Criminal Law And Criminal Procedure Flashcards
Basic elements of a crime:
Act, intent, causation, and concurrence.
Causation requires:
Showing that the defendant’s acts were both the actual and proximate cause of the outcome.
Proximate: foreseeable.
Accomplice liability
A person is guilty as an accomplice if he assists or encourages the principal with dual intents: (1) the intent to assist the principal; and (2) the intent that the principal commit the offense charged.
A person is not liable for accomplice liability—they are liable for the crime committed through the theory of accomplice liability.
Murder MEE statement:
In order to be guilty of murder, the defendant must have the men’s rea of malice aforethought, which is satisfied in most jurisdictions with intent to kill, intent to inflict serious bodily harm, reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life, or intent to commit a felony.
First-degree murder
Intent to kill with premeditation and deliberation.
Some states require proof of a cool mind capable of reflection and some period of reflection. Others follow the view that premeditation and deliberation can occur in an instant and be inferred from circumstantial evidence (using a deadly weapon).
Second-degree murder
Satisfied by the intent to inflict great bodily harm or by acting with reckless disregard of an extreme risk to human life (depraved heart murder).
Note: this is also the catch-all—when an act constitutes murder but is not quite first degree.
Depraved heart murder usually requires that the defendant acted recklessly and that his conduct shows a high degree of indifference to the value of human life.
Felony murder
Applies to any killing that occurs during the commission of a felony, an attempt to commit a felony, or a flight from a felony.
BARRK: burglary, arson, rape, robbery, kidnapping—inherently dangerous felonies.
The purpose of the felonious conduct must be independent of the homicide.
Voluntary manslaughter
Intentional killing of a human being without malice aforethought committed in the heat of passion due to adequate provocation.
Involuntary manslaughter
Defendant causes the death of another human by engaging in conduct that creates an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury. Majority: defendant must have acted recklessly. Some states say gross negligence is enough.
Attempt
Mens rea: intent
Actus reus: acts beyond mere preparation
Prosecution must show: (1) defendant intended to commit the crime and (2) defendant’s acts went sufficiently beyond mere preparation to commit the crime.
Abandonment is not a defense to attempt in most states.
Duress
Defendant performs a crime because there was threat or use of force by another which caused a reasonable fear that, if the defendant did not perform the crime, either he or a third person would suffer imminent death or serious bodily injury. One cannot use duress as a defense to an intentional homicide.
Insanity
Majority of states use M’Naghten: defendant must prove he suffered a disease of the mind that caused a defect of reason, and as a result he lacked the ability to know the wrongfulness of the actions or understand the nature and quality of his actions.
Standing under the Fourth Amendment
A person has standing to raise a Fourth Amendment challenge if he has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the thing searched or seized.
General rule—Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment applies to searches or seizures conducted by government agents in areas where the complaining individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy. An agent usually needs a warrant based on probable cause. However, there are many exceptions, including existent circumstances, searches incident to arrest, consent, the automobile exception, plain view, inventory searches, special needs, and Terry stops/frisks.
Plain view exception
If officers are lawfully located in a position from which they view an object, if its incriminating character is immediately apparent, they may seize it without a warrant.