Intro Flashcards
(24 cards)
Statutes of Limitations:
Felonies
Virginia has no general statute of limitations on felony offenses.
SOL:
misdemeanors
The statute of limitations on misdemeanors is generally one year.
-EXCEPTION: Petit larceny carries a statute of limitations of five years
Criminal Jurisdiction
Virginia circuit courts (the trial courts of general jurisdiction) have original jurisdiction over all offenses committed within their respective circuits
Sentencing and Classification of Felonies
Offenses punishable with confinement in a state correctional facility
(VA has six classes of felonies for purposes of sentencing and penalties).
Sentencing and Classification of Misdemeanors
All other offenses that are not felonies
(VA has four classes of misdemeanors for purposes of sentencing and penalties).
Sentencing and Classification of traffic infractions
are violations of public order and not deemed to be criminal in nature.
Elements of ALL crimes
- Actus Reus:
a guilty act, must be either a voluntary act, or omission of an act when D has a legal duty to perform. - Mens rea: guilty mind, mental state accompanying criminal act
- Causation: D’s conduct must be both actual and proximate cause of harm.
intent types
- specific intent: the intent to accomplish the precise criminal act that one is later charged with.
- general intent: is the intent to perform an act even though the actor may not desire the consequences that result.
- presumed intent: In VA, a person is presumed to intend the immediate, direct, and necessary consequences of a voluntary act. *this is a rebuttable presumption
–Who decides whether the required intent exists? the trier of fact. Trier of fact can also make inferences from proved facts, as long as the inferences are reasonable and justified. - transferred intent: permits a fact finder to transpose/transfer a defendant’s criminal intent to harm an intended victim to another unintended, but harmed, victim.
Homicide
evidence of a homicide =
Corpus Delicti + Malice
Corpus Delicti
In homicide cases, the corpus delicti (body of the case) requires both:
1. proof of the victim’s death; and
2. that death resulted from some person’s criminal act.
In other words, the prosecutor must prove a crime has actually occurred before a person can be convicted of committing the crime.
Confession + Corroboration
in order to satisfy the corpus delicti requirement:
An extrajudicial admission or confession alone is not sufficient evidence of corpus delicti without corroboration.
*corroboration requirement is limited to those facts constituting the corpus delicti.
In other words, corroboration of all elements of the confession or of all elements of the crime is not necessary.
Malice
two ways to prove:
when D:
1. acts with a sedate, deliberate mind and formed design (willfull); or
2. Commits any purposeful and cruel act without any or without great provocation.
*In VA, malice generally requires that a wrongful act be done willfully or purposefully.
who decides malice?
The trier of fact (jury or judge in bench trial) decides whether the defendant acted with malice.
-In VA murder cases, the jury can infer malice from the deliberate use of a deadly weapon, unless the jury has a reasonable doubt whether malice existed.
year and a day rule
Virginia has abrogated (repealed) the “year and a day rule” as a rule of substantive criminal law,
What does this mean?
In VA, whether at common law or under the Code of Virginia, a prosecution for murder or manslaughter may be instituted regardless of the time elapsed between the act or omission causing the death of the victim and the death of the victim
4 types of Murder in VA
- aggravated murder
- first degree murder
- second degree murder
- felony homicide
Presumption of second degree murder
In Virginia, every unlawful homicide is presumed to be second degree murder. *rebuttable presumption by the D
Burden of Proof shifting for murder to manslaughter
in order to reduce murder to manslaughter, the burden of proof (BOP) shifts to the defendant to show he lacked malice.
-heat of passion: This includes shifting BOP to D to show he acted in the heat of passion in order to negate malice.
Aggravated murder*
CLASS 1 FELONY
murder is elevated to aggravated murder (most serious) when the D commits:
- mens rea: a willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, and
- the killing involves 1 of 15 other serious statutory crimes:
-[A] in an abduction with the intent to extort money or a pecuniary benefit, or with the intent to defile the victim;
o [H] for hire (think hitman hired to murder);
o [P] by a prisoner confined in a state or local correctional facility;
o [RA] during a robbery or attempted robbery;
o [RSSPA] during or subsequent to rape, forcible sodomy, or an object sexual penetration; or the or attempted rape or attempted forcible sodomy;
o [C] of a law enforcement officer (cop), for the purpose of interfering with the performance of his duties (think cop on duty);
o [ODD] pursuant to the direction or order of one engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise involving a controlled substance (think order by drug dealer to kill);
o [KDIDA] during the commission or attempted commission of the unlawful manufacture, sale, gift, distribution, or possession with the intent to manufacture, sell, give, or distribute a controlled substance, when such killing is for the purpose of furthering the commission or attempted commission of such crime (think killing as part of a drug deal with intent to distribute);
o [J] of a judge, for the purpose of interfering with their official duties as a judge;
o [T] during the commission or attempted commission of an act of terrorism;
o [WitCrim] of a witness in a criminal case, for the purpose of interfering with the person’s duties in such case;
o [PregA] of a pregnant woman by one who knows that the woman is pregnant and has the intent to cause the involuntary termination (abort) of the woman’s pregnancy without a live birth;
o [V>same trans] of more than one person (victim) as a part of the same transaction;
o [V<14>21yo] of a person (victim) under the age of 14 by a person age 21 or older; or
o [V>1 w/in3yrs] of more than one person (victim) within a three-year period.
timing for aggravated murder
It is not necessary that the intent to kill exist for any particular length of time prior to the killing to constitute a willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder.
*The intent to kill may spring into existence for the first time at the time of the killing, or at any time previously.
first degree murder
CLASS 2 FELONY
First degree murder is murder, other than aggravated murder, by:
● poison;
● imprisonment;
● lying in wait;
● starvation; or
● any willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing that does not fall within aggravated murder.
second degree murder
All murder other than aggravated murder and murder in the first degree is murder of the second degree
Felony murder
in VA, common law doctrine is codified
Mens Rea: The intent to commit the underlying felony stands in for the malice required to commit murder.
two kinds:
1. first degree felony murder
2. second degree felony homicide
first degree felony murder
is treated the same as first-degree murder.
It is any murder, whether intentional or accidental, carried out during the commission of, or during an attempt to commit the following specific violent felonies [§ 18.2-32]:
o Burglary;
o Arson;
o Rape;
o Robbery;
o Abduction (a.k.a. kidnapping at common law).
o forcible Sodomy; or
o Sexual penetration by inanimate or animate object.
second degree felony homicide
is treated as second-degree murder.
It is an accidental unintended murder carried out during the commission of a felony not listed in the aggravated murder and first-degree murder [
