Crim Law/Pro Flashcards
ACTUS REUS?
guilty act
- voluntary act that causes an unlawful result,
- omission to act where ∆ under duty to act, or
- vicarious liability
IMPOSED DUTIES: (1) Statutory, (2) Contractual, (3) Relationship, (4) Voluntary undertaking to rescue that is abandoned & (5) Failing to help after creating the risk of peril
MENS REA?
guilty mind; ∆‘s state of mind at time of commission of the crime; Concurrence in time b/w act & requisite mental state: is necessary, but mental state should also actuate, or put into a action, the act or omission.
- PURPOSELY: conscious objective to engage in conduct or cause result
- KNOWINGLY: knows nature &/or result of his conduct
- INTENTIONALLY: desires/sub’l certain acts cause criminal results
- WILLFULLY: encompasses concepts “intentionally” & “purposely,” & used to imply evil purpose in crimes involving moral turpitude
- CRIMINAL RECKLESSNESS: consciously disregards subs’l & unjustifiable risk mat’l element exists or will result from conduct
- CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE: ∆’s conduct creates create high degree of risk or death or serious injury beyond tort standard of ordinary negligence
Specific intent?
desires his conduct result in a particular outcome [unless result is inherently impossible] OR expects (substantially certainty) that purposeful act result in a particular act, even though he does not necessarily want a particular result
- Attempt
- Solicitation
- Conspiracy
- Larceny
- False pretense
- Embezzlement
- Forgery
- Burglary
- Assault
- Robbery
- Intent to kill murder
- Voluntary manslaughter
General intent?
commission of an unlawful act [negligence/ recklessness]
- Battery
- Rape
- Kidnapping
- False imprisonment
- Involuntary manslaughter
- Depraved hard murder
Malice?
acts intentionally/reckless disregard of an obvious or known risk that the particular harmful result will occur
- Common law murderArson
- Arson
Strict liability crimes?
culpability imposed for committing a prohibited act
- Regulatory offense
- Public welfare offenses
- Morality crimes
- Selling liquor to minors
Homicide?
killing of a human being caused by another human being
Murder?
unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought
Mens rea for murder falls into what 4 distinct types of malice?
- Intent to kill: “Deadly weapons doctrine”: inference of intent to kill raised through intent’l use of an instrument, judging from manner of use, is calculated to produce death or serious bodily injury.
- Intent to cause serious bodily harm: significant but non-fatal injury. [often 2nd-degree murder]
- Depraved heart murder: extreme recklessness murder; unintentional killing resulting from conduct involving a wanton indifference to human life and a conscious disregard of an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury
- Felony-murder: killing proximately caused during commission or attempted commission of a serious or inherently dangerous felony. Felony ends: when felon has reached a place of temporary safety [not in process of fleeing]
First-degree murder?
intent to kill murder committed with premeditation & deliberation, felony murder and murder accomplished by lying in wait, poison, terrorism or torture
- PREMEDITATED: reasonable time for premeditation & some evidence of reflection in order to distinguish first-degree murders from “spur-of-the-moment-killings”
- DELIBERATE: undisturbed by hot blood
- If murderer does any reflection or premeditation, even if REFLECTION CURSORY & BRIEF, may be guilty of 1st-degree murder.
- VOLUNTARY INTOXICATION – but still sober enough to form intent to kill – may be able to avoid liability for 1st-degree murder by proof that intoxication precluded him from acting w/ premeditation or deliberation.
Second-degree murder?
murder that does not meet the requisite elements of 1st-degree murder [often just intent to kill w/o req. felony]
Voluntary Manslaughter?
intentional killing mitigated by adequate provocation or other circumstances negating malice aforethought. [HEAT-OF-PASSION KILLING]
- Adequate provocation - such that a RPP would lose self-control
- Time b/w heat-of-passion & fatal act must not allow a RPP for cool reflection, if so then its not voluntary manslaughter.
Involuntary Manslaughter?
unintentional killing resulting w/o malice /aforethought caused either by recklessness or criminal negligence or during commission or attempted commission of an unlawful act
- Criminal negligence: e.g., mishandling loaded weapon or dangerous operation of a vehicle, including driving while intoxicated
- Misdemeanor-manslaughter: unintentional killing that occurs during the commission or attempted commission of a misdemeanor that is malum is se or of a felony that is not of the inherently dangerous type required for felony murder is classified as involuntarty manslaughter under the M.M. rule.
Battery?
intentional or reckless unlawful application of force to the person of the victim
- General intent crime: 1) recklessly, 2) negligently or 3) w/ knowledge that his act (omission) will result in criminal liability
- Battery elevated to aggravated status, when:
(1) ∆ causing victim serious bodily injury; (2) ∆ using deadly weapon to commit the battery; or (3) ∆ battering a woman, child, or law enforcement officer.
* Defenses: (1) consent, (2) self-defense or (3) to prevent someone from committing crime
Assault
attempting to commit a battery; OR
intentionaly causing victim to fear immediate battery
- Aggravated: (1) ∆ commits an assault w/ a dangerous weapon; (2) ∆ acts w/ intent to rape or murder victim; or (3) special types of particularly vulnerable victims.
- Not defense: lack ability to follow through [unloaded gun] or that victim was unaware
- Conditional threat: generally insufficient, unless accompanied by an overt act to accomplish threat
- Reasonable Apprehension - RPP would expect imminent bodily harm & victim MUST BE AWARE.
Mayhem
intent to maim or do bodily injury accompanied by an act that either:
- Dismembers
- Disables his use of some bodily part that was useful in fighting
- Disfigures
False Imprisonment
intentional, unlawful confinement of one person by another
- fully confined; do not need to search for escape routes
Kidnapping
unlawful
restraint of a person’s liberty
by force or show of force
so as to send victim to another location or conceal him
- Aggravated: ransom, children, to further other felonies
Rape
act of unlawful sexual intercourse by a male person with a female person w/o her consent.
[general intent]
- only penetration required, not emission
- Mere threats may constitute rape, b/c force is not required
- modern trend is to require actual consent of the victim; however, consent is determined objectively from the observable circumstances. A victim’s subjective lack of consent will not suffice if the objective circumstances suggest that consent existed.
Bigamy
Incest
- Bigamy: marriage by one individual to more than one other person
- Incest: sexual relations b/w individuals who are closely related to one another. The degree of relationship required varies by state
Receiving Stolen Property?
FENCE?
receiving of stolen property known to be stolen with the intent to permanently deprive the owner
a party that deals in stolen property.
Larceny
[specific intent]
- taking and
- carrying away
- tangible personal property
- of another
- w/ intent to permanently deprive owner thereof
- abandoned property cannot be taken away, but lost or mislaid can
- No intent: If, at time of taking, ∆ intends to return property to victim UNCONDITIONALLY & W/IN A REASONABLE TIME [may be proven w/ pawn slip]
- DOCTRINE OF CONTINUING TRESPASS: one who takes property of another intending to use it temporarily before restoring it unconditionally to its owner may nevertheless be guilty of larceny if he later changes his mind & decides not to return property after all
- ∆ intends to replace or pay for property at later time: such intent may negate intent to permanently deprive if PROPERTY IS EASILY REPLACEABLE
- ∆ at time of taking has GF BELIEF that ∆ entitled to possession: there is no intent to permanently deprive, even if belief is incorrect & unreasonable
Embezzlement?
- fraudulent conversion or misappropriation
- of the property of another
- of one who is already in lawful possession
- Conversion: action toward property that seriously interferes w/ rights of owner
- Specific fraudulent intent required may be negated by a claim of right
- ∆ who converts property but intends to later substitute it for equivalent property: is still guilty
- not getting if received by mis-delivery
- will not overlap with larceny cause already in lawful possession
Larceny by Trick?
∆ obtains possession of personal property of another by means of a representation or promise that he knows is false at time he takes possession
- ∆’s fraud is used to cause the victim to convey possession, not title, as in false pretenses.
- Doctrine of “continuing trespass”: applicable