Criminal Law & Procedure Flashcards
Master criminal law and procedure
MPC fault standards
Purposely: conscious object to engage in proscribed conduct
Knowingly/willfully: awareness that contact is of a particular nature or will cause a particular result
Recklessly: knowledge of a substantial and unjustifiable risk and conscious disregard of it
Negligently: failure to be aware of a substantial risk
Accomplice liability
Principal: commits illegal act (or causes innocent agent to do so); liable for principal crime
Accomplice: with intent crime be committed, aids, counsels, or encourages principal to do so; liable for principal crime and other foreseeable crimes
Accessory after the fact: aids another to escape knowing that he’s committed a felony; liable for separate crime of obstructing justice or being an accessory after the fact
- Sometimes exceptions for family members.
Solicitation
- Inciting, counseling, advising, urging, or commanding another to commit a crime
- With the intent that the person solicited commit the crime
Vicarious liability: if party solicited commits requested crime, solicitor also be liable for the crime.
Defense: legislative intent to exempt solicitor (e.g., woman who solicits man to transport across state lines)
Conspiracy
- Agreement with another for an unlawful objective (could be tort)
- MPC: unilateral agreement possible
- Wharton’s rule: if target crime requires two parties (e.g., dueling), no conspiracy w/p three or more parties - Overt act in furtherance of objective (not required at common law)
- Specific intent to (i) enter agreement and (ii) achieve objective
Vicarious Liability: All conspirators liable for any crime committed by co-conspirator if crime (i) reasonably foreseeable and (ii) in reasonable furtherance of the conspiracy.
Conspiracy - defenses
Factual impossibility: no defense
Legal impossibility: defense
Withdrawal: must timely (i.e., before crime) communicate to all co-conspirators that no longer a participant
- Conspirator not liable for subsequent crimes but remains liable for conspiracy, unless, under MPC, withdrawal thwarts conspiracy
Attempt
- Act of perpetration
- Trad.: proximity test – “dangerously close”
- MPC: “substantial step” - With the intent to commit the target crime
Attempt - defenses
Factual impossibility: no defense Legal impossibility: defense Abandonment -- Trad.: no defense MPC: fully voluntary and complete abandonment is a defense
Legal and factual impossibility
Legal impossibility: acts defendant intends to commit are not a crime in the jurisdiction
Factual impossibility: acts defendant intended to commit would be a crime, if the facts were as defendant believed them to be
Insanity defenses
M’Naghten: as a result of mental defect, (1) did not know the wrongfulness of his act OR (2) could not understand the nature and quality of his acts.
- Focuses on your HEAD
Irresistible impulse: as a result of mental defect, was unable to control conduct or conform conduct to the law.
- Focuses on body or, for ease of remembering, SHOULDERS
ALI/MPC: lacked substantial capacity either (1) to appreciate wrongfulness of conduct or (2) to conform conduct to requirements of law
- Focuses on HEAD and SHOULDERS
Durham/NH: crime was the product of a mental disease or defect.
Intoxication defenses
Voluntary: defense to specific intent crime if prevents formation of required intent
Involuntary (unknowing, under duress, pursuant to medical advice): treated as mental illness; may be defense to all crimes
Infancy defense
Under age of 7: No criminal liability.
Between 7 and 14: Rebuttable presumption of no criminal liability.
Over 14: Treated as an adult.
- On essay, note that all states have own juvenile justice system and take defendants on their own facts and circumstances.
Justification - self-defense - non-deadly force
May use force reasonably necessary to protect from the imminent unlawful use of force against oneself; no duty to retreat
Justification - self-defense - deadly force - in general
May use deadly force if:
- Without fault
- Confronted with unlawful force
- Threatened with imminent death or great bodily harm
- MINORITY: Retreat, unless –
i. Attack is in victim’s home
ii. Attack occurs while victim making lawful arrest
iii. Attacker is robbing victim (lecture: or committing any violent felony)
Justification - self-defense - deadly force - use by initial aggressor
May use deadly force if:
- Effectively withdraw and communicate to other desire to do so
- Initial victim suddenly escalates and no chance to withdraw/retreat (if chance, must take it)
Justification - defense of others
Can use deadly force if reasonable and necessary to defend another
If mistaken as to 3P’s right to self defense –
Majority: Reasonable mistake allowed
Minority: Reasonable mistake not allowed; can use no more force than 3P allowed
Justification - crime prevention
A police officer or private person may use deadly force if reasonably necessary to prevent the commission of a dangerous felony; reasonable mistake allowed
Justification - apprehension/arrest
A police officer or private person may use deadly force if reasonably necessary to prevent apprehend/arrest a dangerous felon
Private citizen not entitled to reasonable mistake; may use deadly force only if person apprehended with deadly force actually guilty
Justification - defense of dwelling/property
Generally, cannot use deadly force to protect home or other property.
- Exception: can use protect occupants of home from violent intruder or if intruder intends to commit a felony inside
Criminal homicide - in general
Unlawful killing of another human caused by the defendant
- Murder: homicide with malice aforethought
- Voluntary manslaughter: murder with adequate provocation
- Involuntary manslaughter: homicide without malice
Criminal homicide - death “caused by” defendant
- Defendant acted alone to cause death.
- Defendant’s omission caused death and defendant by statute, contract, relationship or voluntary undertaking had a duty to act.
- Act of a third party contributed to cause death.
- Death was a foreseeable result of defendant’s act or omission.
