CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON

Question 1

Crimes Against the Person Checklist

Answer 1

• Assault
• Battery
• Kidnapping
• Homicide
• First Degree Murder
• Second Degree Murder
• Voluntary Manslaughter
• Involuntary Manslaughter

Question 2

Homicide and Murder Checklist

Answer 2

• Homicide
  
  • Common Law Murder
    
    • Malice Aforethought
      
      • Intent to Kill
      • Intent to Inflict Great Bodily Injury
      • Reckless Indifference or Depraved Heart Murder
      • Felony Murder
        
        • Guilty of Underlying Felony
        • Foreseeability
        • Causation
        • Death of a Co-Felon
        • Agency Theory
        • Point of Safety
• First Degree Murder
  
  • Premeditated
  • Deliberate
  • Felony Murder Rule
• Second Degree Murder
• Voluntary Manslaughter
• Involuntary Manslaughter

Question 3

Assault

Answer 3

Criminal assault is (i) an attempt to commit a battery or (ii) intentionally causing another’s reasonable apprehension of imminent bodily harm.

Question 4

Battery

Answer 4

Criminal battery is the (i) unlawful application of force to another’s person that causes bodily harm or (ii) an offensive touching. Battery, a general intent crime, may be established through intentional conduct, recklessness, or criminal negligence.

Question 5

Kidnapping

Answer 5

Kidnapping is the (1) unlawful confinement of (2) a non-consenting person involving either movement or concealment of that person.

Question 6

Homicide - Common Law Murder

Answer 6

Common law murder is the unlawful killing of a person committed with malice aforethought

Question 7

Malice aforethought

Answer 7

Malice aforethought exists if the defendant committed the killing with any of the following states of mind:

(i) intent to kill,
(ii) intent to inflict great bodily injury,
(iii) reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life (depraved heart murder),
(iv) intent to commit an inherently dangerous felony (felony murder)
* *use of a deadly weapon creates an inference of an intent to kill and intent to inflict great bodily injury*

Question 8

Intent to Kill

Answer 8

The defendant must have acted with the intent to kill the victim

Question 9

Intent to Inflict Great Bodily Injury

Answer 9

The defendant must have acted with the intent to inflict great bodily injury upon the victim

Question 10

Reckless Indifference or Depraved Heart Murder

Answer 10

The defendant must have acted with reckless indifference to an exceptionally high risk to human life

Question 11

Felony Murder

Answer 11

Under the Felony Murder Rule, a defendant can be liable for the unintended, yet foreseeable, killing that occurs during, or is proximately caused by, the attempted commission of an inherently dangerous felony*

(*burglary, arson, rape, robbery, kidnapping)

Question 12

Guilty of Underlying Felony

Answer 12

Enter rule statement of the underlying felony and analyze each element of that felony. The underlying felony should be analyzed even if it was not completed; an attempt is sufficient

Question 13

Foreseeability

Answer 13

Here, the killing was foreseeable because [enter legally significant facts]

Question 14

Causation

Answer 14

The killing was proximately caused by the [name of inherently dangerous felony] because [enter legally significant facts]

Question 15

Death of a Co-Felon

Answer 15

According to the Redline doctrine, the defendant is not liable for Felony Murder if his co-felon is killed by the victim in self-defense or by a police officer attempting to prevent escape or further criminal activity

Question 16

Agency Theory

Answer 16

A felon is liable for a death caused by his agent. Therefore, a felon will not be liable if a bystander is killed by someone other than his agent

Question 17

Point of Safety

Answer 17

The commission of a felony concludes when the defendant reaches a point of safety. If the killing occurs after the defendant has reached a point of safety, the Felony Murder Rule is inapplicable

Question 18

First Degree Murder

Answer 18

First degree murder is murder that is

premeditated and deliberate

Question 19

Premeditated

Answer 19

Premeditation is satisfied if the defendant had enough time to reflect on the killing

Question 20

Deliberate

Answer 20

A murder is deliberate if the defendant’s decision to kill was made in a cool and dispassionate manner

Question 21

Felony Murder Rule

Answer 21

Several jurisdictions categorize felony murder as first-degree murder. [See Felony Murder Rule above]

Question 22

Second Degree Murder

Answer 22

Second-Degree Murder lacks premeditation and deliberation. It is analyzed in the same manner as Common Law Murder. See above for Common Law Murder analysis

Question 23

Voluntary Manslaughter

Answer 23

Voluntary manslaughter has four elements:

1. There was provocation that would cause a sudden and intense passion in the mind of an ordinary reasonable person
2. the defendant was actually provoked
3. there was insufficient time for a reasonable person to cool off between the provocation and the killing, and
4. the defendant did not cool off

*Analyze each element separately

Question 24

Involuntary Manslaughter

Answer 24

Involuntary manslaughter is the unintentional killing committed (i) with criminal negligence or (ii) during an unlawful act