Criminal Law Flashcards
An individual is criminally liable as an accomplice if:
he gives assistance or encouragement, or fails to act where he has a legal duty to oppose the crime of another, and purposefully intends to effectuate commission of the crime.
A defendant is responsible for the criminal acts of another whom he aided, abetted, or facilitated, provided the criminal consequences are:
reasonably foreseeable in terms of the acts the defendant intended to aid or abet.
Define Arson.
At common law, the crime of arson consists of –
the malicious burning of the dwelling of another.
Burning requirement–
Mere blackening of the surface is not enough, there must be some physical damage by fire (not smoke or heat) of the premises itself.
Additionally, mere burning of the furniture or other contents of the dwelling without fire damage to the structure itself is not arson.
Define Burglary.
Burglary consists of the breaking and entering of the dwelling house of another in the nighttime with the intent to commit a felony within.
Entry is achieved by placing any portion of the body or any instrument inside the structure.
Breaking and entering must both be done without the occupant’s consent and only some force to create an opening
Defendant must have necessary intent at the time of entry and need not carry out the intent to be guilty.
Modern statutes often expand places covered, eliminate need for breaking, eliminate nighttime requirement and expand intent.
Define the majority rule for Defense of a Third Person.
The majority rule focuses on the reasonableness of the defendant’s belief that the third party was being unlawfully attacked. If the third person is also the aggressor or a felon resisting lawful arrest, and the defendant reasonably but mistakenly uses lethal force against the victim to protect that third party, the defendant may nonetheless claim the justification of defense of others.
Reasonable non-deadly force is justified in defending one’s property from theft, destruction, or trespass where:
the defendant has a reasonable belief that the property is in immediate danger and no greater force than necessary is used.
Define the defense of Duress.
The defense of duress excuses criminal conduct where the defendant reasonably believes that the only way to avoid unlawful threats of great bodily harm or imminent death to himself or a third party is to engage in unlawful conduct.
*Not a defense to a crime consisting of an intentional killing
Define Embezzlement.
The fraudulent conversion or misappropriation of the property of another by one who is already in lawful possession with intent to defraud.
Embezzlement involves misappropriation by a defendant who has:
lawful possession (extensive and discretionary).
Defense of Entrapment (Majority Rule).
Entrapment exists where the criminal act is the product of creative activity originating from law enforcement officials, and the defendant is in no way predisposed to commit the crime.
Defense of Entrapment (Minority Rule).
Entrapment occurs if police activity would cause a reasonable and unpredisposed person to form the intent to commit the crime.
M’Naghten Rule: Defendant is entitled to acquittal only if the facts show that at the time of the crime:
he had a serious mental disease or defect;
this caused a defect in his reasoning abilities; and as a result he did not either:
— understand the nature of the act he was doing; or
— understand that his act was wrong
Intent to kill, malice, or intent to inflict serious bodily injury, must be proved by examination of:
all the surrounding circumstances, including the words and behavior of the defendant.
Intoxication is involuntary if either:
defendant did not know substance was intoxicating; or defendant consumed substance under duress.
Note: apply insanity test
Elements of Kidnapping.
Either:
—Confining or restraining a person; or
—Moving (asporting) a person; and
Without authority of law.
Define Larceny.
Larceny was defined as:
- – trespassory taking (exercise of control adverse to owner);
- – asportation (some movement);
- – corporal personal property of another;
- – from the possession of another;
- – wrongfully - either:
a) without permission; or
b) with permission; or obtained by deception (larceny by trick) and; - – with intent to permanently (at the time of the taking).
Larceny notes:
The intent to keep, destroy, or hold property for ransom will suffice to prove intent to permanently deprive (permanent loss).
If, at the time of taking, the defendant intends to return the property to the victim unconditionally and within a reasonable time, there is no intent to permanently deprive.
Title does not control for larceny.
Forming the intent after the taking and during the possession is sufficient only if (for larceny):
- – the original taking was wrongful
1. ) without consent; or
2. ) with consent obtained by deception
A private citizen is privileged to use that amount of non-deadly force that reasonably appears necessary to:
prevent the commission of a felony or a misdemeanor amounting to a breach of the peace.
A private citizen may use the same amount of deadly force as a police officer only if:
a dangerous felony is involved and the person against whom he used the force is actually guilty of the crime.
Define Obtaining Property by False Pretenses.
Obtaining property by false pretenses consists of a false representation of a present or past material fact by the defendant, which causes the victim to pass title to his property to the defendant who knows his representation to be false.
The defendant must know that his representation is false at the time the victim transfers title to him, and intends thereby to defraud the victim.
Must convey title.
Define Rape.
Rape is the act of unlawful sexual intercourse by a male person with a female person not his spouse without the woman’s effective consent and by force.
Fraud will render woman’s consent ineffective only if the fraud goes to the nature of the act
Note that intercourse accomplished by mere threats rather than force may also constitute rape.
If the victim is incapable of consenting, the intercourse is rape. Inability to consent may be caused by:
the effect of drugs or intoxicating substances or by unconsciousness.
Define Receiving Stolen Property.
The receiving (taking possession) of stolen property known to be stolen with the intent to permanently deprive the owner.
For receiving stolen property the defendant must either know or actually believe that:
the property is stolen. An honest but unreasonable belief that the property is not stolen would likely prevent a conviction for receiving stolen property.
Define Robbery.
Robbery is defined as larceny in which
— the taking of the property must be from the person or presence of the victim and the taking must be accomplished by force, intimidation, threat, or violence.
Fear and intimidation based on lies qualify as threats of robbery. The use of force must be contemporaneous with the taking (in other words, all part of one occurrence).
If a person has a reasonable belief that he is in imminent danger of unlawful bodily harm, he may use that amount of force in self defense that is:
reasonably necessary to prevent such harm, unless he is the initial aggressor.
An aggressor is one who strikes the first blow or commits a crime against the victim. The aggressor can regain the right of self-defense in either of two ways:
upon complete withdrawal perceived by the other party; or
escalation of force by the victim of the initial aggression.