Criminal Law I Definitions. 2022/23

Law - ☑☑That which is laid down, ordained, or established...a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having binding legal force." However, not all rules are laws, fewer still are cr ...

Law - ☑☑That which is laid down, ordained, or established...a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority, and having binding legal force." However, not all rules are laws, fewer still are criminal laws, and not all have "binding legal force Crime - ☑☑Any act or omission in violation of penal law, committed without defense or justification, and made punishable by the state in a judicial proceeding Criminal Law - ☑☑The body of rules and regulations that defines and specifies punishments for offenses of a public nature or for wrongs committed against the state or society. Also called penal law Criminal - ☑☑The human conduct that violated the criminal law (only) Private Law - ☑☑Concerned itself with contracts, personal possessions, the legal status of various types of persons (citizens, free persons, slaves, freedom, guardians, husbands, and wives, ans so on), and injuries to citizens Common Law - ☑☑Law originating from use and custom rather than form written statutes. The term refers to nonstatutory customs, traditions, and precedents that help guide judicial decision making THE MAJOR SOURCE OF MODERN CRIMINAL LAW Common Law Tradition - ☑☑Legal tradition, having unified set of laws that were common to all the English Difference Between Civil Law and Common Law - ☑☑The common law tradition is evolutionary in nature. Its change came incrementally, as courts adapted the law to different facts or social changes. The civil law tradition, on the other hand, is planned and statutory. Civil law is conceived of by some authority, is established, and then changes abruptly when the legislative authority revises the codeStatutes (Public Laws) - ☑☑Codification of the common law. Also known as the laws of legislature. In addition of the Congress of the United Sates, the legislatures of each state has the authority to define crimes. Statutes are commonly organized by topics, such as the Code of Criminal Laws. The vast majority of crimes are defined by state crimes, and more than 90 percent of felonies and serious misdemeanors are prosecuted in state courts Civil Law - ☑☑The form of the law that governs relationships between parties Criminal Procedure - ☑☑Defines the process that may be used by law enforcement, prosecutors, victims, and courts to investigative and adjudicate criminal cases. As an academic field, criminal procedure also includes the study of the Constitution's role in the process Felony - ☑☑A serious crime, generally one punishable by death or by incarceration in a state or federal prison facility as opposed to a jail Treason - ☑☑The highest crime an individual could commit, and the only crime mentioned in the constitution Misdemeanors - ☑☑Less serious offenses, generally thought of as punishable by less than a year's incarceration Infractions - ☑☑A violation of a state statute or local ordinance punishable by a fine or other penalty, but not by incarceration. Also called Summary Offense Inchiate - ☑☑"partial" or "unfinished". Applied to crimes like conspiracy to commit a criminal act, solicitation of others to engage in criminal acts, and attempts to commit crimes The Purpose of Law - ☑☑(1) Regulate the flow of human interaction (2) Law makes for predictability in human events by using the authority of government to ensure that society agreed-on-standards of behavior will be followed and enforced. They allow people to plan their lives by guaranteeing a relative degree of safety to well-intentioned individuals, while constraining the behavior of those who could unfairly victimize others(3) Laws provide a stable foundation for individuals wishing to join together in a legitimate undertaking by enforcing rights over the control and ownership of property (4) Laws also provide for individual freedoms and personal safety by sanctioning the conduct of anyone who violates the legitimate expectations of others. Hence the first and most significant purpose of the law can be simply states: Laws support social order (5) To many people, a society without laws is unthinkable. Where sucha society exists, however, it would be doubtless rules by individuals and groups powerful enough to unsurp control over others. The personal whims of the powerful would rule, and the less powerful would live in constant fear of attack Functions of Criminal Law - ☑☑Protects members if the public from harm Preserve and maintain social order Support fundamental social values Distinguish criminal wrongs from civil wrongs Express communal condemnation of criminal behavior Deter people form criminal activity Stipulate the degree of seriousness of criminal conduct Establish criteria for the clear determination of guilt or innocence Punish those who commit crimes Rehabilitate offenders Assuage victims of crime Common Punishments for Criminal Acts - ☑☑(1) Monetary Fines: Applied to felonies, misdemeanors, or infractions (2) Short-Term Incarceration: Applied to felonies or misdemeanors (3) Long-Term Incarceration: Applied to felonies (4) Death Penalty: Applied to some felonies Bill of Rights - ☑☑The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which were made part of the Constitution in 1791Criminalize - ☑☑To make criminal; to declare an act or omission to be criminal or in violation of a law making it so Local Laws - ☑☑In addition to state and federal crimes, municipalities are often empowered by state law to define and punish crimes, usually misdemeanors and infractions. Local laws are commonly known as ordinances Administrative Regulations - ☑☑Another source of law. Legitimately promulgated regulations have the full authority of legislation. Administrative regulations can be penal and can result in incarceration, fines, and other punishments Case Law - ☑☑The body of previous decisions, or precedents, that has accumulated over time and to which attorneys refer when arguing cases and that judges use in deciding the merits of new cases Statutory Law - ☑☑Law in the form of statutes or formal written codes made by a legislature or governing body with the power to make law Burden of Proof - ☑☑The mandate, operative in American criminal courts, that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty and that the prosecution must prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt Reasonable Doubt - ☑☑In legal proceedings, an actual and substantial doubt arising from the evidence, form the facts or circumstances show by the evidence, or form the lack of evidence. Also, that state of the case, which after the entire comparison and consideration of all the evidence, leaves the minds of the jurors in such a condition that they cannot say they feel an abiding conviction of the truth of the charge Reasonable Doubt Standard - ☑☑The standard of proof necessary for conviction in criminal trials Rule of Law - ☑☑The maximum that an orderly society must be governed by established principles and known codes that are applied uniformly and fairly to all of its members, also called supremacy of law. has to have established principles and Applied fairly!Due Process of Law - ☑☑The procedure that effectively guarantee individual rights in the face of criminal prosecution; the due course of legal proceedings according to the rules and forms that have been established for the protection of private rights; formal adherence to fundamental rules for fair and orderly legal proceedings. Due process of law is a constitutional guarantee Elements of Crime - ☑☑(1) The basic components of crime (2) In a specific crime, the essential features of that crime, as specifies by law or statute Criminal Liability - ☑☑The degree of blameworthiness assigned to a defendant by criminal court and the concomitant extent to which the defendant is subject to penalties prescribed by the criminal law Essential Aspects of All Crimes - ☑☑(1) the criminal act (which, in legal parlance, is termed the actus reus) (2) a culpable mental state (mens rea) (3) a concurrence of the two The Essence of Criminal Conduct - ☑☑Consists of concurrence of a criminal act with a culpable mental state. The critical issue of concurrence is what distinguishes murder from homicide committed in selfdefense, for example, or rape from consensual sex Conduct - ☑☑In the criminal law, behavior and its accompanying mental state actus reus - ☑☑A necessary first feature of most crimes. An act in violation of the law; a guilty act Act - ☑☑A performance, a deed, or movement, as distinguished from remaining at rest Knowing Possession - ☑☑Possession with awareness of what one possesses Example: If you buy crystal meth. Knowing does not mean you have to know it is a crime to possess crystal meth, only that you know it is crystal mythActual Possession - ☑☑Possession in which one has direct physical control over the object or objects in question Example: a person wearing a watch has actual possession of the watch. Likewise, if you have your wallet in your jacket pocket, you have actual possession of your wallet. This type of possession, however, is by necessity very limited. Constructive Possession - ☑☑The ability to exercise control over property or objects, even though they are not in one's physical custody For example, if one's car is sitting in one's driveway, one has physical possession of the car. However, any person with the key has constructive possession, as they may take physical possession at any time without further consent from one. Omission to Act - ☑☑An intentional or unintentional failure to act, which may impose criminal liability if a duty to act under the circumstances is specified by law i.e., relationship, statute, contract, assumption of care, creation of peril, duty to control conduct, landowner duty ome examples: failing to file a required tax return, failing to register locally as a convicted felon, failure of a parent to obtain medical help for a child, failure to stop after a vehicle collision, failure to rescue someone fallen overboard from your ship. Other examples are a bit harder to spot: failure to stop someone who is beating your child, failing to rescue a comrade injured in a remote wilderness (murder?). Failure to maintain fire safety in a nightclub has resulted in indictments for criminal manslaughter when deaths occur from a fire. There may be a difference in punishment between negligent omissions and reckless or intentional omissions. The legal duty to act may arise from the relationship with the victim (parents), or relationship with the criminal (parents, employees), or by statute/ordinance (specific definitions of required acts), contract (e.g., crossing guard), land ownership (pollution, security for visitors), intentional creation of danger (punched someone in the street and left him to be run over), or by voluntary assumption of the duty (guardians). Extortion and Blackmail - ☑☑Threat made for the purpose of illegally acquiring money or other things of valueMens Rea - ☑☑The specific mental state of the defendant at the time of the crime; a guilty mind. Two forms of mens rea are general and specific intent General Intent - ☑☑The form of intent that can be assumed from the defendant's behavior. General intent refers to an actor's physical conduct Such as involuntary manslaughter or negligent homicide. Also, Battery is a general intent offense. If a defendant commits a battery that results in harm to the victim, it does not matter if the defendant did not intend the harm. Suppose a defendant struck a victim in the leg with an axe. The defendant intended to frighten the victim into complying with his request to not trespass on his property. Later, the victim died from a resulting infection. At common law, the defendant committed a general-intent crime Specific Intent - ☑☑A thoughtful, conscious intention to perform a specific act in order to achieve a particular result Transferred Intent - ☑☑A legal construction by which an unintended act that results from intentional action undertaken in the commission of a crime may also be illegal Examples: With malice aforethought Nate Nogood intends to shoot his girlfriend and misses her, and the bullet hits a passerby, killing him. Nogood may be charged with first degree murder since the intent to commit murder is transferred to the actual crime. Steve Swinger takes a punch at Harvey Hasgood, his hated enemy, misses Hasgood and hits Hasgood's date, Teri Truehart in the nose, breaking it. Truehart can not only sue Swinger for damages due to the assault, but can claim punitive damages because the malice against Hasgood attaches to the hit upon Truehart. Purposeful Mens Rea - ☑☑Equivalent of specific intent at the common law; a desire to cause the outcome that resulted (requires more than an awareness than"knowing" that the result is likely; it requires the actor to want it to happen Example: She needed to be taught a lesson for roaming carelessly in the street. If it cost her her life, then so be it Inference - ☑☑A conclusion drawn from other facts. Juries often infer intent from a defendant's behaviorMotive - ☑☑A person's reason for committing a crime. NOT the same as mens rea! Strict Liability Crime "absolute liability offenses" - ☑☑A violation of law for which one may incur criminal liability without fault or intention. Strict liability offenses do NOT require mens rea. Strict Liability - ☑☑Liability without fault or intention. Routine traffic offenses are generally considered strict liability offenses that do not require intent and may even be committed by drivers who are not consciously aware of what they are doing. Statutory rape provides another example of the concept of strict liability, with one person under the age of legal content. Another example of strict liability is selling