voluntary acts & omissions Flashcards
Actus reus
guilty act /hands
voluntary act
“A person is not guilty of an offense unless his liability is based on conduct that includes a voluntary act or the omission to perform an act of which he is physically capable.” – MPC § 2.01(1) [p. 986]
There can be no crime without a criminal act
. Contrast this with strict liability offenses where there can be a conviction in the absence of criminal intent.
The parallel crime would consist solely of an evil thought or bad intention.
act v status
What is the distinction between Robinson v. California and Powell v. Texas?
Robinson: crime was being addicted to the use of narcotics without registering with the city
Powell: crime was being found drunk in public
Robinson was convicted for her status as a drug addict (the mere state of being), whereas Powell was convicted for his action that had public consequences
. Is White, J., correct? Analogy true or false:
alcoholism : drinking :: epilepsy : convulsion
What act
Baker: Cruise-control got stuck causing the car to exceed the speed limit.
What was the voluntary act?
Does skidding on ice into the incorrect lane differ
? Why do “unexpected brake failure and unexpected malfunction of the throttle on an automobile … differ significantly” from these facts?
Even for a strict liability offense, there must be some voluntary act
voluntariness vs intentionality
voluntariness: acts, facts, or states of affairs
traditional defn: a willed muscular movement
alternate defn: an act for which one was free to do otherwise
intentionality: mental states
Automatism
In most states, this is an actus reus defense
. The claim is the defendant lacked “the volition to controlor prevent involuntary acts—those bodily movements which are not controlled by the conscious mind.” –Dunigan, 421 N.E.2d 1319 (Ill. App. Ct. 1981)
Examples include: convulsions, sleep, unconsciousness ,hypnosis, and seizures. Distinct from insanity (which will be a mens rea defense).
Hinkle W Va 1996
Has Hinkle committed a voluntary act or was he acting as an automaton?
Automatism
: not a mental disease or defect
acute, not chronic
more like epilepsy than insanity
Problem with jury instructions: the recklessness must be voluntary
confusion of negligence and recklessness
Decina NY 1956
Δ had knowledge of his own proneness to epileptic seizures and drove anyway.
Statute prohibits “criminal negligence [recklessness] in the operation of a vehicle resulting in death
.” What act was undertaken with recklessness?
Majority: driving with knowledge of condition
Dissent: none (How) does it differ from drunk driving?
Does the fact of a valid license matter?
Failure to act omissions/ requirements
The existence of a legal duty to act
2. The breach of that legal duty
Duty might be based on:
statute
status relationship
contract
assumption of care
venture fraught with danger or illegitimate activity
Jones DC Cir 1962
Child died while in Δ’s custody.
Contested evidence might show:
failure to feed
failure to provide medical care
legal duty to so provide
Failure to instruct that the jury must find the existence of the duty was reversible error
Davis Va 1985
Involuntary manslaughter
recklessness
not providing heat, food, water, other necessaries
proximate cause
pathologist’s conclusions
legal duty
implied contract
Creating dangerous situations
Cali: Why could deliberate refusal to act constitute intent necessary for crime?
A duty can arise even from one’s negligence.
Some positive act of the Δ triggers the legal duty to act that would otherwise be missing.
