Criminal Law Intro Cards Flashcards
What is the US Constitutional basis for state criminal laws?
The Police Powers of the Tenth Amendment.
Where do most states find the template for their criminal laws?
The Model Penal Code (MPC)
Are there any Federal common law crimes?
No.
What is the legal basis of Federal Crimes?
The Constitution, federal statutes, or federal administrative regulations.
What are the operative requirements of a criminal act?
(i) an Actus Reus (an act); (ii) a mens rea (a criminal mind); (iii) concurrence between the Actus Reus and the Mens Rea; and (iv) the crime requires a particular result, causation.
What is Actus Reus?
A voluntry act or omission.
What is Mens Rea?
A criminal mind: intent, culpability, and mental state of fault.
What is the difference between General Intent and Specific Intent crimes?
General-Intent crimes require an intent to perform the act but not to cause a specific result; Specific-Intent crimes require an intent to perform the act combined with an intent to bring about the prohibited result.
What are the four mental states of the MPC?
Purposely; Knowingly; Recklessly; and Negligently.
When does a criminal defendant act Purposely in the MPC?
A defendant acts purposely if (i) his conscious object is to engage in prohibited conduct or cause a prohibited result; and (ii) for a crime defined by the attendant circumstances, he knows, believes, or hopes those circumstances exist.
When does a criminal defendant act Knowingly in the MPC?
A defendant acts knowingly if he is a ware that (i) his act is of a specific nature, or (ii) particular circumstances exist; or (iii) if an element of a crime is that a particular result must occur, it is practically certain that his conduct will cause that result.
When does a criminal defendant act Recklessly in the MPC?
A defendant acts recklessly if he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that an element of the crime exists or will result from his conduct. The disregard must be a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe.
When does a criminal defendant act Negligently in the MPC?
A defendant acts negligently if he should be aware of a substantial or unjustifiable risk that an element of the crime exists or will result from his conduct. The filature to perceive the risk must be a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.
What is criminal Strict Liability?
Strict Liability imposes criminal liability with no proof of fault.
What is criminal Transferred Intent?
Transferred Intent imposes criminal liability on a defendant who intends to harm one person but actually harms an unintended victim.
What is the criminal principal of concurrence of act and intent?
The defendant must hav the mens rea and the actus rea at the same time.
What is a criminal Mistake of Fact?
A defendant may be absolved of criminal liability if a mistake of fact negates the required mens rea.
What’s a criminal Mistake of Law?
When the defendant mistakenly believes his conduct is not a crime. This is not a defense.
A defendant will not be held criminally liable if he was insane at the time of the act. What is the M’Naghten rule (majority approach) for insanity?
A defendant is not guilty if, as a result of mental disease or defect he either (1) did not know the nature or quality of the criminal act or (ii) he did know the act’s nature and quality, but he did not know that what he was doing was wrong.
A defendant will not be held criminally liable if he was insane at the time of the act. What is the Irresistible-Impulse rule for insanity?
A defendant is not guilty if as a result of mental disease or defect he could not restrain himself from performing the criminal act.
A defendant will not be held criminally liable if he was insane at the time of the act. What is the Durham rule for insanity?
A defendant is not guilty if the crime was a result of mental disease or defect.
A defendant will not be held criminally liable if he was insane at the time of the act. What is the MPC test for insanity?
A defendant is not guilty if as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.
A defendant will not be held criminally liable if he was insane at the time of the act. What is the Federal rule for insanity?
A federal defendant must prove by clear and convincing evidence that as a result of a severe mental disease or defect he was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his acts.
Is Diminished Capacity a defense against Mens Rea?
In some jurisdictions the defendant can argue he was unable to form the necessary mens rea because of some mental disorder or condition.
Is Intoxication a defense against Mens Rea?
If the intoxication is voluntary (defendant deliberately ingest substance that he knows or should know cause intoxication) then a few jurisdictions prohibit the use of Intoxication as a defense, the MPC limits the application. But if the intoxication is involuntary (the Defendant was tricked, coerced, or mistaken; or if the substance had a extremely unusual intoxicate effect to which the defendant was unaware; or if the defendant took a prescription drug, under medical advice, and did not know the side effects) then it is a valid defense of mens rea.
What is the Causation requirement of a Crime?
If a crime is defined by a particular result, then the defendant’s conduct must be both the actual cause and the proximate cause of that result.
What is the criminal actual cause but-for test?
The but-for test asks whether the result would have occurred without the defendant’s conduct. If multiple forces combine to use a result, and no one of the forces alone would have been sufficient to cause the result, each force is a but-for cause of the result.
What is the criminal Actual Cause Substantial-Factor test?
Where there are multiple forces that cause a result (criminal outcome), and any one of the forces would’ve been sufficient to cause the result, it’s impossible to tell which once caused what portion of the result, so the substantial-factor test treats each force as an actual cause (so long as it was a substantial factor in bringing about the result).
What is Criminal Proximate Cause?
Actions are a Proximate Cause if the result is a natural, probable, and foreseeable consequence of the action.
What is homicide?
One person killing another.
What is common law murder?
The unlawful killing of a living person with “malice aforethought*.
What is the Actus Reus and Causation requirement for a Murder charge?
The defendant’s acts must be the actual and proximate cause of the victim’s death.
What is the Mens Rea requirement for a Murder charge?
The defendant must possess malice aforethought: (i) an intent to kill; or (ii) an intent to cause serious bodily harm; or (iii) reckless indifference to the value of human life; or (iv) imputed mens rea (if death occurs from the commission of a felony).
What are the different types of malice aforethought for a mens rea basis for a murder charge?
(i) an intent to kill; or (ii) an intent to cause serious bodily harm; or (iii) reckless indifference to the value of human life; or (iv) imputed mens rea (if death occurs from the commission of a felony).
First Degree Murder is a statutory crime (not common law murder). What are the types of First Degree Murder?
(i) a killing with malice aforethought and premeditation and deliberation; (ii) a killing committed by enumerated means; or (iii) in some states, felony murder.
Second Degree Murder is a statutory crime (not common law murder). What are the types of Second Degree Murder?
Any killing with malice aforethought (murder) that does not qualify as first-degree murder.
What’s the Felony-Murder rule?
A defendant may be convicted of felony murder if the killing occurs during the commission or attempted commission of a felony (distinct from the killing itself).
What are the two types of manslaughter?
(i) voluntary manslaughter and (ii) involuntary manslaughter.
