General Principles & Elements of a Crime Flashcards
Elements of a Crime
(4 elements)
- Guilty Act
- Guilty Mind
- Causation
- Concurrence
Element ONE of crime
GUILTY ACT
There MUST be a voluntary act (a conscious movement)
A “voluntary act” does include an act that is habitual
A “voluntary act” does not include:
a. a reflex or convulsion
b. conduct during hypnosis, unconsciouness or sleep
c. a bodily movement that is not a product of effort or determination (e.g. someone pushes you)
d. mere thoughts
Element ONE of crime
GUILTY ACT
Failure to Act!
A voluntary act does not include failures to act. However, it does include failure to act when there is a legal duty
When there is a legal duty to act
a. Statute (report child abuse)
b. Contract (lifeguard, caretaker)
c. Relationship (parent child, spouse)
d. Creating the danger
e. Failing to act reasonably after beginning rescure
A person also needs knowledge of the facts that make the duty arise plus the ability to help.
Element TWO of crime
GUILTY MIND - COMMON LAW
One - Intent
(a) Specific Intent - when one wishes or wants to achieve a specific result. One acts with a specific purpose in mind.
(b) General Intent - defendant is generally aware of what he is doing. Specific intent and motive are immaterial.
Note - Jury can usually infer the general intent simply by the actus reus BRIK
B - Battery
R - Rape
I - False Imprisonment
K - Kidnapping
Element TWO of crime
GUILTY MIND COMMON LAW
Two - Malice
Defendant acts recklessly or with intentional disregard of an obvious or known risk thta a particular result will occur
examples - MAlice - murder (other than first degree) and arson
Element TWO of crime
GUILTY MIND - COMMON LAW
Three - Strict Liability
No mental state required
Two categories = Small crimes and Statutory Rape
Small crimes = regulatory offenses like selling contaiminated food, littering, selling alcohol to minors.
Statutory Rape = Defendant has sexual intercourse with a minor.
Element TWO of crime
GUILTY MIND - MODEL PENAL CODE
One - Purposely
It is Defendant’s conscious object to engage in specific conduct or cause a result.
Element TWO of crime
GUILTY MIND - MODEL PENAL CODE
Two - Knowingly
Defendant is aware that he is acting in a certain way or that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause a result.
“Willful Blindness” Generally Not a Good Defense when a person seeks to avoid liability by deliberately avoiding discovering facts that would impose liability (i.e. “knowing transport drugs.”
Element TWO of crime
GUILTY MIND - MODEL PENAL CODE
Three - Recklessly
Defendant consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk and grossly deviates from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in his situation.
NOTE - if no mens rea is tated in the statute, establish that the person acted at least recklessly.
Element TWO of crime
GUILTY MIND - MODEL PENAL CODE
Four & Five - Negligently & Strict Liability
- Negligently - Defendant should have been aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk and grossly deviates from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in his situation.
- Strict Liability - NO mental state required
Element THREE of crime
Causation
(two kinds needed)
- Actual (“But for”) Causation - but for the defendant’s conduct, the result would not have occurred at all or when it did.
-
Proximate Causation - the defendant’s conduct is the proximate cause if the result is a natural and probable consequence of the conduct. One has to only foresee the result - NOT the exact manner in which it happened.
(a) any pre-existing condition irrelevant. Defendant “takes the victim as he finds him.” (Eggshell skull rule).
(b) Intervening acts are not taken into account if they are foreseeable.
Element FOUR of crime
Concurrence
Defendant must have the guilty mind at the time the he commits the guilty act.
Note on transferred intent - if def intends to harm Person A but harms Person B, defendant’s intent will transfer from the victim he intended to harm (Person A) to the actual victim (Person B). See torts outline
