Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
· To be a victim you must be Born Alive ( Breathing on your own, separated from mom, umbilical cord cut) or A Reasonable Creature in Being
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Term
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Definition
(old standard) Heart and Lung Standard: Heart and lungs no longer functioning
(new standard) Brain Dead: There must be irreversible cessation as judged by accepted medical standards
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Term
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Definition
Murder 1
Murder 2
Voluntary Manslaughter
Involuntary Manslaughter
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Term
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Definition
• This is required in both Murder 1 and 2
• Occurs if there is either:
o Intent to Kill
o Intent to do serious bodily injury
o Commission of a felony
o Depraved Heart Carelessness |
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Term
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Definition
strict liability rule that says if you satisfy the elements of the predicate felony, then you automatically responsible for the murder that takes place during
Murder 1 has listed felonies and Murder 2 is the catch all |
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Term
| (PA) Felony Murder Limits |
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Definition
Limits:
1. Sometimes selected felonies are excluded to avoid overly harsh punishments
2. The Merger Rule
a. Some felonies do not count because the legislature did not intend
since there is an overlap and they might merge with the death.
b. Ex: Involuntary Manslaughter is a felony but it merges. Many versions
of assault are also felonies, but basically all murder includes some
version of assault. If these didn’t merge than Voluntary Mansl. Would
auto fall into a felony murder.
c. A test to see if assault merges or not can be Independent Felonious
Purpose. (was there another intent for the assault other than causing
harm)
3.Causation:
a. It must be proven that the felony caused the homicide
b. Ex: if defendant robs a store and clerk drops dead from a heart attack
then there is causation. If he slips on a banana peel there probably is
not.
c. Need both But For and Proximate Cause
d. Often judged by common law
e. When is a felony over?
i. Look at timing, distance, intervening independent factors |
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Term
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Definition
| Willful, Deliberate, Premeditated, or a listed felony |
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Term
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Definition
| There was a preconceived design or planning in ahead |
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Term
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Definition
Understanding the act, weighing the considerations.
Represents coolness in the killing and Reflexive state of mind |
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Term
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Definition
| A willful killing is one where the killer's purpose in engaging in the acts rea is to kill another person. In other words, an intentional killing |
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Term
| Factors to Determine Wilful, Deliberate and Premeditated |
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Definition
1) Planning: Before the killing actions
2) Motive: A prior relationship to the victim
3) Manner: Evidence of a preconceived design
(Need 2 of 3) |
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Term
| (PA) Second Degree Murder |
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Definition
Intent to kill, intent to injure, felony that is not listed, depraved heart carelessness
Is there Malice Aforethought? Yes! Is it Murder 1? No! Then it is automatically Murder 2 |
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Term
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Definition
This is a very serious degree of carelessness. Some jurisdictions require awareness of the risk and some do not.
The difference between depraved heart and involuntary manslaughter is the DEGREE of recklessness and sometimes awareness.
must show:
1. Life Endangering Conduct (Objective standard)
2. Conscious disregard of danger to human life (Subjective Standard) |
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Term
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Definition
Heat of Passion Murder
(MPC equivalent is Extrem Emotional Disturbance) |
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Term
| Elements for Heat of Passion |
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Definition
• Legally Sufficient Provocation (words alone are not enough)
o Exception to words in Flagrant Illicito (catching wife cheating)
o Prior provocation can never be SOLE cause of sudden passion (Avery
Case. Woman killed her lover)
o Same sex advance doesn’t count as provocation (Page Case)
• Reasonable Person might act similarly
• There has been no cooling off
o If time has elapsed the defense can argue that “Brooding” took place |
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Term
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Definition
1) Criminal Negligence: A lawful act done in an unlawful manner
2) Misdemeanor Manslaughter (Unlawful Act Doctrine): Committing a homicide in the comission of a misdemeanor
Some jurisdictions include only dangerous misdemeanors |
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Term
| Homicide: Model Penal Code Approach |
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Definition
The MPC gets rid of Malice Aforethought, Premeditation, Deliberation, and rejects the felony murder rule found in the Penn. Model. (closest thing is presumption of negligence for a small amount of listed felonies)
1)Murder
2)Manslaughter
3)Criminally Negligent Homicide |
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Term
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Definition
| 1) Intentionally and Knowingly 2) Reckless with Extreme Indifference to the value of human life. (Prior habits can be used to establish this and the judge has large discretion when it comes to sentencing ) |
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Term
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Definition
1) Recklessly: Constitutes a (subjective) awareness of a risk and an (objective) risk.
2) Extreme Emotional Distress: Look through the defendant's eyes, but then determine whether that was reasonable (no longer has provocation element like in Heat of Passion) |
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Term
| Criminally Negligent Homicide |
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Definition
| A murder that results from reckless behavior, but without awareness. Measured by objective criminal negligence standards. |
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Term
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Definition
Assault is a universal crime with huge variations from state to state. Originally, Assault and Battery were 2 different crimes.
• Assault- the attempt
• Battery- physical contact
• Most states have combined into one
For the purposes of gradation, there are aggravated versions of assault and battery.
• EX: deadly weapon, on a police officer, elderly person etc.
• EX of misdemeanor simple/basic assault: assault that just causes fear,
battery of only offensive physical contact
The Mens Rea is usually: Intentional |
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Term
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Definition
Consent.
You can only Consent to Minor Harms!
ex: Football players |
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Term
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Definition
reckless conduct that endangers the physical health of someone. |
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Term
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Definition
Repetitive conduct that puts people in fear of personal injury or just makes them fearful.
Mens Rea: need to prove that the defendant intended to cause distress
Actus Rea: usually an objective one of if the reasonable person would be put in fear, not simply annoyed (harassment)
(Repetitive conduct is usually used as evidence)
· Punishment is usually a misdemeanor UNLESS violating a court order or a repeat offender
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Term
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Definition
Often fall under assault laws, but a few problems have caused some legislatures to create new laws specifically for domestic violence because:
1) Many victims do not want to prosecute
2) The police do not want to prosecute (they see it as a domestic issue)
3) People fraudulently claim D.V. as leverage (divorce cases) |
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Term
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Definition
Has a mandatory arrest clause if: there is probable cause or visible injury then they have to arrest
Gets rid of police reluctance to arrest
Gives the state the right to proceed without the consent of the victim
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