Crim Law

MPC General Rule

To be guilty of a crime one must meet the: 1) the requirement of a voluntary act, 2) a requirement of culpability under 2.02, and 3) causation elements linking the voluntary act to the culpable state of mind to the social harm.

Common Law General Rule

In order to be found guilty of a crime there must be 1) actus reus, a voluntary act or omission; (2) mens rea, the state of mind or intent of defendant; and (3) causation elements, linking the actus reus and mens rea to the prohibited social harm.

Common Law Actus Reus

actus reus is either a voluntary act, a consious, willed bodily movement, or an omission, a failure to act where there was a legal duty to do so. A duty to act arises by 1) a statute 2) special relationship 3) voluntary assumption of care 4) a contract, or 5) defendant created the danger.

MPC Voluntary Act and Omission

a person is not guilty of an offense unless his liability is based on conduct which includes a voluntary act or the omission to perform an act of which he is physically capable. voluntary acts are not reflexes, convulsions, unconscious bodily movement, conduct during hypnosis, or a bodily movement that otherwise is not a product of the effort or determination of the actor. Liability for the commission of an offense may not be based on an omission unaccompanied by action unless the omission is expressly made sufficient by the law defining the offense; or a duty to perform the omitted act is otherwise imposed by law.

MPC Culpability

a defendant must act with the required mens rea, meaning a guilty mind. Under the MPC, the four culpable mental states are purposely, knowingly, recklessly, and negligently.

Common Law Mens Rea: Specific Intent

specific intent requires that the defendant had 1) an intent to perform the prohibited act and 2) intent to cause the prohibited harm.

Common law Mens Rea: General Intent

general intent requires that the defendant had an intent to perform the prohibited act but not necessarily any specific result.

MPC Purposely

a defendant acts purposely if 1) his conscious object is to engage in prohibited conduct or cause a prohibited result, or 2) for a crime defined by the attendant circumstances, he knows, believes, or hopes, those circumstances exist.

MPC Knowingly

a defendant acts knowingly if he is aware that 1) his act is of a specific nature, 2) particular circumstances exist, or 3) if an element of a crime is that a particular result must occur, it is practically certain that his conduct will cause that result.

MPC Recklessly

a person acts recklessly if she consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that an element of the crime exists or will result from her conduct. The disregard must be a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in the situation.

MPC Negligently

a person acts negligently if they should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that an element of the crime exists or will result from his conduct. The failure to perceive the risk must be a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.

Strict Liability

strict-liability offenses impose criminal liability without any proof of fault. the MPC imposes strict liability only for 1) violations and 2) statutory rape.

Concurrence of Act and Intent

the defendant must have the necessary mens rea at the time of the actus reus.

Mistake

A mistake of fact does not absolve a defendant of criminal liability if it negates the required mens rea. A mistake of law does not absolve a defendant of criminal liability if the defendant mistakenly believed that his conduct was not a crime when in fact it was a crime.

Intoxication

In some jurisdictions, a defendant may assert an intoxication defense if he was intoxicated when he committed a crime. MPC allows intoxication defense where it negates any element of the crime.

Voluntary Intoxication

intoxication is voluntary if the defendant deliberately ingests substances that they know or should know tend to cause intoxication.

Causation

If a crime is defined by a particular result, the defendants conduct must be both the actual and proximate cause of that result. a defendant’s conduct is an actual cause if the harm would not have occurred “but-for” the defendant’s conduct. a defendant’s actions are a proximate cause of a harm if the harm is a natural, probable, and foreseeable consequence of those actions.

Superseding Cause

A superseding cause is an independent unforeseeable intervening cause that is so unexpected or abnormal that it breaks the chain of causation.

Intervening Cause

An intervening cause is an independent force that operates in producing a social harm but which only comes into play after the defendant’s voluntary act has been committed or his omission has occurred.

Common Law Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing of a living person with malice aforethought. the defendant’s act must be the actual and proximate cause of the victim’s death.

Common Law Malice aforethought

Malice aforethought describes 1) intent to kill, 2) intent to cause serious bodily injury, 3) depraved heart, reckless indifference to the value of human life, and 4) imputed mens read, if a death results from the commission of a particular felony.

Common Law First-Degree Murder

first degree murder is a killing with malice aforethought, premeditation and deliberation OR felony-murder

Common Law Second-Degree Murder

second degree murder is any killing with malice aforethought that does not qualify as first degree murder

Common Law Felony-Murder

if the killing occurs during and in furtherance of the commission or attempted commission of a felony. the underlying felony must be distinct from the killing itself. the felony-murder rule only applies to inherently dangerous felonies. inherently dangerous felonies are those that by nature pose a high risk of injury or death.

MPC Murder

Murder is a criminal homicide committed purposely, knowingly, or recklessly, and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.

Common Law Voluntary Manslaughter

the intentional killing of a human being in the heat of passion generated by adequate provocation, if the killing occurs before a reasonable cooling-off period has elapsed.

MPC Manslaughter

manslaughter is a criminal homicide committed recklessly and without circumstances

Common Law Involuntary Manslaughter

Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another without malice aforethought. An actor is guilty of involuntary manslaughter if the killing involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that reasonable people would exercise in the same situation.