Criminal Law Flashcards
False Pretenses vs. Larceny by Trick
The main difference between false pretenses and larceny is that a thief who secures TITLE is guilty of false pretenses while someone who secures POSSESSION through fraud is guilty of larceny by trick.
Withdrawal from Conspiracy
Under the common law rule, withdrawal is not a valid defense to a charge of conspiracy because the crime is committed as soon as the parties agreed to commit the crime.
Withdrawal is, however, a defense to crimes committed in furtherance of the conspiracy after the defendant has withdrawn from the conspiracy.
AKA, you can’t withdraw from conspiracy itself, but you can withdraw from everything that comes after conspiracy.
Depraved Heart Murder
Second-degree. Defined as an unintentional killing resulting from conduct involving a wanton indifference to human life and a conscious disregard of an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury.
Unlike involuntary manslaughter, depraved-heart murder involves extremely negligent conduct (or recklessness) that is of a higher degree than gross or criminal negligence (the standard for involuntary manslaughter).
Examples: Forcing someone to play Russian Roulette.
Elements/Forms of Malice Intent
Intent to kill, intent to seriously injure, and wanton and willful misconduct.
M’Naghten Test
Test for insanity.
∆ will be relieved from criminal liability when they are suffering from a mental defect or disability to the extent that they don’t know the nature and quality of what they’re doing; or if they did know, that they did not know that what they were doing was wrong.
ELI5: They don’t know what they’re doing, or didn’t know it was wrong.
Model Penal Code Test for Insanity
“A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.”
Most broad of the tests for insanity.
ELI5: They didn’t know what they did was illegal.
Irresistible Impulse Test for Insanity
When, even though the defendant could tell right from wrong, he was subject to “the duress of such mental disease that he had lost the power to choose between right and wrong.”
Entrapment
Majority View — a defendant will be exonerated under the defense of entrapment if: (1) the commission of the crime was induced by a government agent; and (2) the defendant was NOT predisposed to commit the crime.
“Predisposed” means that the defendant was ready and willing to commit the crime whenever an opportunity was afforded.
Legal Impossibility
Legal impossibility is a full defense to any crime or attempted crime.
Refers to a situation where the defendant plans to do or does something that he believes to be a crime but is not a crime.
Common Law vs. MPC/Modern Attempt
At common law, the crime of attempt required that the defendant take the last act necessary to achieve the intended result.
Under modern law and the MPC, this has been replaced by a requirement that the defendant commit a significant overt act.
Continuing Trespass
A person who takes another’s property without authorization and intending only to use it temporarily before returning to its owner may be guilty of larceny if they later change their mind and decide not to return the property.
The initial taking must be wrongful, i.e. without the owner’s authorization.
Borrowing can turn into stealing if the owner didn’t know they were borrowing.
Standard of Proof for Affirmative Defenses
A defendant has the burden of proving their affirmative defense at trial by a preponderance of the evidence.
This does not relieve the prosecution of proving each element of the offense charged beyond a reasonable doubt.
Aggravated Battery
The elements of battery, plus:
- The cause of bodily injury, OR
- The use of a deadly weapon, OR
- A special category of victim (like a child, pregnant woman, or police officer).
Aggravated battery is a felony.
Defense of a Third Person
Majority: Looks at the reasonableness of the defendant’s belief that the 3rd person was being unlawfully attacked. Can still claim defense even if reasonably mistaken.
Minority: The defendant steps into the shoes of the victim, and therefore only has the same rights to self-defense that the victim has.
Mens Rea
“A guilty mind.”
Can be satisfied by a guilty purpose or knowledge, recklessness, criminal negligence, or willful intent.
Retreat Rule
Common Law: There is a duty to retreat before using deadly force for defense. There is no duty to retreat in your own home, car, or office under the “Castle Doctrine”. Now eliminated in 35 “Stand Your Ground” states.
ONLY applies to homicidal/deadly defense!
Involuntary Manslaughter
An unintentional killing resulting from an unjustified risk that was created by recklessness or gross criminal negligence that is not sufficiently extreme to rise to implied malice (aka, depraved-heart murder).
Examples: Mishandling a loaded gun, death resulting from a DUI, shaking a baby, etc.
Voluntary Manslaughter
Heat-of-the-moment murder, OR imperfect self-defense.
An intentional killing in which malice is negated by adequate provocation or another mitigating circumstance, OR imperfect self-defense.
Other mitigating circumstances include diminished capacity.
Second-Degree Murder
Without a state statute, second-degree murder is any killing with malice that is not first-degree.
Includes depraved-heart murder and intent-to-cause-bodily-harm murder.
Unclean Hands
A first aggressor may not claim self defense as an affirmative defense.
Common Law: You can regain the right to self defense by complete withdrawal.
Modern Majority: Common law rule + you can regain the right to self defense if the original victim responds with excessive force.
Common Law First Degree Murder
An intentional killing with malice aforethought and premeditation and deliberation.
Premeditation at common law: You can premeditate instantly.
Premeditation in the modern majority: Some time is necessary to think/plan, but it can be brief.
Premeditation
To establish first-degree murder, the ∆ must have thought about the killing.
Premeditation at common law: You can premeditate in an instant.
Premeditation in the modern majority: Some time is necessary to think/plan, but it can be brief.
Intent-to-Cause-Serious-Bodily-Harm Murder
The intent to cause sufficient bodily harm is sufficient to infer malice, even if you do not intent to kill.
Second-degree murder.
Deadly Weapon Doctrine
The intent to kill is inferred from the defendant’s use of an instrument designed to kill, or, a regular instrument used in a manner than can kill (i.e., a baseball bat swung at someone’s head).
Criminal Homicide
The unlawful killing of a human being by another.
With malice — Murder
Without malice — Manslaughter
Concurrence
The criminal act must have been set in motion by the requisite criminal state of mind. The intent must have been concurrent with the act.
Battery
The intentional, reckless, or criminally negligent application of force to a victim to inflict bodily harm.
A general intent crime.
Adequate Provocation for Voluntary Manslaughter
Heat of passion negates malice. Both a subjective and objective standard is applied.
Objective Standard — Provocation that would lead a reasonable person to lose their self control. Mere words are not enough. Provocation must still be “hot”; aka, there is not enough time for the defendant to have cooled down and contemplated their actions.
Subjective Standard — There must have been a causal connections between the provocation and the killing. If the defendant was not actually provoked, malice will not be negated.
Courts will commonly find adequate provocation when —
- He killed after he was the victim of a serious battery or a threat of a deadly force or
- Where he found his spouse engaged in sexual conduct with another person.
Deliberation (First-Degree Murder)
When the ∆ makes a deliberate/conscious choice to kill. Requires rational thought.
Voluntary intoxication or diminished capacity may prevent deliberation!
Exceptions to Co-Felon Responsibility
Minority Rule/Nonviolent Felons: Co-felons are exempt when they were not armed, did not participate or have knowledge, and didn’t encourage.
Minority Rule/Proximate Cause Theory: When any third party kills a person during the felony; the felon is liable for ANY DEATH that is the proximate result of the felony, whether the killer is the felon or not.
Majority Rule/Agency Theory: Co-felons are only responsible for killings done by other co-felons. No felony murder liability when a bystander/third party kills someone.
Redline Limitation: Some jurisdictions will not impose felony-murder liability if the person killed was one of the felons.
Shield/Hostage Exception: A co-felon will be responsible for the death of any persons used as a shield or taken as a hostage, regardless of the jurisdiction.
Redline Rule for Felony Murder
Exception to felony murder which provides that felons are not liable for the deaths of any co-felons that occur during the commission of the crime, so long as the death is caused by the victim or a police officer attempting to prevent escape or further criminal activity.
Majority Common Law Rule
Conspiracy
Requires (1) an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime/”target offense”, and (2) an overt act in furtherance of that conspiracy.
Under common law, no overt act was required.
However, under the modern majority rule there is an overt act requirement, however it can be very trivial/small.
Solicitation
The request of another to commit a crime.
Common Law: Enticing/advising/inciting/inducing, etc. someone else to commit a felony target offense.
Modern Majority: More broad. Can be requested another to commit any offense.
The crime is complete when the solicitation is made, not the crime itself.
Homicidal Self-Defense
Permitted only in response to an imminent threat of death or grievous bodily harm. Never warranted for the defense of property.
