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Criminal Law Critical Pass > Criminal Law Principles > Flashcards

Criminal Law Principles Flashcards

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1
Q

Actus Reus Definition

A

The act required to commit a given crime.

  • A required component of every common law crime, along with mesns rea
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2
Q

To satisfy the actus reus requirement:

A

The D must perfrom a voluntary physical act, i.e. a voluntary bodily movement.

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3
Q

Actus Reus

A failure to act can constitute actus reus if:

A
  1. D had a specific legal duty to act;
  2. D had knowledge of facts giving rise to the duty; and
  3. It was reasonably possible for D to perfrom the duty
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4
Q

Mens Rea Definition

A

The mental element required at the time a crime was committed.

  • A required component of every common law law, along with actus reus
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5
Q

Forms of Mens Rea

3

A
  1. Specific Intent
  2. General Intent
  3. Malice
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6
Q

Forms of Mens Rea

Specific Intent

A

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
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7
Q

Forms of Mens Rea

General Intent

A

D must be aware of his actions and any attendeant circumstacnes

  • may be inferred from the act itself
  • Most crimes are general intent crimes
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8
Q

Forms of Mens Rea

Malice

A

D acts with reckless disregard or undertakes an obvious risk, from which a harmful result is expected

  • applies to arson and common law murder.
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9
Q

Forms of Mens Rea

Strict Liability

A

No mens rea required

  • No intent or awareness is required for strict libility crimes
  • Arises with adminstrative, regulatory, or morality crimes.
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10
Q

MPC

Purposely

(subjective standard)

A

A person acts purposely when his conscious objective is to engage in certain conduct or casuse a certain result.

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11
Q

MPC

Knowingly

(subjective standard)

A

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.

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12
Q

MPC

Recklessly

(subjective standard)

A

A person acts recklessly when he knows of a substantial and unjustifiable risk and consciously disregard it.

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13
Q

MPC

Negligence

(objective)

A

A person acts negligently when he fails to become aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk.

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14
Q

Concurrence Requirment

A

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.
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15
Q

Causation Requirment Definition

A

D’s conduct must be both the cause-in-fact and the proximate cause fo the crime committed.

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16
Q

Causation Requirment

Cause in Fact

A

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.
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17
Q

Causation Requirment

Proximate Cause

A

The actual result is the natural and probable consequence of D’s conduct, even if it did not occur exaclty as exprected.

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18
Q

Superseding factors _____ the chian of causation.

A

Break

19
Q

Intervening acts must be entirely _____ to shield D from liability.

A

unforeseeable

E.g. Victim’s refusal of medicical treatment, third-party medicial negligence – both are foreseeable and D is liable.

20
Q

Specific Intent Crimes

10

A
  1. Attempt
    1. intent to complete the crime
  2. Larceny & Robbery
    1. intent to permanently deprive
  3. Forgery
    1. intent to defraud
  4. False Pretenses
    1. intent to defraud
  5. Embezzlement
    1. intent to defraud
  6. Conspiracy
    1. intent to aid or encourage completion of the crime
  7. Assault
    1. intent to commit battery
  8. Burglary
    1. intent to commit a felony in another’s dwelling
  9. First-degree Murder
    1. premeditation and/or deliberation
  10. Solicitation
    1. intent to have solicitee commit the solicited crime
21
Q

Accomplice Definition

A

One who aids. encourages, or counsels, or counsels principals committing a crime, with the intent to encourage its commission.

22
Q

For acomplice liability, mere ____ at the crime is not enough, there must be some _____.

A

presence

assistance

23
Q

Accomplice Liability

A

Accomplice is liablee for the origional crime and other freseeable crimes committed by the principles in its furtherance.

24
Q

Defenses & Exceptions to Accomplice Liability

Withdrawl

A

D can effectively withdrawl before the crime is committed or becomes unstoppable.

  • D must repudiate his encouragement and/or neutralize his initial aid.
25
Q

Defenses & Exceptions to Accomplice Liability

Member of a Protected Class

A

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.
26
Q

Defenses & Exceptions to Accomplice Liability

Parties not provided for in the statute

A

e.g. a purchaser of drugs cannot be an accomplice to the seller.

27
Q

Accessory after the fact

A

Different than accomplice liability.

  • involves helping someone escape or avoid apprehension.
  • gives rise to a seperate, lessor change of obstruction of justice.
28
Q

General Intent Crimes

4

A
  1. Battery
  2. Rape
  3. Kidnapping
  4. False Imprisonment
29
Q

Specific Intent Crimes

10

A
  1. Attempt
  2. Larceny & Robbery
  3. Forgery
  4. False pretenses
  5. Embezzlement
  6. Conspiracy
  7. Assault
  8. Berglary
  9. First-Degree Murder
  10. Solicitation
30
Q

Malice

2

A
  1. Common law murder (malice aforethought )
  2. Arson
31
Q

Strict Liability

4

A
  1. Statutory Rape
  2. Regulatory crimes
  3. Adminstrative crimes
  4. Morality crimes (bigamy, polygamy)
32
Q

Transferred Intent Doctrine Definition

A

D may be held liable if he intends the harm causes, but causes it to a different victim or object than intended.

33
Q

Transferred intent often applies to ___, ___, and ___.

A

Homicide, battery, arson

34
Q

Transferred intent does not apply to ___.

A

Attempt

35
Q

Defenses and mitigating circumstances may also be transferred.

A

Ture

36
Q

What are the effects of the transfrred intent doctine?

A

D is usually charged with two crimes:

  1. Attempt (to commit the origionally intended crime)
  2. 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.

37
Q

Merger Definition

A

Merger concerns the relationship between either:

  • an inchoate offernse and its completed substantive offense; or
  • an offense and its lesser included offense
38
Q

When merger applies, the two offenses merge, prohibiting D from being prosecuted for ____ crimes.

A

Both

39
Q

Inchoate Offenses only apply to ____ and ____.

A

Soliitation and attempt

40
Q

Merger prevents D from being convicted of both solicitation/attempt and the ____ offense

A

Target

e.g. D completes a berulary after attempting it; D cannot be convicted of both attempt and berglary

41
Q

Merger does not apply to ______.

A

Conspiracy

  • E.g. D can be convicted of conspiracy to commit a given crime and the crime itself.
42
Q

D cannot be convicted of a targer cime and a ____ ___ offene.

A

Lesser included

43
Q

A lesser included offense consists of the same but not all elements as the _____ crime.

A

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.
44
Q

Crimes with different ____ never merger.

A

Victims

Criminal Law Critical Pass (13 decks)

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