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Crim
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Amendment that bars capital punishment for juveniles and the mentally disabled | 8th Amendment; prohibits cruel and unusual punishment or excessive sanctions |
| Crimes punishable with capital punishment | homicide and crimes against the government (mainly treason) |
| Age restriction for capital punishment | Juveniles 17 and under |
| Case that immunizes the court from scrutiny for racial bias in capital punishment cases | McCleskey v. Kemp |
| Controversial jury power that gives the jury the power to choose verdict despite evidence presented | jury nullification |
| Material elements of a crime | actus reus, mens rea, results, causation, and attendant circumstances |
| Canons of interpretation | intentionalism, purposivism, and textualism |
| Intentionalism | penal interpretation by legislative intent while writing and passing statute |
| Purposivism | penal interpretation based on the purpose of the statute and comparison with others |
| Textualism | penal interpretation by ordinary meaning of words |
| Standard of proof in criminal law | beyond a reasonable doubt |
| Steps of Criminal Procedure | investigation -> indictment -> arrest -> trial -> sentencing -> appeal |
| Circumstantial evidence | evidence that implies a fact |
| Direct evidence | evidence that speaks for itself |
| Right to a jury in criminal cases | all criminal trials have the right to a trial by jury |
| Deterrence | forward-looking punishment theory that prioritizes disincentivizing misbehavior through punishment |
| General Deterrence | punishment theory that deters others from committing crime |
| Specific Deterrence | punishment theory that deters the offender from engaging in wrongdoing again |
| Incapacitation | forward-looking punishment theory that shelters society by removing the wrongdoer |
| Rehabilitation | forward-looking punishment theory that helps society by fixing and reintegrating the wrongdoer back into society |
| Retribution | backward-looking punishment theory that gives victims just desserts; eye for an eye punishment |
| Expressivism | punishment theory that acts as an expression of society's moral condemnation of behavior |
| 18 USC § 3553 (How to Decide Punishments) | (1) nature/circumstances of offense and history/characteristics of offender, and (2) proportional deterrence, protection for public, reflection of seriousness, and correctional treatment for offender |
| Sentencing Reform Act | conditions of punishment must be "reasonably related" to crime, have a legitimate objective, and not involve greater deprivation of liberty than necesssary |
| Fair warning | opportunity for citizens to conform behavior to the requirements of the law |
| Elements for Fair Warning | (1) written statute, (2) passed before criminal conduct, (3) interpreted plainly, (4) not vague, and (5) not ambiguous (otherwiserule of lenity) |
| Rule of Lenity | "tie goes to the runner"; if statute is still ambiguous, read it in favor of the defendant |
| Test for Vagueness in Statutes | statute fails for vagueness if (1) people can't understand what conduct is prohibited, and (2) allows arbitrariness and discrimination in enforcement due to lack of guidelines |
| Test for Genuine Ambiguity in Statutes | analyze by (1) plain meaning, (2) legislative history, (3) common law, (4) statutory purpose, and (5) social policy |
| Requirements for Sustainable Conviction | actus reus + mens rea |
| Step Zero of Actus Reus | voluntary act |
| Types of Actus Reus | act or omission |
| Bases for Legal Duty for Omission or Bystander in Actus Reus | (1) statute, (2) relationship between defendant and victim, (3) contract, (4) creation of harm, and (5) voluntary assumption of care of another |
| General Rule for Bystanders | bystanders generally have no legal obligation to intervene |
| Exception for Involuntary Act | no conviction can be sustained if the act was involuntary, except if the defendant voluntarily induced their own incapacitation |
| Categories of Mens Rea | purposefully, knowing, recklessly, and negligently |
| Purposeful (Mens Rea) | desire to produce a particular outcome; conscious object |
| Knowing (Mens Rea) | awareness that a result is practically certain |
| Willful Blindness | "shutting your eyes" to avoid confirmation of criminal acts; treated as equivalent to having sufficient knowledge for conviction |
| Reckless (Mens Rea) | conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk |
| Negligence (Mens Rea) | unaware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk, but should have been aware |
| Types of Mistake | fact and law |
| Mistake as a Legal Defense | allowed if knowledge/awareness of law was a material element of the offense (rare) |
| Misinterpretation of Statute | allowed when D reasonably relied on an official statement of the law which is later determined to be erroneous/invalid |
| Types of Causation | but-for and proximate |
| Overdetermination | complication of but-for causation; when there are too many causes and factors to determine causation normally |
| Analyses for Overdetermination | substantial factor test and acceleration theory |
| Intentional Murder | killing performed purposefully or knowingly; first degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and second degree murder |
| Elements for First Degree Murder | (1) premeditation and deliberation [or] prior calculation and design, and (2) purposeful or knowing mens rea |
| Factors of Prior Calculation and Design | (1) relationship between accused and victim, (2) thought and preparation in choosing weapon and location, and (3) (temporally) drawn out |
| Jurisdictional Standards for First Degree Murder | prior calculation and design, premeditation, and instantaneous premeditation |
| Premeditation | Planning the crime before acting |
| Mitigating Doctrines for First Degree Murder | provocation and extreme emotional distress |
| Requirements of Provocation | (1) adequate provocation, (2) killing in the heat of passion, (3) performed suddenly without chance for passions to cool, and (4) connection between provocation, passion, and killing |
| Types of Adequate Provocation | (1) extreme assault on D, (2) mutual combat, (3) illegal arrest of D, (4) injury or heavy abuse to close relation, or (5) sudden discovery of spousal abuse |
| Adequate Provocation | situation enough to inflame the passion of a reasonable person and cause them to act from passion instead of reason for a moment |
| Extreme Emotional Distress | stress that would cause the average reasonable person to have an extreme emotional reaction and experience a loss of self-control |
| Elements for Extreme Emotional Distress | (1) acting under the influence of extreme emotional distress (2) with reasonable explanation/excuse |
| Involuntary Manslaughter | defendant takes a substantial and unjustifiable risk that results in someone's death |
| Elements for Involuntary Manslaughter | (1) conscious disregard of a risk (subjective) and (2) deviant nature of risk (objective) |
| Extreme Indifference to Human Life | defendant engages in brutal conduct that is ultimately fatal; utter disregard for the value of human life; bumps involuntary manslaughter to second degree murder |
| Elements for Extreme Indifference | (1) reckless mens rea, and (2) visceral "that's effed" reaction to facts or cruelly depraved behavior |
| Elements for Battery | (1) unlawful use of physical force, (2) resulting in bodily injury or offensive touching, and (3) acting with purpose, knowledge, or recklessness |
| MPC Assault Definition | (1) attempted battery, (2) placing victim in a reasonable apprehension of bodily harm, or (3) harmful/offensive touching |
| Aggravated Battery | battery with pizzazz; with weapon or against police officer, peace officer, etc. |
| Elements of Kidnapping | (1) confining/carrying away victim (asportation), (2) forcibly or by threat/fear/deception, (3) for a nefarious purpose |
| Asportation | unlawful movement against victim's will; the slightest centimeter counts |
| Elements of Theft | (1) physically take and carry away, or (2) use deception, fraud, or extortion to take (3) the victim's property (4) with intent to permanently deprive them of property |
| Mens Rea for Theft | intent to permanently deprive (purposefully) |
| Elements of Punishable Attempt | (1) specific intent/purpose to bring about crime, (2) steps taken towards committing crime |
| Defenses Against Punishable Attempt | impossibility and abandonment |
| Abandonment of Attempt | must be truly voluntary to be a defense, not response to (physical) resistance from victim or fear of apprehension |
| Impossibility of Attempt | not a defense if crime could've been committed if attendant circumstances had been as defendant believed them to be |
| Tests for Actus Reus of Attempt | (1) dangerous proximity test and (2) substantial step test |
| Dangerous Proximity Test | requires "great danger of success" for conviction; proximity physically or to accomplishment of crime |
| Substantial Step Test | actions strongly corroborative of actor's criminal purpose |
| Conspiracy | agreement between 2+ individuals to commit an unlawful act |
| Elements of Inchoate Conspiracy | (1) agreement, (2) specific intent/purpose, and (3) overt act |
| Defense Against Conspiracy | Renunciation |
| Elements of Conspiracy Renunciation | (1) acknowledgment of participation in conspiracy and (2) voluntary thwarting or reasonable efforts to stop conspiracy |
| Solicitation | asking/getting someone else to commit a crime |
| Elements of Inchoate Solicitation | (1) specific intent/purpose, (2) to solicit, (3) a third party to commit a crime |
| Conspiracy Jurisdictions | bilateral: requires mutual agreement:: unilateral: allows undercover cop agreements to be valid |
| Solicitation Jurisdictions | Unilateral: an unreceived communication is still solicitation:: Bilateral: a received communication is solicitation |
| Defenses Against Solicitation | Renunciation, although some jurisdictions refuse to recognize defense |
| Mergers of Inchoate Offenses | Merges: attempt and solicitation:: doesn't merge: conspiracy |
| Elements of Accomplice Liability | (1) assistance/support to principal perpetrator, (2) performed purposefully/knowingly to facilitate the crim |
| Natural and Probable Consequences Rule | if another crime was committed during the one D was helping, liable for both if second was a "natural and probable" consequence of the first |
| Innocent Instrumentality Rule | if D uses an innocent to carry out crime (and innocent believes they are doing something lawful), they are principal perpetrator not accomplice |
| Actus Reus for Accomplices | affirmative act to help crime; extremely low bar, strong causal connection not required |
| Corporate Crime Liability | liability of corporation itself for criminal violations performed by members of corporation |
| Elements of Corporate Crime Liability | (1) individual performs a criminal act within scope of employment, (2) with intent to benefit corporation |
| Due Diligence Defense | no corporate liability if a higher agent with supervisory responsibility over subject matter used due diligence to prevent commission of crime |
| Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine | corporations and individual officers can be charged for the same crime; D must be responsible for criminal behavior in some way |
| Self-Defense Use of Force | non-deadly force: non-deadly threat:: deadly force: deadly threat |
| Elements for Self-Defense in Homicide Cases | (1) reasonable belief of imminent threat of death/serious injury, (2) defensive force was necessary, and (3) response was proportionate to threat faced |
| Necessary Element of Self-Defense | necessity implies no route to safely retreat and danger not self-generated; exceptions castle doctrine and stand your ground laws |
| Elements of Reasonable Belief for Self-Defense | (1) D's belief that conduct was necessary (subjective) and (2) objectively reasonable conduct under circumstances |
| Castle Doctrine | no duty to retreat if you are home; does not expand to curtilage around home |
| Stand Your Ground Laws | expansion of castle doctrine; no duty to retreat anywhere you legally are |
| Imperfect Self-Defense | When D believes that defensive force is necessary but turns out to be wrong |
| Rights Violations of Police | 4th amendment violation of right against unreasonable seizures |
| Necessity Defense | utilitarian defense that justifies D's crime because benefits of violating the law outweighed the benefits of adhering to it |
| Elements of Necessity Defense | (1) lesser evil than compliance, (2) threat is imminent/present, (3) danger isn't self-generated, (4) causal relationship, (5) no legal alternative, (6) discontinued conduct when safe, and (7) not disallowed by legislature |
| Availability of Necessity for Murder | generally not allowed for murder |
| Necessity Defense for Escaped Prisoners | all necessity elements and (1) D exhausted all other avenues to resolve threat and (7) cannot continue to escape once threat is averted |
| Strict Liability Crime Examples | felon in possession of a gun, environmental statutes, etc; mens rea doesn't matter |
| Insanity Defense | determination that D's state of mind negates their mens rea and culpability for crime |
| M'Naghten test | (1) D has mental disability/illness, and (2) believes they are committing a different act, or (3) doesn't believe the act they're committing is wrong |
| Irresistible Impulse Test | expansion of M'Naghten; insane if meets M'Naughten or if D couldn't control what they were doing |
| Substantial Capacity Test | insane if lacks the substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of conduct or to conform conduct to the law |
| Mistake of Fact | allowed if it negates required mens rea of offense |
| Spectrum of Voluntariness | Likely voluntary: PTSD, sleepwalking, hypnosis:: likely involuntary: spasms, seizures, Tourette's |
| ON-OFF Imperfect Self-Defense Jurisdiction | If D isn't justified they should be convicted of murder; treats actors who mistakenly use defensive force as murderers |
| Imperfect Self-Defense Jurisdiction | If D isn't justified murder conviction downgraded to voluntary manslaughter; mistaken self-defense is less blameworthy than cold-blooded murder |
| Remedies Against Police | civil suit (42 USC 1983), federal criminal charges (18 USC 242), or regular (state) criminal charges |
| Civil Suit Against Police | 42 USC 1983, brought when excessive use of force violates 4th amend, balance government intrusion v. government interest |
| Federal Criminal Charges Against Police | 18 USC 242, brought when police willfully deprive individual of 4th amend rights; decide if (1) officer believed suspect was a danger to the public and (2) if reasonable officer at the scene would have acted the same |
Created by:
hubbardjb
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