Criminal Law Flashcards
Actus Reus
Prosecution must prove brd Defendant engaged in one or more specific acts VOLUNTARILY
Actus Reus Omission
Prosecution must prove (1): ▲ had duty imposed by law to act; and (2): ▲ had the ability to act
Purpose/Intent
Requires A defendant to have the conscious object of engaging in certain conduct or causing a certain result
Specific Intent
defendant specifically intended a certain result from the act or omission
General Intent
defendant intended to do a certain act or omission but didn’t specifically intend the result
Knowledge/Actual Knowledge Required (Some Jds)
A person acts knowingly if (1): he is aware that his conduct is of a particular nature or (2): will cause a certain result.
Knowledge/Willful Blindness Standard (Majority of States)
A person is deemed to act knowingly when he is: (1): Aware that certain facts are highly probable; OR (2): Intentionally ignorant to certain facts.
*Knowledge may be proved by circumstantial evidence
Recklessness
defendant (1): consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk thatt an element of the crime exists or will result from her conduct; and (2): the person’s disregard of the risk constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in the situation.
Negligently
A person acts negligently if he (1): should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that
an element of the crime exists or will result from his conduct; and (2): the person’s failure to
perceive the risk constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable
person would observe in the situation. [Model Penal Code § 2.02(
concurrence of act and intent
The defendant must have the necessary mens rea at the time of the actus reus.
transferred intent
alternate victims only. The doctrine of transferred intent imposes criminal liability on a defendant who intends to
harm one person but actually harms an unintended victim. In criminal law, unlike tort law,
intent transfers only to alternative victims of the intended crime. Transferred intent does not
convert the intent to commit one crime into the intent to commit a different crime. A notable
exception is the felony-murder rule.
Causation
When causation is an element, the prosecution must prove that the defendants act or omission was the actual and proximate cause of the unlawful event.
Actual Cause
But for
If ▲’s wrongful act combines with some other cause, it’s still an actual cause because it accellerated the death process.
Proximate Cause
The result was the natural and foreseeable probable consequence of the defendants act or omission
Dependent Intervening Cause
one that is a consequence of Defendant’s prior wrongful conduct
breaks the chain of causation from the original act to the death only if the intervening force was “so out-of-the-ordinary that it is no longer fair to hold [the defendant] criminally responsible for the outcome.”
Burdens with respect to defenses seeking to negate an element
The burden of production to show some evidence negating the required element is on the defendant.
The burden of persuasion to prove the element remains as always on the prosecution.
Mistake of Fact (negating element of offense)
All jurisdictions generally relieve a criminal defendant of criminal liability when, (1): as the result of a reasonable mistake of fact, (2): the defendant didn’t have the culpable mental state required for the Commission of the offense.
Mistake of law (negating element)
- Generally, mistake of law it’s not a defense.
- Exceptions:
a. Certain offenses include a mens rea element that defendant must have known about the illegal nature of the act or omission.
b. Mistake of law is a valid defense, if at the time of the alleged offence, the defendant argues that he had relied on an official interpretation of the law which was wrong.
i. Court’s ruling
ii. Da interpretation
Legal Impossibility (negating element)
Defendant engages in act believing it’s illegal but it’s clearly not
Valid defense for attempt
Factual Impossibility (negating element)
- defendant intends to commit crime but factual circumstances outside his control prevent the crime.
a. Shooting a person who is already dead
stealing from an empty house
shooting someone with an unloaded gun
b. NOT USUALLY A DEFENSE TO ATTEMPT.
Inherent Impossibility (negating element)
- someone (1): intends to commit crime and (2): believes act will cause intended harm but (3): it’s inherently impossible for act to have intended effect
- voodoo doll
- recommends dismissal of charges in rare case that inherent impossibility unquestionably exists.
Voluntary Intoxication
not applicable to recklessness under the MPC
not applicable when ▲ became voluntarily intoxicated to commit the crime.
not applicable when intoxication is an element of the crime.
Involuntary Intoxication (negating mens rea)
i. someone tricked or coerced defendant into taking substance, or
ii. defendant had an unforeseeable reaction to prescribed medication.
Diminished Capacity (negating mens rea)
because of some mental disorder
or condition, the defendant was unable to form a mens rea of specific intent or some higher level mental state required to commit a crime
Defendant may still be convicted of general intent offense such as second degree murder or voluntary manslaughter.
Affirmative Defenses Burden of Persuasion
i. some jurisdictions place the burden of persuasion on the defendant, usually by a preponderance of the evidence.
ii. Some jurisdictions hold that once the defendant meets the initial burden of production, the burden of persuasion is on the prosecution to disprove affirmative defense beyond a reasonable doubt.
1. (It does not violate due process to place both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion on the defendant concerning affirmative defenses.)
Insanity (M’Naghten) (Majority)
- Majority of jds, including federal system
- Under this test, a defendant is insane if:
a. because of a mental disease or defect, he
b. (i): doesn’t know the nature or quality of his criminal act; or (ii): doesn’t know what he is doing is wrong.
i. (Some jurisdictions only ask whether the defendant knew if what he was doing was wrong.)
Irresistable Impulse (Minority)
- under this test, a defendant is insane if,
a. because of a mental disease or defect;
b. he can’t resist the impulse to commit the crime (even if he knows right from wrong). - (All jurisdictions that use this test also use some version of the M’Naughten test alternatively.)
MPC (Insanity)
a. because of a mental disease or defect (DOES NOT INCLUDE VOLUNTARY INTOXICATION OR ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER IN MAJORITY OF JDS), the defendant lacks the substantial capacity to
i. appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions or
ii. to conform his conduct to the law
Necessity
ii. Necessity operates as a defense for criminal conduct if:
1. The defendant committed the crime to avoid imminent substantial harm;
2. There was no reasonable alternative to committing the crime; And
3. harm defendant caused was less serious than the harm avoided.
iii. (Generally unavailable if defendants negligence or fault created harm to be avoided.)
Self Defense/defense of others/property (non-deadly)
ii. a defendant is entitled to use non deadly force when
1. defendant reasonably believes
a. that he or someone else is in imminent danger of being harmed (or that defendant’s property is being taken); and
i. CAN INCLUDE ANOTHER’S SELF-HARM
b. the force used is proportional to the harm threatened.
Deadly force
- defendant kills based on a reasonable belief
a. that he or someone else was in imminent danger of being killed or suffering great bodily injury; and
b. The use of deadly force was necessary.
Duty to Retreat
only in cases of deadly force
Most jurisdictions impose a duty to retreat if one has a reasonable means of escape in order to avoid the use of deadly force in self-defense in some circumstances
Castle Doctrine
- A person needn’t retreat when threatened in one’s own residence, place of employment or car.
Stand your ground laws
- A substantial minority of states have enacted broad stand your ground laws which don’t require retreat from deadly force even if it’s safe to do so.
