Criminal Law Flashcards
When Does a state aquire jurisdiction over a crime?
Conduct or result happend in that state.
What is the general rule on merger of crimes?
No merger of crimes. BUT solicitation and attempt do merge into the substantive offense. Thus, if you have completed a crime, you cannot be convicted of attempting to commit that crime.
NOTE - conspiracy does not merge.
What are the elements of crimes generally?
Can an omission be an act?
Act (actus reus) - any bodily movement which must be voluntary.
Mental state (mens rea)
Concurrence - pyhsical act and mental act existed at the same time
Harmful result and causation - a harmful result caused by the D’s act.
Yes. Although there is no duty to rescue, a legal duty to act can arise in (a) by statute (b) by k (c) relationship between parties _(4)*** voluntarily assume duty of care than fail to adequately perform (5) creation of peril._
What are the four common law mental states?
What are the model penal code mental states?
- Specific intent
- Students can always fake a laugh even for ridiculous bar facts.
- Qualify for additional defenses not available for other crimes: voluntary intoxication and unreasonable mistake of fact.
- Malice - Murder and arson - requires reckless indifference.
- General intent - General awareness that she is acting in a manner that would be prohibited law.
- Strict liability - No intent required - TIP - if you see regulatory, administrative or moratility areas and you dont see any adverbs in the statutues such as knowinguly, willfully, or intentionally, then it is no intent.
REMEMBER - INTENT CAN BE TRANSFERRED - Look for first degree murder and attempted murder hypos.
(1) Purposely - Conscience objective (2) knowingly - Aware that conduct will likely cause result (3) recklessly - conscience disregard subsantial and unjustifiable risk 4) negligently - fails to be aware of unjustifiable and substnaital risk.
What is concurrence and caustation?
Concourrence - necessary intent must have existed at the time act was commited.
Causation - When a crime requires conduct AND a specified result, conduct must be both cause in fact and proximate cause of specified result.
Accomplice liablity - parties to a crime under common law are?
Parties under modern statutes? ***
Principals in the first - engaged in the act
Principals in the second - aid, advice, encourage or are present
Accessories before the fact - aid, advice, or encourage but are not present
Accessories after the fact - assist after the crime
Principal : one, who, with the requisite mental state, actually engages in the act or omission
Accopmlice - aids, advices, or enoucrges the principal in comission. - ACTIVE PARTICPATION.
Accesosry after the fact - recieves, comforts, or assists another knowing that he has commited a felony.
What is the mental state required for accomplice liability?
Scope of liability?
How can an accomplice withdraw?
(1) intent to assist (2) intent that princiapl actually commits the crime.
Responsible for crimes she commited or aided/advised/encourged and for any other crimes in the course of commiting the crimes contemplated if they were probable and foreseeable.
encouraged - repudiate
Aided - neutrilize, such as retrieving materials given
or contact the police.
What is required to prove a conspiracy? what are the two approaches?
Is factual impossiblity a defense?
Can you withdraw?
Conspiracy - (1) agreement, (2) intent to agree (3) intent to pursue an unlawful objective. - REMEMBER, no merger here. Agreement need not be expressed, and can be inferred from conduct.
Two approaches to conspiracy - bilateral - if one party is feigning agreement, other person cannot be guilty of conspiracy.
Unilateral under MPC - only one person must have genuine criminal intent.
Overt act requirment - there must be, in addition to agreement, an overt act that furthers conspiracy. - any little fact, like preperation, will work.
Minority rule - the agreement, standing alone, is enough. - this is the common law rule.
No.
No - even if adequate, you cant protect yourself from liability for conspiracy itself, but can for subsequent crimes through affirmitive and voluntary act that notifies other members you are withdrawing.
What is solicitation?
Is factual impossibliity a defense?
asking someone to commit a crime. - NOTE: it is not necessary that the other party agrees to commiting the crime because if they agree, it becomes conspiracy.
No.
What are the elements of ATTEMPT?
Is abandonment a defense to attempt?
Is impossibliity a defense?
(1) specific intent and (2) overt act in furtherance of the crime. Overt act must be a substantial step in furtherance, more than mere preperation.
Once you have taken the substantial step, abandonment is never a denfense under the common law. However, under MPC, it is a defense if it is fully voluntary and a complete renunciation of criminal purpose.
Legal - yes. Factual - no.
What is common law murder?
Types of first degree murder?
Unlawful killiing, of another, with malice aforethought. Such a mindstate exists if (1) intent to kill (2) intent to commit a felony (3) intent to commit great bodily harm or (4) reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life.
- Premeditated killing
- intent or knowledge his conduct would cause death.
- Felony murder
- Homicide of a police officer if
- D knew he was law enforcement
- Victim acting in the line of duty.
Second degree murder
A killing dones with reckless indifference to unjustifiably high risk to human life or murders that are not classified as first degree.
Felony murder is what degree?
What is the rule?
What are the defenses?
First.
Any murder, even accidential, commited during the course of a felony. - Burglery, arson, roberry, rape, kidnap.
(1) if D has a defense to the underlying felony, then she has a defense to felony murder.
(2) the felony they are commiting must be a felony other than the killing
(3) Deaths must be foreseeable
(4) deaths caused during fleeing are felony murders. But once you reach temorary place of safety, they are no longer FM.
(5) at common law, D is not liable for death of a co- felon as a result of resistance by the victim or the police.
Voluntary manslaugher?
What is the imperfect self defense doctrine?
(1) Heat of passion resulting from adeuqate provocation by V
(2) provocation must be one that would arouse sudden and intense passion in the mind of ordinary person
(3) no suffiicnet time for a reasonable person to cool
(4) D in fact, did not cool.
(a) honest (b) but unreasonable belief that life is in imminent danger will reduce murder to manslaighter - only some states recognize.
Involuntary manslaugher
(1) killing of criminal negligence or
(2) misdemenor manslaughter.
