Criminal Law Flashcards
Specific intent crimes
- First-degree murder
- Inchoate offenses
- Assault with intent to commit battery
- Theft offenses
Malice crimes
CL murder, arson
- Reckless disregard of high risk of harm
- Requires only criminal act without excuse, justification, or mitigation
General intent crimes
(e.g., battery, rape, kidnapping, and false imprisonment)
- Require the intent to perform an unlawful act
- Intent – knowingly, recklessly, or negligently
Model Penal Code MRs
- Purposefully – conscious objective to engage in conduct
- Knowingly/willfully – aware or knows that the result is practically certain to occur
- Recklessly – acts with conscious disregard of substantial and unjustifiable risk
- Negligently – should be aware of substantial and unjustifiable risk
Strict-liability crimes
Proof of the AR is sufficient for conviction (e.g., statutory rape, bigamy, regulation of food and drug)
Vicarious liability
Proof of MR is sufficient for conviction; generally limited to regulatory crimes
Mistake of fact
- Negates criminal intent (if honest)
- Defense to SI crime even if unreasonable
- Defense to GI/malice crime only if reasonable
Mistake of law
- Defendant relied on court decision/admin order
- Statutory definition of malum prohibitum crime not available before conduct, or
- Honestly held mistake of law negates required intent
Principal
Person whose acts or omissions are the AR of crime; must be actually or constructively present at the scene of the crime
Accomplice liability
Aids/abets principal prior to/during crime with intent that crime be committed
- Accessory before the fact – neither physically nor constructively present during the commission of crime, but possess the requisite intent
- Principal in second degree – physically or constructively present during the commission of crime
- Responsible for crime and all natural and probable consequences of it
- To withdraw, must
1. Repudiate prior aid,
2. Do all that is possible to countermand prior assistance, and
3. Do so before chain of events set in motion and unstoppable
Accessory after fact
Aids or assists felon to avoid apprehension or conviction after felony committed
- Must know felony was committed
- Only L for separate crime (e.g., obstruction of justice)
Insanity
- M’Naghten test – didn’t know nature/quality of act or wrongfulness of act because of defect due to mental disease (“right from wrong” test)
- Irresistible impulse – lacked capacity for self-control and free choice due to mental disease of defect
- Durham – unlawful act was product of defendant’s mental disease or defect (“but for” test)
- MPC (M’Naghten + irresistible impulse) – at time of conduct, defendant lacked substantial capacity to appreciate wrongfulness of act OR to conform conduct to law as a result of mental disease or defect
Intoxication
Voluntary – defense to SI crimes if it prevents required intent
Involuntary – taken without knowledge of intoxicating nature or under duress
- Negates element of GI, SI, or malice crime
Murder
Unlawful killing of another human being committed with malice aforethought
- Intent to kill
- Intent to do serious bodily injury
- Reckless indifference to human life (depraved heart)
- Felony murder (BARRK)
Statutory murder
First-degree (SI crime) – deliberate/premeditated or felony murder
Second-degree (malice crime) –necessary malicious intent or default category if not first-degree murder
Voluntary manslaughter
- Heat of passion – homicide committed in response to situation that could inflame a reasonable person
- Not defense but can reduce murder
- If there was sufficient time between provocation and killing for reasonable period to cool down, murder is not mitigated - Imperfect defense – defendant started altercation or unreasonably believed in necessity of using deadly force
Involuntary manslaughter
Unintentional homicide committed with criminal negligence or during an unlawful act
- Criminal negligence – grossly negligent action that puts another person at a significant risk of injury or death
- Unlawful act (malum in se misdemeanor; killing that isn’t first- or second-degree murder)
Larceny
- Trespassory
- Taking
- Carrying away
- Of personal property
- Of another
- With SI to permanently deprive owner of it
Larceny by trick
- Larceny
- Accomplished through fraud or deceit
- That results in conversion of property
Forgery
- Fraudulent
- Making
- Of false writing
- With apparent legal significance
- With intent to defraud
Embezzlement
- Fraudulent
- Conversion
- Of property
- Of another
- By person in lawful possession of it
False pretenses
- Obtaining title to property
- Of another person
- Through reliance of that person
- On a known false representation of material past/present fact
- Representation made with intent to defraud
Robbery
- Larceny
- From person or presence of victim
- By force or intimidation
Extortion
Taking of money/property from another by threat
- Threat need not be of physical or immediate harm
- Property need not be on person or in presence of victim
Burglary
- Breaking
- Entering
- Of dwelling
- Of another
- At nighttime
- With SI to commit felony therein
Arson
- Malicious
- Burning
- Of dwelling
- Of another
Receipt of stolen goods
- Receiving control
- Of stolen property
- With knowledge that it is stolen
- Intent to permanently deprive the owner of it
Battery
- Unlawful
- Application of force
- To another person
- That causes bodily harm to that person or
- Constitutes an offensive touching
Assault
- An attempt to commit battery or
- Intentionally placing another in reasonable apprehension of imminent bodily harm
Kidnapping
- Unlawful
- Confinement of person
- Against that person’s will
- Coupled with either (1) movement or (2) hiding
False imprisonment
- Unlawful
- Confinement of person
- Without consent
Rape
- Unlawful
- Sexual intercourse
- With a female
- Against her will by force or threat of immediate force
Solicitation
- Enticing, encouraging, requesting, or commanding another person
- To commit a crime
- With the intent that the other person commits the crime
Renunciation (not CL) – voluntary renunciation may be a defense if defendant thwarts commission of solicited crime
Conspiracy
- Agreement
- Between two or more persons
- To accomplish unlawful purpose
- With the intent to accomplish that purpose
Unilateral conspiracy –may be formed the only one party actually agrees (modern trend and MPC)
Overt act (not CL) – act in furtherance of the conspiracy
Scope – conspirator L for conspiracy and co-conspirator’s substantive crimes in furtherance of conspiracy (Pinkerton)
Withdrawal
- Federal/majority rule – withdrawal possible between date of agreement and commission of overt act but must give notice to co-conspirators or give timely notice to police
- MPC/minority rule – subsequent withdrawal OK only if timely notification allows police to thwart success of conspiracy
DOES NOT MERGE
Attempt
- Substantial step toward commission of crime (beyond mere preparation)
- Coupled with SI to commit the crime
Factual impossibility – not a defense (legal impossibility OK)
Abandonment – not defense after substantial step is taken (CL)
Defenses
- Mistake of fact – viable defense if mistake is reasonable one; unreasonable mistake only defense to SI crime
- Self-defense – one who is not the aggressor is justified in using reasonable force against another person to prevent immediate unlawful harm to himself
- Defense of others – same circumstances as self-defense
- Defense of property – deadly force not OK in defending property; only to prevent forcible felony in dwelling
- Arrest – police can use reasonable force to make lawful arrest
a. Police – committed crime in his presence or PC to believe committed felony - Duress – TP’s unlawful threat caused defendant to reasonably believe death/harm to himself or another could only be avoided by violating the law
- Necessity – natural forces of nature caused defendant to commit what otherwise would be a crime
- Consent – negates required element of crime or preclude harm sought to be avoided by crime
- Entrapment – criminal offense planned and induced by police/government agent
