Crimes Against the Person

Question 1

What are the elements of battery? What is the required mental state?

Answer 1

(1) Unlawful
(2) Application of force to another,
(3) Resulting in either:

 (a) Bodily injury OR  (b) Offensive touching.  

Mental state: General intent

Question 2

What are the elements of assault? Mental state?

Answer 2

Version 1: Attempted Battery

OR

Version 2:

a) the intentional creation
b) other than by mere words
c) of a reasonable apprehension in the mind of the victim
d) of imminent bodily harm

Mental state: Specific intent

Question 3

What is an aggravated assault or battery?

Answer 3

Many states provide that an assault and/or battery will be more serious if:

a) a weapon is used
b) the victim is a child, elderly, handicapped, or otherwise vulnerable, or
c) the intent is to commit a robbery or rape

Question 4

What is the common law year-and-a-day rule for homicide? What is the Virginia rule?

Answer 4

Common Law Rule: Death must occur within a year-and-a-day of the homicidal act.

The VA/Majority Rule: Death may occur at anytime.

Question 5

Define murder? mental state?

Answer 5

Causing the death of another person (fetus is not a person) with malice or aforethought.

Mental State: Malice aforethought means ANY of these four specific things -

(1) Intent to kill
(2) Intent to inflict great bodily harm
(3) Extreme recklessness (“abandoned and malignant heart”)
(4) Felony Murder

Question 6

What is the deadly weapon rule?

Answer 6

The intentional use of a deadly weapon creates an inference of an intent to kill

Question 7

What is transferred intent? exceptions?

Answer 7

If a defendant intends to harm one victim, but accidentally harms a different victim instead, the defendant’s intent will transfer from the intended victim to the actual victim.

Applies most frequently to murder, but also to other crimes, such as battery and arson.

The exception: Transferred intent does not apply to attempts, only to crimes with completed harms.

Question 8

What is first degree murder?

Answer 8

(a) Intentional - any killing committed with premeditation and deliberation
(b) Felony Murder - In many states, a killing committed during a particular enumerated felony (usually the most serious felonies, such as arson, rape, robbery, burglary, and kidnapping) will be first-degree murder.

Question 9

What is second degree murder?

Answer 9

All murders that are not first degree murders.

Question 10

What is voluntary manslaughter?

Answer 10

1) An intentional killing
2) Committed in the heat of passion
3) After adequate provocation, which has two components: (a) provocation that would arouse a sudden and intense in the mind of an ordinary person; AND (b) the defendant did not have time to cool off.

Question 11

For voluntary manslaughter, what are examples of adequate provocation?

Answer 11

1) Serious assault and battery
2) Finding a spouse in bed with someone else
3) But not words alone

*Reasonableness standard

Question 12

What is involuntary manslaughter?

Answer 12

A killing committed with criminal negligence,

OR

A killing committed during a crime if it is not felon murder (sometimes called misdemeanor manslaughter)

Question 13

Define felony murder.

Answer 13

Any killing caused during the commission of or attempt to commit a felony.

Question 14

What are the limitations on felony murder?

Answer 14

1) D must be guilty of the underlying felony
2) The felony must be inherently dangerous
3) The felony must be separate from the killing itself
4) The killing must be during the felony or during immediate flight (continuous) from the felony
5) The killing must be in furtherance of the felony
6) The death must be foreseeable
7) The victim must not be a co-felon

Question 15

Can a co-felon be held vicariously liable for felony murder?

Answer 15

If one of the co-felons causes the death, all of the other co-felons will be guilty of felony murder. This applies even if the actual killing was committed by a third-person (e.g. a bystander, a police officer), so long as one of the felons is a “proximate cause” of the death.

Question 16

In VA, what is capital murder?

Answer 16

Willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder committed under 14 different aggravating circumstances.

Question 17

In VA, what is first degree murder?

Answer 17

Murder, other than capital murder, by one of the following (includes felony murder):

1. Poison
2. Lying in wait
3. Imprisonment
4. Starvation; or
5. Any Willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing that does not fall within capital murder

Question 18

In VA, what is second degree murder?

Answer 18

All murder is presumed to be second degree murder. The burden is on the prosecution to elevate it to first degree or capital murder and on the defense to reduce it to manslaughter.

Thus, 2nd degree murder consists of all murder that is neither capital nor first degree.

Question 19

In VA, what is felony murder? how is felony murder treated?

Answer 19

Any murder committed, whether intentional or accidental, during the commission of or during an attempt to commit:

(a) arson
(b) rape
(c) forcible sodmy
(d) robbery
(e) burglary
(f) abduction /kidnapping
(g) inanimate object sexual penetration

Treatment: like first degree murder

Causation: A death that results not from actions of the felon or from acts directly calculated to further the felony or necessitated by the felony, but from circumstances coincident to the felony, is not a felon murder.

Question 20

In VA, what is a felony homicide?

Answer 20

The accidental killing, contrary to the intention of the parties, while committing some non-enumerated felonious act.

Causation: In determining whether a felony homicide has been committed, the critical factor is the existence of a causal connection between the felony and the accidental killing.

Question 21

In VA, what is manslaughter?

Answer 21

Voluntary = Unlawful killing w/o malice (heat of passion)

Involuntary = a killing of one accidentally, contrary to the intention of the parities, either during:

1. the performance of some unlawful but NOT felonious act; or
2. the improper performance of a lawful act amounting to criminal negligence.

Question 22

What are the elements of false imprisonment? mental state?

Answer 22

(1) Unlawful
(2) Confinement of a person
(3) w/o that person’s consent

Mental state: General intent

Question 23

What are the elements of kidnapping? mental state?

Answer 23

(1) False imprisonment
(2) that involves either moving the victim or concealing the victim in a secret place.

Mental state: general intent

Question 24

What is an aggravated kidnapping?

Answer 24

Many states have created a more serious statutory offense, which usually requires on of the following aggravating factors –

1) The purpose is to collect ransom
2) The purpose is to commit robbery or rape, or
3) the victim is a child

In VA, acting with specific intent to extort money, abduction of female 16 years old or younger w/ intent to prostitute, etc. are also included.

Question 25

In VA, what is kidnapping? Is asportation required?

Answer 25

A person is guilty of kidnapping (abduction) if:

a) by force, intimidation, or deception;
b) w/o legal justification or excuse;
c) Seizes, physically detains, takes, transports, or secretes;
d) another person;
e) with intent to deprive such person of personal liberty or to withhold or conceal him from another person, authority, or institution lawfully entitled to his charge.

Note: Asportation (physically moving the person) of the victim from one place to another is NOT required if all other elements are present.

Question 26

What are the elements of forcible rape? mental state?

Answer 26

1) Sex
2) Without the Victim’s Consent
3) Accomplished by force, threat of force, or when the victim is unconscious

Mental State: General Intent

Question 27

What are the elements of statutory rape? Mental State?

Answer 27

(1) Sex
(2) With someone under the age of consent

Mental State:
Majority rule = Strict Liability
MPC/Minority Rule: A reasonable mistake of age is a defense. BUT NOT IN VA.

Question 28

What are the elements of rape in VA?

Answer 28

Must be proven that spouses were living separate and apart

OR

that D caused serious physical injury to Victim by force or violence

Question 29

In VA, what is statutory rape?

Answer 29

Sexual intercourse with a child under age of 13 is punished as rape.

Class 4 felony (Carnal Knowledge) to have carnal knowledge of a child 13 or older, but younger than 15.

Further limitations if accused is a minor and victim consents.

Age gap of more than 3 years is a class 6 felony.