crim law Flashcards
Dominion and control must exist for a period long enough to
have provided the defendant with an opportunity to cease dominion and control.
Knowingly or intentionally possessing a prohibited object (such as a felon possessing a firearm) is unlawful as long as the defendant exercises
control over the object.
A principal is the person whose acts or omissions are
the actus reus of the crime, or, in other words, the perpetrator of the crime.
An accomplice (i.e., an accessory before the fact or a principal in the second degree) is a person who
with intent that the crime be committed, aids or abets a principal prior to or during the commission of the crime.
The difference between an accessory before the fact and a principal in the second degree is
presence.
An accomplice who is physically or constructively present during the commission of the crime is a
principal in the second degree.
accessory before the fact is an accomplice that
1) is neither physically nor constructively present during the commission of the crime, but who,
2) with the requisite intent to encourage or assist in the commission of the crime,
3) provided verbal encouragement, financial assistance, or physical assistance to the principal
4) prior to the commission of the crime
An accomplice is responsible for the crime to what extent?
the same extent as the principal
If the principal commits crimes other than the crimes for which the accomplice has provided encouragement or assistance, then the accomplice is liable for the other crimes if
the crimes are the natural and probable consequences of the accomplice’s conduct.
An essential element of proof of criminal conduct is
the mens rea, or the criminal intent to commit the criminal act, the actus reus.
A defendant will remain liable for the commission of a criminal act, regardless of
if the intent was to harm an individual but accidentally hurts another.
While specific intent is required for aider and abettor liability for specific intent crimes, there can be still be
aider and abettor liability for a crime which requires neither specific intent nor malice, such as for acts of negligence
aider and abettor liability, for involuntary manslaughter involving negligence where the defendant showed
a common and shared purpose to participate in an act which resulted in death.
Felony murder is
1) murder of the first degree and
2) is defined as a murder committed in the commission or attempted commission of
3) arson, rape, forcible sodomy, inanimate or animate object sexual penetration, robbery, burglary, or abduction (kidnapping) except as otherwise provided in the aggravated murder statute.
Felony murder may be intentional or accidental, as long as
the death results from acts in furtherance of one of the enumerated felonies.
Robbery is a
common-law crime in Virginia.
The elements of robbery as defined at common law are:
(i) the taking,
(ii) with intent to steal,
(iii) of the personal property of another,
(iv) from his person or in his presence,
(v) against his will,
(vi) by violence or intimidation.
Typically, a principal in the first degree is
present at the scene of the crime.
A principal in the second degree is a person who
is present at the commission of the crime and shares the principal in the first degree’s intent that the crime be committed or aids, abets, encourages, assists, or advises a principal in the first degree in the commission of the crime.
In felony cases, every principal in the second degree may be
indicted, tried, convicted, and punished in the same manner as a principal in the first degree.
Even an accidental killing that results from the commission of a robbery can form the basis of
felony murder.
purchase of illegal drugs is not one of the enumerated felonies that serve as a predicate for
felony murder.
A person is guilty of conspiracy if he
confederates or agrees with another to commit a felony.
Virginia does not require an overt act to be performed to
complete a conspiracy; an agreement to commit a felony is sufficient.
a defendant who has been tried and convicted of a substantive offense cannot be tried for
conspiracy to commit that same offense at a later trial
a defendant who has been tried and convicted of an offense he conspired to commit can be convicted of
both the substantive offense and the underlying conspiracy in the same trial.
Every unlawful homicide in Virginia is presumed to be
murder of the second degree.
In order to rise to the level of first-degree or aggravated murder, the Commonwealth must make a prima facie showing that
malice or premeditation exists
if the commonwealth makes a showing of malice or premeditation
the burden of producing mitigating (heat of passion) evidence shifts to the defendant
Once the defendant has shown some evidence of a mitigating factor, the Commonwealth must
prove the absence of such factor beyond a reasonable doubt.
murder of the first degree.
Murder by poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, starving, or any willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing not specified in the aggravated murder statute
Mere presence and subsequent flight are not enough to convict a person as
a principal in the second degree.
An accessory before the fact’s assistance to the principal may be
verbal encouragement, financial assistance, or physical assistance.
accomplices Mere knowledge that a crime will result
is not enough to be accessory before the fact
In felony cases, every accessory before the fact may be indicted, tried, convicted, and punished in the same manner as
a principal in the first degree.
An accessory after the fact is a person who
knows a felony has been committed and thereby aids or assists a principal in the first degree or accessory before the fact avoid or escape prosecution
An accessory after the fact is not subject to punishment for
the crime committed by the principal in the first degree or accessory before the fact.
An accessory after the fact is subject to punishment for
(i) a class 6 felony in the case of a homicide offense punishable as a class 2 felony, or (ii) a class 1 misdemeanor in the case of any other felony, as long as he is not the spouse, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling, or servant to the principal in the first degree or accessory before the fact.
Two or more offenses may be charged in separate counts of the same indictment or information as long as
the charges are based on the same act, transaction, or on two or more acts or transactions that are connected or parts of a common scheme or plan.
The defendant must be tried for all offenses pending against him as long as
justice does not require separate trials and the offenses may be joined or the parties consent.
Embezzlement is
the fraudulent use, concealment, disposing of, or embezzling of any commercial paper or tangible or intangible property that was:
(i) received for another person or for one’s employer,
(ii) received by virtue of one’s office or employment, or
(iii) entrusted to one by another.
A person is guilty of conspiracy if
he confederates or agrees with another to commit a felony.
Virginia does not require an overt act to be performed to complete a conspiracy; however, such conduct may
support a finding of the existence of a conspiracy.
A possession offense, such as possession of cocaine, does not require proof of actual physical possession of the prohibited object, but may be established by
constructive possession of the object.
Constructive possession may be proved by evidence of
acts, declarations, or conduct of the accused from which a fair inference may be drawn that he knew of the existence of prohibited object at the place where it was found.
For possession charges The defendant is not required to be aware that
possession of the object is illegal.
for a charge of felon in possession of a firearm, address
1) requires proof that defendant had previously been convicted of a felony.
2) Typically, a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year constitutes a felony.
conviction of forging a public record, a crime punishable by
a term of imprisonment of at least two years
Entrapment is
1) the conception and planning of an offense by a law enforcement officer, and
2) his procurement of its commission by a defendant who would not have committed that offense except for
3) the trickery, persuasion, or fraud of the officer.
for entrapment the defendant must lack
any pre-disposition to commit the crime.
Entrapment can occur through the use of
an undercover agent
Entrapment will not bar a conviction when
the police merely afford an opportunity for the commission of a crime to a defendant willing to commit it.
Accommodation:
A defendant may establish that:
1) he gave, distributed or possessed a controlled substance only as an accommodation to another individual
2) without an intent to profit thereby from any consideration received or expected
3) nor to induce the recipient or intended recipient of the controlled substance to use or become addicted to or dependent upon such controlled substance.
accommodation wont apply to
an inmate in a community correctional facility, local correctional facility or state correctional facility
This accommodation defense does not
absolve the defendant of the crime but can result in a lesser sentence.
knowing possession:
1) Knowingly or intentionally possessing a prohibited object (e.g., drug paraphernalia, burglar’s tools) or a substance (e.g., illegal narcotics) is unlawful if
2) the defendant exercises control over such object or substance.
A person commits common-law burglary if
he breaks and enters another’s dwelling in the nighttime with the intent to commit a felony or larceny therein.
For common law burglary, there is no need for the defendant to
engage in a destructive act to satisfy the breaking requirement, merely opening an unlocked door, will suffice; so long as (@ night + intent commit felony/larceny)
Upon motion of the Commonwealth, the court may order multiple defendants charged with participating in contemporaneous and related acts or in a series of acts constituting an offense jointly tried unless
a joint trial will prejudice the defendant.
if the commonwealth motions for a joint trial of defendants who participated + contemporaneous/related acts or series of acts, and prejudice is present, the court must
order the prejudiced defendant severed.
severing a joint trial of multiple defendants is proper where
one crime is related/contemporaneous, but one defendant committed another unrelated crime close in proximity which other defendant had no involvement or knowledge of
For the crime of malicious wounding, the intent required as is the case with other malice crimes is
a reckless disregard of an obvious or high risk that the particular harmful result will occur
In Virginia, generally voluntary intoxication is
no defense for a criminal charge, even specific intent crimes.
