Question | Answer |
Criminal Law | Harm or wrong done to society as a whole. |
Civil Law | One person causes harm to another person or property. |
Model Penal Code | Was drafted by a group of individuals that were experts in criminal law, while working for the American Law Institute. Was recommended to the states for adoption. |
Name the 2 essential elements of a crime. | Mens reas - Evil Intent & Actus reus - Wrongful Act. |
General Intent | The desire to act. Defendant did not intend the result of the act. |
Specific Intent | An intent to commit the exact crime charged and a desire to cause the result of the act. |
Malum In Se | A crime that is inherently evil. |
Malum Prohibitum | A crime that is not inherently evil, but a legislature has made it a crime. |
Out of Malum In Se & Malum Prohibitum, which one had the stiffer prison sentence? | Malum In Se. |
What are the 4 approaches to Mens Rea under the Model Penal Code? | Purposely, Knowingly, Recklessness & Negligence. |
Recklessness | Indifference to consequences; conduct amounting to more than ordinary negligence. |
Negligence | Failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise under the same or similar circumstances. |
Inferences | One way to show intent. A judge or jury is permitted to make a conclusion after considering the facts of a case. |
Presumptions | A conclusion that must be made by a judge or jury. |
What are the 2 forms of criminal law causation? | Cause in fact & Legal Cause. |
Cause in Fact | The result would not have occurred unless the act occurred. (Sine Qua Non Test) |
Legal Cause aka Proximity Cause | Deals with the concept of foreseeability. Cause the law deems sufficient. |
One Year & a Day Rule | At common law, a person could not be charged with murder if the victim did not die within one year and a day after the act took place. A causation rule. |
Merger Doctrine (An individual is charged with 2 crimes. If one is a lesser offense of the other the defendant) | is found guilty of the more serious crime, then the lesser crime is absorbed by the greater & the defendant is not punished for both. If defendant is acquitted of the greater charge, the defendant could still be convicted of the lesser charge. |
What are the 2 categories of common law homicide? | Murder & Manslaughter. |
Murder | The killing of another human being with malice aforethought. |
Manslaughter | The killing of another human being without malice aforethought. |
Provocation | An act by one person that triggers an act of rage in a second person. |
Corpus Delicti | Body of the crime. |
Assault | A person puts antoher in fear or apprehension of an imminent battery. An attempted battery. |
Battery | An intentional touching of another that is either hamful or offensive. |
Mayhem | Crime of intentionally dismembering or disfiguring a person. |
Asportation | Movement. |
Kidnapping | Taking away and holding a person illegally against the person's will by force. |
False Imprisonment | The unlawful restraint by one person of the physical liberty of another. |
Arson | The malicious and unlawful burning of a building. |
Burglary | Breaking and entering and illegally taking and carrying away personal property. |
Robbery | The use of force or the threat of force and illegally taking and carrying away personal property. |
List 3 types of individuals involved in a crime. | Principal in the 1st degree, Principal in the 2nd degree & Accessory before the fact. |
Principal in the 1st Degree | Participant who actually committed the crime. |
Principal in the 2nd Degree | A party who aids, assists, or encourages the principal in the 1st degree during the commission of the crime. |
Accessory Before the Fact | Aids, counsels, assists in the preparation of the crime but is not physically present during the commission of the crime. |
Inchoate Crimes | Some uncompleted crimes may be punished. |
List 3 types of inchoate crimes. | Attempt, Conspiracy & Solicitation. |
Wharton's Rule | It is not a conspiracy for 2 persons to agree to commit a crime if the definition of the crime itself requires the participation of 2 or more persons. |
List 2 criminal law affirmative defenses. | Duress & Battered Woman Syndrome. |
Duress | Force or threat of force upon another to commit a crime. |
Castle Doctrine | Some states do not require treatment from your home. |
List the 4 Insanity Tests. | M'Naghten Test (aka Right-Wrong Test), Irresistible Impulse Test, Durham Rule & Model Penal Code Test aka Substantial Capacity Test. |
Irresistible Impulse Test | The loss of control due to insanity that is so great that a person cannot stop from committing a crime. |
Durham Rule | A defendant is not guilty because he was suffering from a disease or defective mental condition at the time of the act and there was a causal connetion between the condition and the act. |
What defense is the Castle Doctrine connected to? | Self-defense. |
Battered Woman Syndrome | Continuing abuse of a woman by a spouse or lover and the resulting physical and psychological harm. |
List 2 Prohibitions from Double Jeopardy. | Prevents a second prosecution for the same offense and prevents a second punishment for the same offense. |
Bill of Attainder | Pronouncing a person guilty without a trial and sentencing the person to death and attainder (all property is taken form the individual). Prohibited by the United States Constitution. |
Criime Control Model | The repression, detection & efficient prosecution of crime. Individuals often lose individual liberties and live in fear. Prosecution is bureaucratic. Form of assembly line justice. |
Due Process Model | Focuses on the integrity of individual rights, not the rights of the community to be free from crime. Legal guilt is the issue rather than factual guilt. |
List 5 participants in criminal adjudications. | Law Enforcement Officers, Prosecutors, Judges, Defense Attorneys & Victims |
Law Enforcement Officers | Police. |
Prosecutors | Government attorneys responsible for prosecuting violators. |
Judges | Part of judiciary; resolve disputes & administer justice. |
Defense Attorneys | Represent the defendant in criminal cases. |
Victims | Victim of crime is government; victim in fact-a person who had the crime committed against him or her. |
Victim Impact Statement | A statement made to the court, at the time of sentencing, concerning the effect the crime had on the victim or the victim's family. |
Sovereign Immunity | Cannot sue the government. |
Exclusionary Rule | The rule that illegally gathered evidence that may not be used in a motion to suppress. |
What are 2 exceptions to the exclusionary rule? | Pretrial matters and Government may illegally seize evidence to rebut statements may by the defendant. |
Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine | Evidence gathered as a result of evidence gained in an illegal search or questioning cannot be used against the person searched or questioned even if the later evidence was gathered lawfully. |
Knock & Announce Rule | Police must knock and announce their purpose before entering the premises. |