIGHEST
1) Negligence - lowest
2) Recklessly
3) Knowingly or Willfully
4) Purposefully - highest
How do you prove homicide?
1) the prosecution must show that the defendant caused the victim’s death AND 2) the prosecution must prove both actual and proximate causation. If the victim would not have died but for the defendant’s act, then the defendant’s act is the actual cause (i.e., cause-in-fact) of the death.
Legal Impossibility
Under legal impossibility, if the act intended is not a crime, the defendant cannot be guilty of attempt.
What is an accomplice liable for?
The accomplice is liable for the crime itself and all natural and probable consequences of the crime.
Who is the “principal” in a crime?
A principal is the person whose acts or omissions are the actus reus of the crime, in other words, the perpetrator of the crime.
Receiving Stolen Property
Receiving stolen property is a statutory crime that requires receiving control of stolen property with knowledge that the property is stolen and with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property.