Essential Elements of a Crime Flashcards
(13 cards)
Elements of a Crime
(1) A physical act (actus reus)
* Any bodily movement (must be volitional)
(2) A mental state (mens rea), and
(3) A concurrence of the act and mental state
(4) A crime may also require proof of a result and causation (meaning the act caused the harmful result). Some crimes (such as homicide) require result and causation. Thus, when a crime is defined to require not merely conduct but also a specified result (such as death), the defendant’s conduct must be both the cause-in-fact and the proximate cause of the specified result.
Legal Dutie to Act (5 Types)
(1) By statute (Ex: the requirement to file a tax return)
(2) By contract (While on duty) (Ex: a lifeguard or nurse has a legal duty to act)
(3) The relationship between the parties (Ex: a parent/spouse has a duty to protect a child/spouse from harm)
(4) The voluntary assumption of care by the defendant for the victim ★
(5) The defendant created the peril for the victim ★
Common Law Mental States (4 Types)
- Specific Intent Crimes
- Malice Crimes
- General Intent Crimes
- Strict Liability Crimes
Specific Intent Crimes (Common Law Mental State)
Voluntary intoxication & Unreasonable Mistake of Fact are the only defenses available
* Solicitation: Intent to have the person solicited commit the crime
* Conspiracy: Intent to have the crime completed
* Attempt: Intent to complete the crime
* First degree premeditated murder: Premeditated intent to kill
* Assault: Intent to commit a battery
* Larceny: Intent to permanently deprive the other of their interest in the property taken
* Embezzlement: Intent to defraud
* False pretenses: Intent to defraud
* Robbery: Intent to permanently deprive the other of their interest in the property taken
* Burglary: Intent to commit a felony in the dwelling
* Forgery: Intent to defraud
Students Can Always Fake A Laugh, Even For Ridiculous Bar Facts.
Malice Crimes (Common Law Mental States)
Murder & Arson
* Reckless indifference, not specific intent
* It is sufficient if the** defendant recklessly disregarded an obvious or high risk** that the particular harmful result would occur
General Intent Crimes (Common Law Mental States)
General intent is the big catch-all category.
* All crimes not so far mentioned are general intent crimes unless they qualify for strict liability.
* General intent means the defendant has an awareness of all factors constituting the crime; in other words, the defendant must
* A jury can infer the required general intent merely from the doing of the act
* False imprisonment, kidnapping, and battery are all general intent crimes
Strict Liability Crimes (Common Law Mental States)
No-intent crimes (no mens rea requirement)
* A strict liability or public welfare offense is one that does not require awareness of all of the factors constituting the crime; that is, the defendant can be found guilty from the mere fact that they committed the act.
* Look for absence of adverbs (Ex: knowingly, willfully, intentionally)
* Common strict liability offenses are selling liquor to minors and statutory rape.
* The importance of strict liability on the bar exam is that defenses that negate state of mind, such as mistake of fact, are not available.
MPC Mental States
- Purposely: Conscious objective to engage in certain conduct or cuase certain result
- Knowingly: Aware that conduct will very likely cause the result
- Recklessly: Consciously disregards substantial and unjustifiable risk
- Negligently: Fails to. be aware of substantial and unjustifiable risk
Purposely (MPC Mental State)
A person acts purposely when their conscious object is to engage in certain conduct or cause a certain result.
Knowingly (MPC Mental State)
A person acts knowingly with respect to the nature of their conduct when they are aware that their conduct is of a particular nature or that certain circumstances exist.
* Also, the person is deemed to be aware of these circumstances when they are aware of a high probability that they exist and deliberately avoid learning the truth.
* The person acts knowingly with respect to the result of their conduct when they know that their conduct will necessarily or very likely cause a particular result.
Recklessly (MPC Mental State)
A person acts recklessly when they consciously disregard a substantial and unjustifiable risk that circumstances exist or that a prohibited result will follow, and this disregard constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in that situation.
* Recklessness involves both objective (“unjustifiable risk”) and subjective (“awareness”) elements.
Negligently (MPC Mental State)
Fails to be aware of substantial and unjustifiable risk
Transfered Intent
D intended to harm different victim or object
* Applies to Homicide, Battery, & Arson
* Does not apply to attempt
* Note: A person found guilty of a crime on the basis of transferred intent is usually guilty of two crimes: the completed crime against the actual victim and attempt against the intended victim. Thus, if D intends to shoot and kill X, but instead shoots and kills V, D can be guilty of the murder of V (under the transferred intent doctrine) and the attempted murder of X.
