Other Crimes

Question 1

What are the four common-law elements of rape?

Answer 1

Rape is:
(i) Unlawful;
(ii) Sexual intercourse;
(iii) With a female;
(iv) Against her will by force or threat of immediate force.

Note: Rape is a general-intent crime. Additionally, most modern statutes are gender-neutral and have replaced the force requirement with lack of consent.

Question 2

What are the four common-law elements of battery?

Answer 2

Battery is the:
(i) Unlawful;
(ii) Application of force;
(iii) To another person;
(iv) That causes bodily harm to that person or constitutes an offensive touching.

Note: Battery is a general-intent crime.

Question 3

What are the four elements of kidnapping?

Answer 3

Kidnapping is the:
(i) Unlawful;
(ii) Confinement of a person;
(iii) Against that person’s will;
(iv) Coupled with either the movement or the hiding of that person.

Question 4

When is consent obtained by fraud a valid defense to the offense of rape, and when does it provide no grounds for defense?

Answer 4

Consent obtained by fraud in the inducement is a valid defense.

Consent obtained by fraud in factum (i.e., regarding the nature of the act itself) is not a valid defense.

Question 5

Define perjury.

Answer 5

Perjury involves the willful act of falsely promising to tell the truth, either verbally or in writing, about material matters that affect the outcome of a case.

Question 6

What are the elements of kidnapping?

Answer 6

Kidnapping is:

1. the intentional and unlawful confinement of another
2. against that person’s will (e.g., by threat)
3. coupled with either moving or hiding that person.

A perpetrator need only move the victim a short distance—even a few feet—to satisfy the movement element of kidnapping. But if the kidnapping occurs incident to the commission of another offense, then the movement of the victim must be more than is necessary to complete the other offense.* Otherwise, the perpetrator can only be convicted of the other offense—but not kidnapping.

Question 7

What are the elements of false pretenses?

Answer 7

A defendant is guilty of false pretenses if the defendant:
* knowingly misrepresented a past or present material fact
* did so with the specific intent to defraudand
* thereby obtained title to (i.e., ownership of) another’s property.

^ includes title to money

Question 8

What are the elements of forgery?

Answer 8

Forgery is (1) the making of a false writing of apparent legal significance with (2) the specific intent to defraud. “Making” includes creating a document, altering a document, or fraudulently inducing another to sign a document when that person is unaware of the significance of the document.