Criminal Law Flashcards
What are the Elements of Accomplice Liability
One who,
1) with the intent that a crime be committed;
2) counsels, aids or encourages another;
3) in the commission or concealment of a crime.
What Are Inherently Dangerous Felonies?
Burglary, Arson, Rape, Robbery, Kidnapping,
What is Wharton’s Rule?
A crime that requires two or more people to commit (e.g. solicitation) cannot also be charged as a conspiracy.
What are the Elements of Solicitation?
1) Asking another to commit a crime
2) with the specific intent that the person solicited commit the crime.
What are the Elements of Attempt?
1) Specific intent to commit the crime
2) with an overt act in furtherance of the crime (a “substantial step”)
What are the Elements of a Conspiracy?
1) Agreement between two or more persons;
2) intent to enter the agreement;
3) intent to achieve the unlawful purpose;
4) overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy by any co-conspirator (a “substantial step”)
What are the Limitations on Criminal Liability for Youth and Infants?
There is no criminal liability for children under 7
There is a rebuttable presumption against liability for children under 14.
What Facts Must be Shown to Prove Entrapment?
Defendant has
1) no predisposition to commit a crime; and
2) the criminal plan originated with a government actor.
What is Required to Prove Duress as a Defense to Criminal Liability?
A Defendant is not liable for a crime (except for intentional homicide) if they committed the crime because of a threat to their personal safety or the safety of loved ones.
What is Merger in Criminal Law?
Where the Defendant commits two separate crimes with one act, the charges will merge UNLESS one crime requires proof of an element that the other does not.
What Are the Limits of an Intoxication Defense?
Involuntary intoxication is a defense and is treated like insanity
Voluntary intoxication is only a defense if the Defendant could not have formed specific intent.
Voluntary intoxication is not a defense for a general intent crime or for recklessness.
What are the Three Tests for an Insanity Defense?
M’Naghten: Defendant lacked ability to know wrongful nature of conduct because of mental illness.
Irresistible Impulse: Defendant lacked capacity for self-control and free choice.
Durham: Act would not have happened but for mental illness.
MPC: Defendant either lacked capacity for self-control or did not know the wrongfulness of the act because of mental illness.
When is Defense of Others Allowed as a Defense?
Use of appropriate force to protect another from imminent attack.
The Intervenor is entitled to use whatever level of force the victim would have been legally entitled to use to defend herself.
When is a Mistake of Fact a Defense in a Criminal Case?
For crimes requiring specific intent, a subjective mistake of fact will negate the intent element.
For crimes requiring general intent, only an objectively reasonable mistake will negate the intent element.
What is the Concept of Escalation in Criminal Law?
A defendant may assert deadly force in self-defense if a victim responds to non-deadly force with deadly force, BUT the defendant must first attempt to retreat at common law.
