Criminal Law Flashcards
What are the sources of law?
Common Law!, MPC, and majority rules
What are the essential elements of a crime?
Physical act, mental state, causation, and concurrence.
What are the two types of crimes?
Crimes against person and crimes against property
What are the inchoate offenses?
Solicitation, conspiracy, and attempt
What are the available defenses?
Insanity, intoxication, infancy, self-defense, necessity and duress, entrapment.
Who has jurisdiction when it comes to criminal law cases?
Territorial. Crime may be prosecuted in any state where an act that was part of the crime took place or in any state where the result took place.
When may VA courts take jurisdiction of criminal cases?
1) offense was committed wholly or partly w/in state; 2) attempt or conspiracy occurred outside the state and the act was committed w/in state; 3) attempt or conspiracy occurred inside the state to commit an offense outside the state.
What is the proper venue in VA for a criminal case?
City or county where the crime occurred. May prove where the crime occurred by circumstantial evidence but must prove to the extent of creating a “strong presumption.”
What does the prosecution have the burden of proving/disproving and what is the burden of proof?
P must prove each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt; P must also disprove every element of D’s defense beyond a reasonable doubt.
What defense does P not have to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt?
Insanity. D must prove by a preponderance of the evidence.
What is the difference between felony and misdemeanor?
Six classes of felony in VA that may be punished by more than 1 year in prison; 4 classes of misdemeanor in VA for which the maximum punishment may not exceed 1 year in prison.
What is an “act” and why do you need it?
Voluntary bodily movement i.e. brain told muscle to move. If you have no act, you have no crime.
What movements are not considered “acts”?
Sleepwalking, reflex or convulsion that you aren’t on notice of, someone else moves D.
When can failures to act be the basis of criminal liability?
Requires 1) legal duty to act; 2) knowledge of the facts giving rise to the duty; 3) ability to help.
What are the five ways a legal duty could arise?
Statute, contract or agreement, status relationship (parent-child, spouses), voluntary assumption of care (if you start rescuing, you must continue), creation of peril.
What are the four mental states in criminal law?
Specific intent, malice, general intent, and strict liability.
What is specific intent?
When the crime requires not just the desire to do the act, but also the desire to achieve a specific result.
What are the specific intent crimes?
Assault, first degree premeditated murder, larceny, embezzlement, false pretenses, robbery, forgery, burglary, solicitation, conspiracy, and attempt.
What is special about specific intent crimes?
Some defenses like mistake of fact and intoxication are available here but aren’t available with lower mental state reqs.
What is malice?
When a D acts intentionally or with reckless disregard of an obvious or known risk.
What are the CL malice crimes?
Murder, arson
What is general intent?
D need only be generally aware of the factors constituting the crime; he need not intend a specific result. Jury can usually infer this from the doing of the act.
What are examples of general intent crimes?
Battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping, forceable rape.
What is strict liability?
Crime requires simply doing the act, no mental state needed.
What are the two types of strict liability crimes?
Public welfare offenses and statutory rape.
What are public welfare offenses?
Regulatory or morality offenses that typically carry small penalties. EX: selling booze to minor, corrupting morals.
What is statutory rape?
Having sex with someone under the age of consent.
What is mistake of fact?
D says required mental state didn’t exist when crime committed. Whether this is a valid defense depends on the mental state required for the crime and whether the mistake is reasonable.
What is mistake of fact for a specific intent crime?
Any honest mistake (even an unreasonable one) is a defense.
What is mistake of fact for a general intent crime?
Only an honest and reasonable mistake will be a defense.
What is mistake of fact for a strict liability crime?
Mistake is never a defense.
How do we state the mistake of fact defense in terms of reasonableness?
A reasonable mistake will be a defense to any crime except SL crime; an unreasonable mistake will be a defense only to specific intent crimes.
What is mistake of law?
Not a defense. There are four rare ways this can be invoked: 1) statute specifically makes knowledge of the law an element of the crime, 2) statute was not available, 3) D reasonably relied on statute or judicial decision that was overruled or declared unconstitutional, 4) D relied on official interpretation or advice from someone charged with enforcement, admin, or interpretation of laws. Bad advice from attorney doesn’t allow this claim.
What are the MPC mental states?
Intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, negligently?
What is MPC intentionality?
When it is D’s conscious object to accomplish a particular result.
What is MPC knowingly?
When D is aware of what he is doing.
What is MPC recklessly?
When D is aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk, and consciously disregards that risk.
What is MPC negligently?
When D should have known about a substantial and unjustifiable risk.
What is actual causation?
D is an “actual cause” if the bad result would not have happened BUT FOR D’s conduct. If D is an accelerating cause, he is an actual cause.
What is proximate causation?
A D is a proximate cause if the bad result is a natural and probable consequence of D’s conduct. Consider 1) foreseeability and 2) fairness.
What is the rule about eggshell victims?
D will be considered a proximate cause even if the V’s preexisting weakness contributed to the bad result.
How do intervening causes interfere with proximate cause?
D will not be considered a proximate cause if an unforeseeable intervening event causes the bad result.
What is concurrence?
Must have the mental state at the same time as he engages in the act. Issues arise most frequently with larceny and burglary.
What is a battery?
The UNLAWFUL application of FORCE to another, resulting in either BODILY INJURY or OFFENSIVE TOUCHING. Mens rea: general intent.
What is assault?
Either (1) attempted battery or (2) the INTENTIONAL creation other than by MERE WORDS of a REASONABLE APPREHENSION in the mind of V of IMMINENT BODILY HARM. This requires specific intent.
What is aggravated assault and battery? (Majority statute rule)
Crime will be found more serious if any of the following: 1) a weapon is used, 2) the V is a child, elderly, handicapped, or otherwise vulnerable, 3) intent is to commit robbery or rape.
What is VA malicious wounding?
Malicious shooting, stabbing, etc., w/ intent to maim, disfigure, or kill. EX: injury by explosive, attempts to poison, adulteration of food, drink, other substances, etc.
What is VA aggravated malicious wounding?
If V is severely injured and suffers permanent and significant physical impairment.
What is VA wounding while committing a felony?
Shooting, stabbing, or displaying a firearm while committing or attempting to commit a felony.
In homicide, when must a V die in order to allow prosecution of D?
At CL, death must occur w/in a year and a day. Modern rule is that death can occur anytime.
What is the definition of murder?
Causing DEATH of ANOTHER PERSON with MALICE AFORETHOUGHT.
What are the specific types of malice aforethought?
1) intent to kill; 2) intent to inflict great bodily harm; 3) extreme recklessness; 4) felony murder.
What is the deadly weapon rule?
The intentional use of a weapon creates an inference of an intent to kill.
What is the rule of transferred intent?
If D intends to harm one V, but accidentally harms a different V, D’s intent will transfer form intended V to actual V.
What is the exception to the rule of transferred intent?
Transferred intent does not apply to attempts, only to crimes with completed harms.
Under majority statutes, what are the types of first degree murder?
Intentional (any killing committed with premeditation and deliberation) or felony murder (i.e. killing during a particular enumerated felony).
What is voluntary manslaughter?
An INTENTIONAL KILLING committed in the HEAT OF PASSION after ADEQUATE PROVOCATION i.e. circumstances require some mitigation.
What are the two components of adequate provocation?
1) Provocation that would arose a sudden and intense passion in the mind of an ordinary person and 2) D didn’t have time to cool off.
What are examples of adequate provocation?
Serious assault and battery, finding a spouse in bed with someone else. NEVER WORDS ALONE. Key = reasonableness of being provoked.
What is involuntary manslaughter?
A killing committed with CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE (should have known) or a killing committed DURING A CRIME that doesn’t arise to felony murder.
What is felony murder?
Any killing caused during the commission of or attempt to commit a felony.
What are the limits on felony murder?
D must be guilty of the underlying felony, the felony must be inherently dangerous, the felony must be separate from the killing itself, the killing must be during the felony or immediate flight, the killing must be in furtherance of the felony, death must be foreseeable, and V must not be a co-felon helping in the commission of the crime.
Are co-felons vicariously liable for each others felony murders?
Yes. Modern rule is if a co-felon causes a death satisfying FM rule, all other co-felons guilty of felony murder. At CL, all felons guilty of any death caused because of the felony (i.e. PO killing a bystander).
What is VA capital murder?
Willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder committed under one of 14 aggravating circumstances.
What is VA first degree murder?
Murder other than capital murder committed by poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, starvation, or any willful, deliberate and premeditated killing that doesn’t fall w/in capital murder.
What is VA second degree murder?
This is where we presumptively start in addressing where a murder falls. The burden is on P to elevate it to first degree or capital murder and on D to reduce to manslaughter.
What are the felonies under which a felony murder charge may arise in VA?
Arson, rape, forcible sodomy, robbery, burglary, abduction, or inanimate object sexual penetration.
What is the VA felony murder rule?
Treat as first degree murder any murder committed whether intentional or accidental during the commission of an enumerated felony. A death that results not from the 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 felony murder.
What is VA felony homicide?
Accidental killing contrary to the intent of parties while committing some non-enumerated felonious act. Critical factor is the existence of a causal connection between the felony and the accidental killing.
What is the difference between felony homicide and 2d murder?
2d murder = not on felony murder list and intentional; felony homicide = not on felony murder list and accidental.
What is VA voluntary manslaughter?
Unlawful killing w/o malice. EX: killing during mutual combat.
What is VA involuntary manslaughter?
A killing of one accidentally contrary to the intention of parties either 1) during the performance of some unlawful but not felonious act or 2) during the improper performance of a lawful act amounting to criminal negligence.
What is false imprisonment?
UNLAWFUL CONFINEMENT of a person W/O THE PERSON’S CONSENT. Requires general intent.
What is kidnapping?
FALSE IMPRISONMENT that involves either MOVING the V or CONCEALING the V in a secret place. Requires general intent.
What is aggravated kidnapping?
Requires one of the following aggravating factors: purpose is to collect ransom, purposes is to commit robbery or rape, or V is a child.
What is aggravated abduction in VA?
Kidnapping with specific intent to extort $, rob or rape, or V is under 16.
What is VA kidnapping?
When a person, by force, intimidation, or deception, w/o legal justification or excuse, seizes, physically detains, takes, transports, or secretes another person w/ 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: no asportation requirement.)
What is forcible rape?
SEX w/o V’s CONSENT accomplished by force, threat of force, or when V is unconscious. Need general intent.
What is statutory rape?
SEX w/ someone under the AGE of CONSENT. Majority rule (VA) is that this is SL; MPC/Minority rule is that reasonable mistake of age is a defense.
What is VA rape’s marital defense?
Largely abolished, but for marital rape it must be proven that spouses were living separate and apart or that D caused serious physical injury to V by force or violence.
What is VA’s statutory rape law?
1) Sex with child under age 13 punished as rape; 2) Class 4 felony to have carnal knowledge of child older than 13 but younger than 15; 3) further limitations if accused is a minor and V consents.
What is larceny?
Trespassory taking and carrying away of the personal property of another with the intent to steal.
What does it mean to be “trespassory”?
Wrongful or w/o permission.
What is a “taking and carrying away”?
Property must be moved.
What is the “personal property of another”?
Key is possession. If D validly possesses property, he cannot be guilty of larceny. However, D can be guilty of larceny for taking his own property if someone else had valid possession.
What is “with the intent to steal”?
Specific intent to permanently deprive. If intent to return, no larceny; if D thinks property is his, no larceny.
What is the erroneous takings rule?
A taking under a claim of right is never larceny.
What is the continuing trespass rule?
If D wrongfully takes property w/o intent to steal, no larceny. BUT if D later forms the intent to steal, the initial trespassory taking is considered to have “continued,” and he is guilty of larceny.
