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Criminal Law Flashcards

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1
Q

Year-and-a-Day Rule

A

Common law rule (minority)

If a victim of assault or battery lives a year and a day after the offense, their cause of death will not be presumed to be defendant

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2
Q

How can a co-conspirator limit his liability for substantive crimes?

A

Withdrawing by

  1. announcing withdrawal to all co-conspirators; or
  2. informing law enforcement of the conspiracy
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3
Q

What is involuntary manslaughter?

A

The unintentional killing of another committed as a consequence of either criminal negligence or an unlawful act

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4
Q

When can an honest mistake of FACT serve as a defense?

A

Unreasonable = specific intent crimes

Reasonable = general intent crimes

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5
Q

When can an honest mistake of LAW be a defense?

A

Generally, never.

Exceptions:
1. Reliance on a court decision/ administrative order or official interpretation

  1. Statutory definition of malum prohibitum crime not made available before D’s conduct
  2. When an honest mistake negates a required mens rea element
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6
Q

Requirements for avoiding accomplice liability

A
  1. Repudiate prior aid;
  2. Do all possible to countermand prior aid;
  3. Do so before the chain of events becomes unstoppable
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7
Q

Accessory after the Fact

A

Person who aids or assists a felon in avoiding apprehension or criminal conviction after the commission of a felony

Must know the felony was committed

Only liable for a SEPERATE crime

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8
Q

What if someone who is provoked kills someone else due to a mistake of fact?

A

If they have been adequately provoked and accidentally kills the wrong person, under the doctrine of transferred intent they will be liable for voluntary manslaughter if the defendant could have been liable for voluntary manslaughter of the intended victim.

If they kill an innocent bystander, they will be guilty of murder.

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9
Q

Malum in se & malum prohibitum

A

Malum in se = acts that are wrong in itself or are inherently dangerous (ex: assault, battery)

Malum prohibitum = acts merely prohibited but not inherently hurtful or immoral (ex: parking violation)

*Malum prohibitum wrongs that result in homicide generally do not lead to involuntary manslaughter unless (1) criminality negligent or (2) willful

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10
Q

MPC Insanity Test

A
  1. Defendant has a mental disease or defect at the time;
  2. As a result did not have the substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his act
  3. Or to conform his conduct to the law
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11
Q

Common Law Conspiracy

A
  1. Agreement
  2. Between 2 or more people
  3. To accomplish an unlawful purpose
  4. With the intent to accomplish that purpose
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12
Q

Felony Murder felonies

A

Burglary

Arson

Robbery

Rape

Kidnapping

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13
Q

Common Law Larceny

A
  1. Trespassory
  2. Taking
  3. and carrying away
  4. Personal property
  5. Of another
  6. With the intent to deprive permanently
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14
Q

Continuing Trespass Rule for Larceny

A

Applies when someone takes possession without permission but without the intent to permanently deprive.

If sometime after the taking the person develops the intent to permanently deprive, then under the continuing trespass rule the criminal act will coincide with criminal intent, resulting in larceny.

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15
Q

Common Law Arson

A

Malicious burning of a dwelling of another

*Must have structural damage

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16
Q

Perjury

A

Willful act of falsely promising to tell the truth (in writing or verbally) on material maters that impact the outcome of a case

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17
Q

When is consent obtained by fraud a valid defense to the offense of rape, and when does it provide no grounds for defense?

A

Valid = consent obtained by fraud in the inducement

Invalid = consent obtained by fraud in the factum (the nature of the act itself)

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18
Q

Bribery

A

Common law:
A misdemeanor involving the corrupt payment of something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of his public or legal duties.

Modern law:
Can be a felony
May extend to persons who are not public officials
Mutuality not required

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19
Q

Attempt requirements

A
  1. Specific intent to commit the crime

2. Substantial step toward the commission of a crime (mere preparation insufficient)

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20
Q

Larceny by trick v. false pretenses

A

Larcey by trick = possession

False pretenses = title

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21
Q

Actus Reus

A

Voluntary, affirmative act or omission that causes a criminally proscribed result

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22
Q

When is withdrawal a defense to conspiracy?

A

Common law = never

Federal/ majority rule = may only withdraw after agreement but BEFORE an overt act has been committed by:

  1. Communicating notice to other co-conspirators; or
  2. Informing law enforcement about the agreement

MPC/ minority rule = may only withdraw by acting voluntarily to “thwart the success” of the conspiracy

23
Q

Independent felony requirement for felony murder

A

Homicide must occur during the commission of an independent felony (BARRK)

Ex: a battery that causes a victim to die is not independent of the victim’s death, so felony murder would not apply in the majority of jurisdictions

24
Q

Durham Test for Insanity

A
  1. Defendant had a mental disease or defect at the time of the crime; and
  2. The unlawful act was the product of the defendant’s mental disease (but for)
25
Q

When is renunciation a defense to solicitation?

A

Common law = never

MPC = voluntary renunciation may be a defense if D thwarts the commission of the solicited crime

26
Q

Kidnapping

A

Unlawful confinement of a person against that person’s will coupled with either (1) the movement or (2) hiding of that person

27
Q

M’Naghten Insanity Test

A
  1. D had a mental disease or defect at the time of the offense; and
  2. As a result did not have substantial capacity to understand either (i) the nature and quality of the act, or (ii) the wrongfulness of the act
28
Q

Depraved-heart murder

A

Unlawful homicide that results from the D’s reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk of harm to human life

*Majority rule = D must be aware of the danger involved

29
Q

Common Law Degrees of Murder

A
  1. Homicide justified by law
  2. Criminal homicide
  3. Excusable homicide
30
Q

Irresistible-Impulse Insanity Test

A
  1. D had a mental disease or defect at the time of the offense;
  2. That resulted in his inability to conform his actions to the law (lacked capacity for self-control and free choice)
31
Q

When will an imperfect defense lower a murder to voluntary manslaughter?

A

When D argues that his deadly force was necessary in defense of himself or others, but

  1. D started the altercation, or
  2. D unreasonably and honestly believed in the necessity of using deadly force
32
Q

Defenses to Felony Murder

A
  1. Valid defense to the underlying felony
  2. No independent felony
  3. Death was not a foreseeable result or natural and probable consequence to the felony
  4. Death occurred after the commission of the felony and the ensuing flight from the scene of the crime
33
Q

Two types of criminal assault

A

Specific intent = attempted battery assault - D takes a substantial step toward the commission of a battery

General intent = fear of harm assault - D intentionally places another in the apprehension of imminent bodily harm

34
Q

When can a killing result in involuntary manslaughter?

A
  1. Killing committed in the commission of a malum in se misdemeanor; or
  2. Killing committed in the commission of a felony that is not statutorily treated as first-degree felony murder or second-degree murder
35
Q

Embezzlement

A

Fraudulent conversion of the property of another by a person who is in lawful possession of the property

36
Q

Malice Aforethought

A
  1. Intent to kill
  2. Intent to inflict serious bodily harm
  3. Reckless indifference to human life (depraved heart)
  4. Felony murder
37
Q

Burglary

A

Breaking and entering into a dwelling of another at night with the specific intent to commit a felony therein

38
Q

Rape

A

Unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman against her will by force or threat of immediate force

*most modern statutes are gender-neutral and replaced the force requirement with lack of consent

39
Q

Can the owner of property be guilty of larceny?

A

Yes - when someone other than the owner is entitled to current possession

40
Q

Solicitation

A

The encouragement, enticing, requesting, or commanding of another person to commit a crime with the intent that the other person commit the crime

41
Q

Robbery

A

Larceny from the person or presence of the victim and achieved by force or intimidation

42
Q

When is impossibility a defense to an attempt charge?

A

Only when a legal impossibility, not a factual impossibility

43
Q

When is abandonment a defense to an attempt charge?

A

Generally available until the D has completed the actus reus

44
Q

Statutory Rape

A

Sexual intercourse with a person under the age of consent

45
Q

Can someone be guilty of larceny of stolen goods?

A

Yes, unless the taker has a superior possessory interest in the property

46
Q

First-Degree Murder

A
  1. Deliberate and premeditated murder; or

2. Felony murder

47
Q

Crime of receiving stolen goods

A

Requires

  1. Receiving control of stolen property;
  2. Knowledge that the property is stolen; and
  3. Intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property
48
Q

MPC Mental States

A
  1. Purposefully = D’s conscious objective to engage in the conduct or cause a certain result
  2. Knowledge = D aware or knows that the result is practically certain to occur based on his conduct
  3. Recklessness = D acts with a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk
  4. Negligence = D should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a material element of a crime exists or will result from his conduct
49
Q

Malice crimes

A

Require reckless disregard to a high risk of harm

Require only a criminal act w/o excuse, justification, or mitigation (intent inferred)

Ex: Arson & common law murder

50
Q

Battery

A

Unlawful application of force to another person that causes bodily harm to that person or constitutes offensive touching

51
Q

What types of causation must be proven for homicide?

A
  1. Actual causation = victim wouldn’t have died but for the D’s act
  2. Proximate causation = the death was foreseeable as the natural and probable result of the D’s conduct
52
Q

Under common law, if a group of co-conspirators are prosecuted in a single trial and all but one are acquitted, can the last co-conspirator be found guilty of conspiracy?

A

No - under the bilateral approach, a conviction requires at least two guilty minds. If tried by the SAME jury, then a conspirator cannot be convicted if all other conspirators are acquitted.

53
Q

When can the initial aggressor claim self-defense?

A
  1. When non-deadly force is met with deadly force; or

2. The initial aggressor in good faith completely withdraws and communicates his intent to withdraw

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