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Criminal Law > General Principles > Flashcards

General Principles Flashcards

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0
Q

Felony - Defined

A 
Punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year
At Common law includes
Burglary
Arson
Robbery
Rape
Larceny
Murder
Manslaughter
Mayhem
'Bad March Apples Rarely Make Lovely Rude Meals'
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1
Q

Types of Crimes - List 4

A

Felony
Misdemeanor
Malum Prohibitum
Malum In Se

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2
Q

Misdemeanors

A

Crime punishable by imprisonment for less than one year or fine only.

At common law, crimes that are not felonies are misdemeanors

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3
Q

Malum Prohibitum

A

Act that is wrong only because it violates a statute

Speeding, failing to register a firearm

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4
Q

Malum In Se

A

Act that is inherently wrong or evil.

Involves general criminal intent

Moral turpitude

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5
Q

Void for Vagueness Doctrine

A 
Criminal statutes must be specific 
give fair notice 
to a person of ordinary intelligence 
of prohibited conduct 
Due process clause 5th and 14th amendment
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6
Q

Ex Post Facto Law

A

Retroactively makes conduct criminal; or
enforces stricter punishment for the same conduct; or
alters procedural or evidentiary rules that makes conviction easier

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7
Q

Elements of a Crime

A 
Actus reus
Mens rea
concurrence in time
causation
No justification or excuse
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8
Q

Actus Reus

A
  1. voluntary act causing unlawful result
  2. failure to act where there is a duty
  3. vicariously liable for the acts of another
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9
Q

Liability for Omisson

A

D has a legal duty to act
D can physically perform the act

Legal duty to act arises where:
Statutory
contractual
relationship
Voluntary undertaking abandoned
Failure to render aid after creating risk of peril
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10
Q

How a legal duty to act will arise

A

Statute - filing tax returns
contract - failure to rescue for lifegurard
Relationship - parent child; spouses
unreasonable abandonment of a voluntary undertaking rescue
creates risk of peril to another

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11
Q

Reflexive v Habitual Acts and Actus Reus

A

Reflexive, convulsive, unconscious acts are NOT voluntary.

Habitual Acts are voluntary

Actions under duress are voluntary which may raise defense of duress

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12
Q

Various Degrees of Mens Rea (6)

A 
Intentional
Knowing
Purposeful
Willful
Reckless
Criminally Negligent
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13
Q

Intentional Acts

A

desires act to cause result

Knows act is Substantially Certain to produce result

A defendant acts with intent if he acts with purpose or knowledge

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14
Q

Knowing Acts

A

Engaging in conduct he knows with near certainty will produce result.

lack of knowledge can excuse conduct under the defense of mistake of fact

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15
Q

Purposeful Acts

A

Acting with conscious objective to bring about prohibited result

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16
Q

Willful Acts

A

One who acts with purpose or knowledge and moral turpitude.

May imply evil purpose in crimes involving moral turpitude.

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17
Q

Reckless Acts

A

Conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk

Considering nature, purpose, and circumstances, disregard involves a substantial deviation from the conduct of a law abiding person

D was aware conduct creates an unjustified risk but ignores the risk and engages in the conduct anyway.

18
Q

Criminal Negligence - Mens Rea

A

creates a high risk of death or serious bodily injury
without subjective awareness he is doing so,
a reasonable person would be aware of the risk created.

D was not subjectively aware of risk creation, but should have been.

Beyond the tort standard of ordinary negligence

Less than wanton or willful standard

19
Q

Specific Intent - Defined

A

Intended conduct bring about a specific harm.

expects his act will have a particular result,
even if he does not necessarily want a particular result

Honest but unreasonable mistake of fact and voluntary intoxication will nullify specific intent.

20
Q

Specific Intent Crimes - List

A 
Attempt
Solicitation
Conspiracy
Larceny and larceny by trick
False Pretenses
Embezzlement
Forgery
Burglary
Assault
Robbery
Intent to Kill Murder
Voluntary Manslaughter
21
Q

General Intent - defined

A

requires a Desire or state of mind to do a particular act

generally includes recklessness or criminal negligence.

Honest and Reasonable mistake of fact will nullify general intent

22
Q

General Intent Crimes - List

A 
Rape
Battery
Kidnapping
False Imprisonment
Involuntary Manslaughter
Depraved-Heart Murder
*standard is used as a catch all on the exam where conduct does not fall within the categories of specific intent, malice, or strict liability.
23
Q

Malicious Intent

A

Intentional or reckless disregard
obvious or known risk
particularly harmful result will occur

24
Q

Common Law Malice Crimes

A

Arson

Common Law Murder

25
Q

Strict Liability Crimes

A 
Conduct prohibited by statute
Merely doing the prohibited act attaches liability
Involve Regulatory offenses
Public welfare offenses
Morality Crimes
26
Q

Transferred Intent Doctrine

A

D intends criminal conduct against one party
instead harms another
actions bring about unintended and criminal result

27
Q

Concurrence in Time

A

Mens Rea actuates the act or omission

mental state put action the act or omission

ie. Common law burglary requires b&e of a dwelling of another at night with the Intent to commit a felony therein. D does not enter with intent to commit a felony therein and once inside decides to steal, did not have the mens rea for burglary.

28
Q

Criminal Causation

A

Actual Cause - But for test and Substantial Factor test

Proximate Cause - harm was within the risk created by conduct

may be the direct or indirect cause

29
Q

Dependent intervening Cause

A

An intervening force that is a result or response to D’s act
Totally abnormal response to D’s act

D runs over V with car causing non-fatal injuries. V is rushed to hospital and negligently treated and dies. D proximately caused death since negligent treatment will not be considered abnormal.

30
Q

Independent Intervening Cause

A

One that would have occurred regardless of D’s actions

Normally supersedes D’s acts except where it was foreseeable

31
Q

What to look for in criminal cases - theorem

A

A guilty hand
moved by a guilty mind,
sometimes causing a bad result,
absent justification or excuse

32
Q

How the actus reus element may be met

A

A voluntary conscious act causing an unlawful result.

An unlawful result is a result neither justified nor excused.

Reflex acts lack volition therefore not a legal act
Habitual Acts or conditioned responses are legal acts
Acts performed under duress are voluntary acts

33
Q

Mens rea for inchoate crimes

A

Almost always mean purpose only

34
Q

“With intent to”

A

Generally indicates a specific intent crime

35
Q

Nullification of Specific Intent and General Intent Mens Rea

A

An honest but unreasonable mistake of fact or voluntary intoxication will nullify a specific intent.

Only an honest and reasonable mistake of fact will nullify general intent.

36
Q

How malice is proved - express and implied

A

Express:

  1. purpose to kill
  2. knowledge conduct would kill
  3. intent to cause grievous or serious bodily harm w/o specific purpose to kill

Implied:
D caused death as a result of extreme recklessness or criminally negligent conduct manifested by a wanton disregard for the value of human life. Malice may be implied where the killing was unintentional and in the case of felony murder.

37
Q

Acceleration

A

conduct speeds an inevitable death, even briefly,
conduct is actual cause of death
because he accelerated an inevitable result.

38
Q

Proximate Causation

A

Cause in fact must be the proximate cause of harm to be a legal cause.

Proximate cause is when the harm produced was within the OBJECTIVELY FORESEEABLE range of possibilities.

39
Q

Breaking the Causal Chain - Questions to ask

A

Foreseeability.
Was the intervening cause a dependent or responsive cause?
Was it responsive to the initial cause?
totally abnormal responses to act are not foreseeable.

If the cause was independent or mere coincidence it will normally supersede D’s responsibility unless it was foreseeable.

40
Q

What kind of mistake will nullify Specific intent crimes

A

Honest but UNreasonable mistake of fact

41
Q

What kind of mistake will nullify general intent

A

Honest and reasonable mistake of fact

42
Q

Express Malice -
D has the intent to kill another human being.
Intent to kill is established by

A
  1. Acted with purpose to kill
  2. Knowledge conduct would kill
  3. Intent to inflict serious/grievous bodily harm w/o intent to kill
43
Q

Implied Malice:
Causing death as the result of extreme reckless or criminally negligent conduct manifesting in the wanton disregard for human life.

May be established where:

A
  1. Killing was unintentional
  2. Felony Murder.

Unlawful killing + Malice = Murder

Criminal Law (9 decks)

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