Crim Law Flashcards
Four types of specific intent crimes (FIAT)
- First-degree murder
- Inchoate crimes (CAtS): Conspiracy, Attempt, Solicitation
- Assault with attempt to commit battery
- Theft offenses: larceny, embezzlement, forgery, burglary, robbery
Malice crimes I (AM)
- Arson
- Murder
When does malice exist?
When D acts in reckless disregard of a high degree of harm; D realizes the risk and acts anyway
Difference between accomplices and accessories after the fact
- Accomplices act with the intent of assisting the principal either before or during the commission of the crime (approving bystanders are not accomplices)
- Accessories after the fact are people who assist the defendant after the crime has been committed
Mistakes of fact re: strict liability crime
NOT a defense
Mistake of fact re: general intent crime
Mistake of fact is only a defense if the mistake is reasonable and goes to the criminal intent
Mistake of fact re: specific intent crimes
Mistakes of fact are a defense whether the mistake is reasonable or unreasonable as long as D honestly held the mistaken belief
M’Naghten instanity test
D either did not know the nature of the act or did not know that the act was wrong because of a mental disease or defect
Model penal code insanity test
Due to a mental disease or defect, the defendant did not have substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions or to conform their conduct to the law
When can involuntary intoxication be a valid defense?
To general intent, specific intent, and malice crimes when it negates the mens rea necessary for the crime
When can voluntary intoxication be a defense
Only to specific intent crimes and only if it prevented the defendant from forming the mens rea
*Not a valid defense if the defendant got drunk in order to commit the crime
Definition of homicide
The killing of a living human being by another human being
Common-law murder
Unlawful killing of another human being committed with malice aforethought
Four kinds of malice
- Intent to kill
- Intent to inflict seriously bodily harm
- Depraved heart
- Felony murder
Manslaughter
All unlawful killings of another human being that are not first-degree murder or common law murder
Voluntary manslaughter
D intends to kill the victim and acted in the heat of passion or under extreme emotional disturbance
Involuntary manslaughter
Criminally negligent killing or killing of someone while committing a crime other than those covered by felony murder
First-degree murder
Deliberate and premeditated murder or a killing that results during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony
Premeditation
When D fully forms the specific intent to kill an appreciable time before committing the act
Deliberation
When D makes the decision to kill after reflecting on the act and its likely consequences in a cool and dispassionate manner
When is deadly force in self-defense justified
When D actually and reasonably believes that such force is necessary to protect him/herself from imminent death or serious bodily harm
*Generally unavailable if D provoked the victim’s attack
Depraved-heart murder
Occurs when a person’s reckless disregard of a high risk of serious bodily harm is the actual and proximate cause of another’s death
Imperfect defense
Intentional killing committed either:
- with honest but unreasonable belief that deadly force was necessary to prevent serious bodily injury or death
- D started altercation that led to necessary use of deadly force
