1. Potential crime occurs
2. State (police/DA) decides to prosecute
3. Complaint/affidavit of Probable Cause
4. Approved by Judge
5. Arrest
6. Prelim arraignment/bail (first appearance)
7. Prelim hearing / grand jury
8. Formal charges files
9. Pre trial proceedings
10. Trial or plea deal
11. Appeal and post conviction remedies

Malum in se (wrong by its nature - murder - mostly common law)

Mala prohibita (wrong by legislations - speeding)

1. Have right to jury trial if penalty is more than 6 months
2. Government must prove every element to a reasonable doubt
3. Defendant has presumption of innocence 
4. Jury nullification - jury can ignore the statute charged or the punishment it calls for.  

1. Knowable - not ex post facto, for ORP
2. Consistent - desetrain re sleeping in cars
3. Individualized
4. Proportional - 8th amendment - no cruel and unusual
   • is sentence disproportionate to crime?
   • is sentence disproportionate to cat. of offender?
   • Is sentence disproportionate to individual?
5. Lenity doctrine - if ambiguous, favor the accused

Mens Rea - MPC 2.02

A guilty mind

Criminal intent state of mind

Two meanings

General intent - non specific, morally culpable (knowingly, recklessly, negligently)

Specific intent - intentionally or purposefully to commit specific crime

Can be transferred intent

Mistake of fact - may be a defense - if the ignorance or mistake negate the intent, knowledge, belief or recklessness or negligence required to establish mens rea

Mistake of law - generally not a defense - did not know about the law, or had law wrong

Must be voluntary act (possession is an act)

Not when: Coerced, unconscious, med issues (seizure), hypnosis

Causation can be direct (but for) or proximate (reasonably forsee)

Omission can be actus reus when

1. statue imposes a duty - parents, teacher, bartender
2. Good samaritin laws state there is a duty to assist
3. Where there is a contractual duty
4. When you assume the care of another

where the act itself creates social harm or endangering a group or state interest

DUI, speeding

Purposely or knowingly

or recklessly or negligently

Must have been reasonably foreseeable

Can be transferred intent 

Determined by factfinder based on policy consideration or matters of fairness

superseding intervening (no guilt) vs responsive intervening/foreseeable (guilt)

1. Principle in the first degree
2. Principle in the second degree (aid or abet with participation)
3. Accessory before the fact - ai)
4. Accessory after the fact - escape or confinement help

1. Principle - the doer that committed the crime
2. Accomplice - the helper - before or after the crime
   1. treated as committed the crime
   2. Can be soliciting, aid, agrees or attempt to help
   3. Can also be one who has a legal duty to prevent
3. Hindering apprehension - assistance after the crime
   1. not treated the same as committing the crime

1. has the intent to help in crime
2. actually aids or agrees to help commit
3. OR helps plan the crime

Knowingly and voluntarily cooperates or aids another in the crime.  

Mens rea - Dual intent - intent to aid the primary party and intent that the crime be committed.  

Actus reus - ANY assistance, no matter how trivial

must be more the mere presence

if mens rea is there, can be an accomplice even when the principle did not intend to committ the crime.  

YOu must:

1. Terminate participation
2. Take proactive steps to stop the crime
3. Termination must be voluntary - not when police arrest
4. Affirmative defense - government has burden of disproving the renunciation

Not an accomplice, but still responsible

Supervisory position or legal requirement

Bartender, teacher

Willful blindness is not a defense

Incomplete crimes

1. Criminal Attempt (takes substantial step - firm intent to commit the crime - impossibility not a defense)
2. Criminal Solicitation
3. Criminal Conspiracy

With the purpose of committing a crime

• agree with another to engage in conduct of such crime
• Agree to aid another person in planning or commission of a crime
• Unilateral - only the defendant has to agree
• Crime does not have to be committed
• 2 conditions - agreement (mens rea) and act (actus reus - even if trivial action)

separate offense to the substantive crime

For conspiracy

An overt act of one partner may be seen as the overt act of all participants even if there is no agreement of others for that act.  

if conspiracy to rob a bank, one person shoots and kills, all liable for conspiracy to commit murder

More than mere presence - even if they knew

Must be proof of agreement - an intent to act jointly with the others for the intent of the crimes considered

They do not need to know all the other co-conspirators or aware of all the details or plan of the operation

Chain conspiracy - parties should know based on large, ongoing nature of the conspiracy that the other members exist even without communication or contact with others. 

Wheel conspiracy - central hub deals individually with others who do not know each other - less likely to have a community of interest - each is not dependent on the other spokes success

1. Deterrence
2. Incapacitation to commit more crimes
3. Retribution / payback /penalty
4. Reform and rehabiliation