Criminal Law Principles Flashcards
Actus Reus Definition
The act required to commit a given crime.
- A required component of every common law crime, along with mesns rea
To satisfy the actus reus requirement:
The D must perfrom a voluntary physical act, i.e. a voluntary bodily movement.
Actus Reus
A failure to act can constitute actus reus if:
- D had a specific legal duty to act;
- D had knowledge of facts giving rise to the duty; and
- It was reasonably possible for D to perfrom the duty
Mens Rea Definition
The mental element required at the time a crime was committed.
- A required component of every common law law, along with actus reus
Forms of Mens Rea
3
- Specific Intent
- General Intent
- Malice
Forms of Mens Rea
Specific Intent
D must have a specific intent or objective to commit the given crime.
- Specific intent must always be proven; never inferred.
- Mistake of fact and voluntary intoxication are available defenses
Forms of Mens Rea
General Intent
D must be aware of his actions and any attendeant circumstacnes
- may be inferred from the act itself
- Most crimes are general intent crimes
Forms of Mens Rea
Malice
D acts with reckless disregard or undertakes an obvious risk, from which a harmful result is expected
- applies to arson and common law murder.
Forms of Mens Rea
Strict Liability
No mens rea required
- No intent or awareness is required for strict libility crimes
- Arises with adminstrative, regulatory, or morality crimes.
MPC
Purposely
(subjective standard)
A person acts purposely when his conscious objective is to engage in certain conduct or casuse a certain result.
MPC
Knowingly
(subjective standard)
A person acts knowingly when he is aware that his conduct is of a particular nature or knows that his conduct will necessarily or very likey cause a particular result.
MPC
Recklessly
(subjective standard)
A person acts recklessly when he knows of a substantial and unjustifiable risk and consciously disregard it.
MPC
Negligence
(objective)
A person acts negligently when he fails to become aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk.
Concurrence Requirment
D’s criinal act must occur concurrently with the requisite mens rea for the crime (i.e. mens rea and actus reus must exist simultaneously)
- E.g. D plans on murdering victim at her home – D is not guilty of murder if he accidentally runs over victim with his car before reaching her house.
Causation Requirment Definition
D’s conduct must be both the cause-in-fact and the proximate cause fo the crime committed.
Causation Requirment
Cause in Fact
But for D’s conduct, the result would not have occurred.
- For homicide and manslaughter, any act by D that hastens victim’s death is a cause-in-fact, even if death is already inevitable.
Causation Requirment
Proximate Cause
The actual result is the natural and probable consequence of D’s conduct, even if it did not occur exaclty as exprected.
Superseding factors _____ the chian of causation.
Break
Intervening acts must be entirely _____ to shield D from liability.
unforeseeable
E.g. Victim’s refusal of medicical treatment, third-party medicial negligence – both are foreseeable and D is liable.
Specific Intent Crimes
10
- Attempt
- intent to complete the crime
- Larceny & Robbery
- intent to permanently deprive
- Forgery
- intent to defraud
- False Pretenses
- intent to defraud
- Embezzlement
- intent to defraud
- Conspiracy
- intent to aid or encourage completion of the crime
- Assault
- intent to commit battery
- Burglary
- intent to commit a felony in another’s dwelling
- First-degree Murder
- premeditation and/or deliberation
- Solicitation
- intent to have solicitee commit the solicited crime
Accomplice Definition
One who aids. encourages, or counsels, or counsels principals committing a crime, with the intent to encourage its commission.
For acomplice liability, mere ____ at the crime is not enough, there must be some _____.
presence
assistance
Accomplice Liability
Accomplice is liablee for the origional crime and other freseeable crimes committed by the principles in its furtherance.
Defenses & Exceptions to Accomplice Liability
Withdrawl
D can effectively withdrawl before the crime is committed or becomes unstoppable.
- D must repudiate his encouragement and/or neutralize his initial aid.
Defenses & Exceptions to Accomplice Liability
Member of a Protected Class
Those protected by a criminal statute are not liable as accomplices.
- E.g. Minor-victims in statutory rape cases are not liable as accomplices to statutory rape.
Defenses & Exceptions to Accomplice Liability
Parties not provided for in the statute
e.g. a purchaser of drugs cannot be an accomplice to the seller.
Accessory after the fact
Different than accomplice liability.
- involves helping someone escape or avoid apprehension.
- gives rise to a seperate, lessor change of obstruction of justice.
General Intent Crimes
4
- Battery
- Rape
- Kidnapping
- False Imprisonment
Specific Intent Crimes
10
- Attempt
- Larceny & Robbery
- Forgery
- False pretenses
- Embezzlement
- Conspiracy
- Assault
- Berglary
- First-Degree Murder
- Solicitation
Malice
2
- Common law murder (malice aforethought )
- Arson
Strict Liability
4
- Statutory Rape
- Regulatory crimes
- Adminstrative crimes
- Morality crimes (bigamy, polygamy)
Transferred Intent Doctrine Definition
D may be held liable if he intends the harm causes, but causes it to a different victim or object than intended.
Transferred intent often applies to ___, ___, and ___.
Homicide, battery, arson
Transferred intent does not apply to ___.
Attempt
Defenses and mitigating circumstances may also be transferred.
Ture
What are the effects of the transfrred intent doctine?
D is usually charged with two crimes:
- Attempt (to commit the origionally intended crime)
- The actual resulting crime.
e.g. D intends to shoot A, but kills B; D can be charged with the attempted murder of A and the actual murder of B
Merger does not apply because there are different victims.
Merger Definition
Merger concerns the relationship between either:
- an inchoate offernse and its completed substantive offense; or
- an offense and its lesser included offense
When merger applies, the two offenses merge, prohibiting D from being prosecuted for ____ crimes.
Both
Inchoate Offenses only apply to ____ and ____.
Soliitation and attempt
Merger prevents D from being convicted of both solicitation/attempt and the ____ offense
Target
e.g. D completes a berulary after attempting it; D cannot be convicted of both attempt and berglary
Merger does not apply to ______.
Conspiracy
- E.g. D can be convicted of conspiracy to commit a given crime and the crime itself.
D cannot be convicted of a targer cime and a ____ ___ offene.
Lesser included
A lesser included offense consists of the same but not all elements as the _____ crime.
Greater
- E.g. D’s robbery accomplice kills V during robbery; D can be convicted of felony murder but not the lesser included robbery offense.
Crimes with different ____ never merger.
Victims
