Essential Elements of a Crime Flashcards
Elements of a Crime
A crime almost always requires proof of:
- A physical act (actus reus)
- A mental state (mens rea) AND
- A concurrence of the act and the mental state
A crime may also require proof of a result and causation
Physical Act Requirement
A defendant must have either performed a voluntary physical act or failed to act under circumstances imposing a legal duty to act.
An act is a bodily movement.
When does a failure to act give rise to liability?
The defendant has knowledge of the facts giving rise to the duty to act and
It is reasonably possible to perform the duty
What are the five legal duties to act?
- By statute
- By contract
- The relationship between the parties
- The voluntary assumption of care by the D for the victim
- The defendant created the peril for the victim
What is specific intent?
A crime may require not only the doing of the act, but also the doing of it with a specific intent or objective. This speaks to the manner in which the crime was committed
What are the 11 specific intent crimes
Solicitation
Conspiracy
Attempt
First degree premeditated murder
Assault
Larceny
Embezzlement
False pretenses
Robbery
Burglary
Forgery
Mnemonic: Students Can Always Fake A Laugh, Even For Ridiculous Bar Facts
Malice Requirement for Common Law Murder and Arson
A reckless disregard of an obvious or high risk that the particular harmful result will occur
General Intent Requirement
General intent means the defendant has an awareness of all factors constituting the crime; in other words, the defendant must be aware that they are acting in the proscribed way and that any required attendant circumstances exist.
Crimes include battery, rape, kidnapping, and false imprisonment
Strict Liability Offenses
One that does not require awareness of all of the factors constituting the crime; guilty by the mere fact that they committed the act.
Selling liquor to minors and statutory rape are 2 examples.
MPC Categories of Intent
Purposely: A person acts purposely when their conscious object is to engage in certain conduct/cause a certain result
Knowingly: A person acts knowingly with respect to the nature of their conduct when they are aware that their conduct is of a particular nature or that certain circumstances exist. They are also deemed to be aware when they know of a high probability that they exist and deliberately avoid learning the truth or when they know that their conduct will necessarily or very likely cause a particular result.
Recklessly: A person acts recklessly when they consciously disregard a substantial and unjustifiable risk that circumstances exist or that a prohibited result will follow, and this disregard constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of case of a reasonable person
MPC Criminal Negligence
A person acts negligently when they fail to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk, where such failure is a substantial deviation from the standard of care. An objective standard is used to determine whether a person acted negligently.
Transferred Intent
The defendant can be liable under the doctrine of transferred intent when they intend the harm that is actually caused, but to a different victim or object.
It applies to homicide, battery, and arson. It does not apply to attempt.
Concurrence of Mental Fault with Physical Act
The defendant must have had the intent necessary for the crime at the time they committed the act constituting the crime, and the intent must have prompted the act.
Causation
Thus, when a crime is defined to require not only conduct but also a specified result (such as death), the defendant’s conduct must be both the cause-in-fact and the proximate cause of the specified result.
