Term
| 6 basic constitutional limits on criminal law |
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Definition
| ex post facto laws, due process, equal protection, 1st amendment, right to privacy, cruel and unusual punishment |
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Definition
| voluntary acts of bodily movement, omissions to perform legal duties, possesion |
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| Ways to establish a legal duty to act |
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Definition
| Statutes, contracts, special relationships, common law assumption of duty |
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Definition
| Knowing, actual, constructive |
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Definition
| A mens rea- "you intend the harm" |
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Definition
| A mens rea- "Commit act intentionally, but don't mean for harm to happen" |
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| A mens rea- "conscious risk creation" |
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Definition
| A mens rea- "The unconscious creation of the risk of harm" |
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Term
| Defenses that speak to mens rea |
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Definition
| mistake of law (you don't get off), mistake of fact |
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Definition
| the requirement that the mens rea and the actus reus occur simultaneously |
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| Actus reus, causation, and harm. Mens rea not required (nor then concurrence). Bigamy, statutory rape. |
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Definition
| Actus reus, causation, harm, and RELATIONSHIP: parent-child, employer-employee. Act has to be part of the scope of employment and benefit the employer somehow. |
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Definition
| factual cause and proximate or legal cause. (Employ the but-for test.) Defense looks for intervening cause. |
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Definition
| Can break the chain of causation. At common law, you couldn't sue anyone after a year and a day passed. This worked well before advances in medicine. Many jurisdictions do still have a cutoff date. |
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Term
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Definition
| Says that if I have the mens rea to harm you and I act on it, I am responsible for everything that occurs in the course of harming people: the greatest harm that happens. |
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Term
| Transferred Intent Doctrine |
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Definition
| I'm acting with intent. I pick up a gun intending to kill my husband, miss him, and accidentally kill my neighbor. Instead of prosecuting me for reckless manslaughter, you can prosecute me for my murderous intent, plus my harm. |
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Term
| Defenses to criminal liability |
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Definition
| alibi, justification, and excuse. burden of proof on prosecutor. |
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Term
| Preponderance of the evidence |
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Definition
| Burden of proof for an affirmative defense |
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Definition
| A defendant was justified in the circumstances. "Any of you in that situation would have done the same". Poster child is self defense |
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Definition
| there is something about a particular defendant that makes him less culpable than the next guy. Poster child is insanity. Burden of proof on defense. |
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Definition
| self defense, defense of others, defense of home/property, necessity, consent |
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Term
| Self-Defense Common Law Standards |
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Definition
| Used in response to unprovoked attack. Threat is to a human being. Imminent danger rule. An honest and reasonable belief in the danger. Reasonable force. The retreat doctrine. |
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Term
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Definition
| Choice between two evils: you ranked them and chose the lesser. |
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Definition
| Burden on defendant to prove consent was known and voluntary. Cannot consent to attacks on the body. |
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Definition
| insanity, diminished capacity, age, duress, intoxication, entrapment |
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Term
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Definition
| did you know right from wrong when you committed the crime? |
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Term
| Competence to stand trial |
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Definition
| You have to be able to understand what is going on and be able to help your lawyer with your defense |
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Definition
| You didn't have to capacity to form the necessary mens rea due to disease or defect. Won't get you off. |
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Definition
| Under 7 years, irrebuttable presumption that mens rea could not be formed. 7-14, rebuttable presumption. by 15, age is no defense (but doesn't mean you are treated same as adults) |
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Definition
| Choice of evils type defense. Key is immediacy of threat and a reasonable and honest belief in it. |
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Definition
| Depends heavily on whether it is voluntary or involuntary. At most voluntary will lower you from purposely to negligently or recklessly. |
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Definition
| We can't dangle something in someone's face as a law enforcement official and then punish them. Can't put an idea into someone's head. |
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Definition
| Principles, accessories before, accessories after, accomplices |
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Definition
| Give you information and materials with which to commit the crime. Purposeful mens rea usually, unless a secondary crime occurs. "Aids and abets," |
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| Aids and abets. Present during comission of crime: not bodily removed. Purposeful mens rea. |
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Definition
| Crime/harm already complete and couldn't've been prevented or undone, since were in the dark until after comission. Certain relationships to criminals can prevent you from being charged with this crime. |
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| conspiracy, solicitation, and attempt |
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| Harm in inchoate offenses |
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Definition
| Potential harm, harm to society |
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Definition
| Mens rea: purposely. Actus reus: Substantial steps beyond mere preparation or physical proximity to potential victim. |
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Term
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Definition
| Legal impossibility: what you did isn't a crime. Factual impossibility: if something stops you from committing a crime you can still be prosecuted for attempt |
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Definition
| Agreement with a criminal purpose and action taken towards that purpose. |
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Definition
| Mens rea: purposely. Actus reus: words and inducement. I ask someone to commit a crime for me in exchange for something. |
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