Criminal Law General Flashcards
What are examples of felonies?
Burglary, arson, robbery, rape, larceny, murder, manslaughter, mayhem
Examples of misdemeanor crime?
Assault, battery, assault with a deadly weapon
What are categories of parties participating in a criminal act?
Principal in the first degree; principal in the second degree; accessory b4 the fact; accessory aft the fact. Accessories may also be referred to as accomplices or aiders and abetters.
What is the principal in the first degree?
Main actor. Actual actor. The shooter. The robber. Could be more than one.
What is the principal in the second degree?
One who is on the scene but not directly participating in the crime – for example the look out or the getaway car driver.
What is an accessory before the fact?
One who is not on the scene but, with knowledge of the crime to be committed, has in some way encouraged or facilitate the crime. For example, provided helpful information, provided money, a car, a gun.
What is an accessory after the fact?
One who is not on the scene but who knows about the completion of the crime and helps in some way – for example, hiding someone, helping someone to flee, destroying evidence. No knowledge. No accessory after the fact.
What is criminal liability of the accomplice/accessory/aider abettor?
Accomplices before the crime are just as guilty as the principal, even if they are not at the scene, provided the government can prove intentionally aided in the commission of a crime, in other words shared the criminal intent of the principal. This means that the gov must prove that the accomplice realizes (not actual knowledge; reasonably foreseeable) that the principal is going to commit a crime and that the accomplice intends to help the crime succeed.
What is the criminal liability of an accomplice after the fact?
In most states, accessories after the fact face far less punishment than accomplices or principals.
What is enterprise liability?
A corp or an association can be held liable for the act performed by an agent in the course of employment or a corporate officer of high enough rank to reflect the intent of the corporation.
What is the merger doctrine?
In criminal law, if a defendant commits a single act that simultaneously fulfills the definition of two separate offenses, merger will occur. This means that the lesser of the two offences will drop out, and the defendant will only be charged with the greater offense. This prevents double jeopardy problems from arising. Put another way, if each crime has different elements, the crimes won’t merge. And If one crime is completed before another, there’s no merger. For example, if a defendant robs a store clerk at gunpoint and takes money from the cash register, and then he hits the clerk in the head with the gun, the crimes of armed robbery and aggravated assault don’t merge
What are examples of crimes that merge?
Provided a single incident, attempt always mergers into the actual crime, i.e., a defendant cannot be convicted of both attempt and the target crime. Assault merges into robbery (robbery includes an assault). Larceny merges into robbery, BUT ONLY IF larceny occurs from the person. Solicitation and the target crime merge.
What are examples of crimes that do not merge?
Conspiracy and the target crime do not merge. Burglary and larceny do not merge – different elements, including breaking an entering).
What are the general requirements of a crime?
Physical act; voluntary act (generally to reflexive or forced); mental state (mens rea); intent (general or specific); concurrence or closeness in time between act and result; causation or link between voluntary act and the crime.
What are examples of involuntary acts?
Reflexive bodily movement; convulsion (due to epilepsy for e.g.); act done while unconscious, sleeping – like sleep walking; act done bc forced to do it. Beware, though, that if you have a condition that you know to cause dangerous reflexive actions, you could be criminally liable for consequences of that act.
Can failure to act result in criminal liability?
Generally, no. Failure to act does not equal a voluntary act., UNLESS there is a corresponding duty to act.
What are possible bases for a duty to act, trumping general rule of no duty to affirmatively act?
statute (like hit and run); contract (passengers in common carrier); personal relationship (between family members); voluntary assumption of aid when no duty to do so; peril created by the defendant (like refusing to rescue when peril is defendant’s fault). (If defendant is unable to act for some reason, may be excused from liability – for example, disabled, unconscious, etc.)
When is criminal intent gauged?
Generally, at the time of the crime. After-acquired intent will not relate back for most criminal offenses Eg, in burglary the requisite intent to commit a felony must exist before the break in. The intent to steal which arose after the break in will only relate back for larceny and robbery.
What is major exception to general rule that intent will not related back?
Larceny. If take something not intending to steal it and later decide to steal it (e.g. keep it rather than pay for it or returning it), the later arising intent is transferred back to the time of the original taking. Sometimes called doctrine of continuing trespass.
What is general intent?
Only the intent to do the act which is prohibited by law. Whether the defendant intended the act’s result is not relevant to general intent crimes.
What is specific intent?
Specific intent crimes typically require that the defendant intentionally commit an act and intend to cause a particular result when committing that act. In that regard, merely knowing that a result is likely isn’t the same as specifically intending to bring it about. Put another way, prosecution must show that D had a specific purpose in mind, that is spelled out in statute (with words like intentionally, knowingly, purposefully, willfully)
What are examples of general intent crimes?
Battery – the intent to do the act which resulted in the unwanted touching; rape; arson – intent to do the act which results in burning of a property of another, whether D intended the burning or not; involuntary manslaughter; 2nd degree murder
What are examples of specific intent crimes?
Burglary; robbery; assault; 1st degree murder; attempt; conspiracy; theft offenses including larceny, larceny by trick, false pretenses, embezzlement; soclitation.
What is malice?
Malice is a type of intent required for some crimes, often involving death or injury. Malice is often defined as an intent to kill someone or cause him or her great bodily harm, orcreate a high risk of death or great bodily harm with knowledge that such a result is probable.
