Criminal Law/Procedure Flashcards
Murder causation
Proximate (foreseeable from D conduct) and actual (but-for)
Accomplice liability statement (majority and MPC)
A person is an accomplice in the commission of an offense if they intentionally assist with the crime and act with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of the offense.
Incohate crimes
Solicitation, conspiracy, attempt
Withdrawal of conspiracy
CL: impossible b/c conspiracy is completed the moment the agreement is made
MPC: prior to the commission of any overt act by communicating to all other co-conspirators or by informing law enforcement
–> post-overt act: withdraw by stopping the crime
Attempt
Specific intent to commit a criminal act + substantial step
Substantial step test
Act tends to effect the commission of a crime. Preparation does NOT count
Second degree murder
Unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought.
Malice aforethought
Intent to kill, intent to inflict serious bodily injury, reckless indifference to human life (depraved heart), or felony murder (BARRK)
KSDF
Felony murder third party culpability
Agency thy: D only culpable for crimes of agents
Minority: D culpable for all
Voluntary manslaughter
Intentional killing but not murder. Heat of passion or xtreme emotional disturbance.
Test: situation in which most people would act without thinking & without time to cool off
Imperfect self defense is tied to this. Usually the answer for getting murder charge reduced to VM
Involuntary manslaughter
Unintentional killing via criminal negligence. Criminal negligence = gross negligence that puts another at significant risk of serious bodily injury or death.
Battery
Unlawful application of force. GI crime. Voluntary intoxication + unreasonable mistake of fact are NOT defenses
Assault (2)
Attempted battery (SI) and fear of farm (GI)
Larceny
Trespassory taking and carrying away of the personal property of another with intent to permanently deprive that person of the property
Continuing trespass rule
If initial taking is not trespassory b/c no intent, D can still develop the intent later and the initial taking will be trespassory
Robbery
taking of personal property of another by force of threat or imminent death or injury, with intent to permanently deprive
Extortion
obtaining property by threat of harm or exposing information
CL Arson
Malicious burning of the dwelling of another. Requires fire, damage to structure, be a dwelling, not your own house
Insanity defense
M’Naghten: D did not know the nature of the act or did not know the act was wrong b/c of mental disease/defect
Irresistible impulse: D is preventing from controlling themselves b/c of mental disease/defect
Durham: but-for
MPC: D did not have capacity to appreciate wrongfulness or conform to the law b/c of mental disease or defect
When is intoxication a valid defense?
Voluntary: only to SI crimes if it prevents D from forming MR
Involuntary: GI, SI, malice when it negates MR
When is duress a defense?
All crimes except intentional murder
When is mistake of fact a defense?
GI: reasonable mistakes (maybe)
SI: all mistakes, even unreasonable
Blockburger test
Use if D’s conduct may be prosecuted as 2+ crimes. Each crime must require proof of an element that the other does not in order to be considered a separate offense.
How does D invoke 5A?
Specific, unambiguous statement asserting right to remain silent. Silence does NOT invoke the privilege.
When does 2XJ attach?
When jury is impaneled and sworn in, or when first witness is sworn in (bench)
Arrest warrants imply…
Authorized entry into the arrestee’s home
Warrant requirement exceptions
SAD SPACES: Search incident to arrest, administrative warrant, stop and frisk, plain view, automobile, consent, exigent circumstances, special govt. purpose
Capital sentencing schemes are unconstitutional if…
(1) they allow a jury to render an advisory sentence of death w/o finding of aggravating circumstance AND (2) they permit the judge to make that finding independently
Solicitation is impossible where…
(1) crime requires more than 1 participant, (2) statute imposes liability on more than one participant (buyer or seller), or (3) soliciting party is the type of person the statute protects (i.e., “illegal to sell drugs” protects potential buyers)
2XJ does not apply where…
Jury not sworn in yet, mistrial, appeal, lesser offense, or new facts for worse offense
When does 6A attach?
All critical stages of a prosecution after the formal proceedings have begun. 6A does not attach prior to formal charges and is only tied to the specific offense.
5A lets you have a lawyer when…
you are under custodial interrogation. Once custodial interrogation begins, anything D says is inadmissible until they are Mirandized.
5A invocations
Right to counsel and right to remain silent: specific, unambiguous statement
Imperfect self defense
Imperfect self-defense occurs when the person claiming self-defense unjustifiably kills her attacker, such as when she honestly but unreasonably believes self-defense is required.
The rule reduces the charge from murder to voluntary manslaughter
Conspiracy but people don’t know each other
Yes. A conspiracy can exist
Involuntary manslaughter rule statement - CL and MPC
An unintentional homicide committed by the defendant’s criminal negligence is involuntary manslaughter. Criminal negligence is grossly negligent conduct that puts another person at a significant risk of injury or death. Criminal negligence is a substantial deviation from “ordinary negligence”—i.e., the standard of care a reasonable person would have used. But criminal negligence is less than the extremely reckless conduct required for depraved-heart murder.
By contrast, involuntary manslaughter in some jurisdictions and under the Model Penal Code (MPC) only requires the defendant’s conduct to have been reckless. Reckless conduct is defined as “a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in the actor’s situation.” And this second approach requires the defendant to have been actually aware of the risk his conduct posed. For a finding of involuntary manslaughter, there must be a causal connection between the defendant’s criminally negligent or unlawful act and the death.
