GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Question 1

General Principles Checklist

Answer 1

• Elements of a Crime
  
  • Actus Reus
    
    • Voluntary
    • Failure to Act
  • Mens Rea
    
    • Specific Intent
      
      • Specific Intent Crimes
    • General Intent
      
      • General Intent Crimes
    • Malice
      
      • Malice Crimes
    • Strict Liability
      
      • Strict Liability
    • Transferred Intent Doctrine
  • Concurrence
  • Causation
• No Defenses
• Merger Doctrine

Question 2

Elements of a Crime

Answer 2

Criminal liability is established when the following elements are met:

(1) actus reus
(2) mens rea
(3) concurrence
(4) causation

Question 3

Actus Reus

Answer 3

Actus reus is satisfied when there is

(i) a voluntary and physical act or
(ii) failure to act that causes an unlawful result

Question 4

Voluntary

Answer 4

An act is voluntary if the defendant consciously exercised his free will

Question 5

Failure to Act

Answer 5

Generally, there is no duty to act. However, a legal duty to act may arise by statute, contract, special relationship, assumption of duty, or creation of peril.

Question 6

Mens Rea

Answer 6

The defendant must have the requisite mental state or guilty mind

Question 7

Specific Intent

Answer 7

Specific Intent crimes require that the defendant act for the specific purpose of accomplishing an unlawful result

• First degree murder
• inchoate crimes: conspiracy, attempt, solicitation
• assault with intent to commit a battery
• theft crimes: larceny, larceny by trick, robbery, burglary
• embezzlement, forgery, false pretenses

Question 8

General Intent

Answer 8

General intent crimes require that the defendant intend to commit an unlawful act

• Battery
• Kidnapping
• Rape
• False imprisonment

Question 9

Malice

Answer 9

Malice exists when the defendant acts in reckless disregard of an obvious or high risk or harm

(Arson, common law murder)

Question 10

Strict Liability

Answer 10

Mens rea is not required for strict liability crimes. The defendant is criminally liable for merely committing the act

(statutory offenses, morality crimes)

Question 11

Transferred Intent Doctrine

Answer 11

Under the transferred intent doctrine, if the defendant intents to commit a crime against one victim but unintentionally commits the crime against another victim instead, the intent will be transferred.

*only applies to completed crimes, not attempted crimes. Most commonly applied to homicide, battery, arson

Question 12

Concurrence

Answer 12

The defendant’s actus reus and mens rea must exist concurrently

Question 13

Causation

Answer 13

The defendant’s conduct must be both the (1) actual and (2) proximate cause of the unlawful result

Question 14

No Defenses

Answer 14

If all other elements of a crime are met, and there are no defenses or justifications for the defendant’s conduct, the defendant is criminally liable

Question 15

Merger Doctrine

Answer 15

Under the merger doctrine, a defendant cannot be held criminally liable for multiple separate crimes if the crimes merge into each other. The merger doctrine applies when either (i) lesser-included crimes merge into greater crimes or (ii) an inchoate crime merges into a completed crime