NCCC 21 Ch 10 - Crimes, Accomplices, and Defenses

Mala prohibita

Wrong because it is prohibited.

Intoxication

A state in which a person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol—a defense that rarely works.

Accomplice

Anyone who takes part with another in the commission of a crime.

Mens rea

Criminal intent.

Accessory after the fact

One who receives, relieves, comforts, or assists another with knowledge that the other has committed a felony.

Alibi

A defense that places the defendant in a different place than the crime scene so that it would have been impossible for him or her to commit the crime.

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

The first federal legislation to respond to the increase of computer crime, amended seven times since its passage in 1986.

Principal in the first degree

One who actually commits a felony.

Principal in the second degree

One who did not commit the crime, but was present, aiding and abetting another in the commission of a felony.

Plain view doctrine

The principle which asserts that search warrant is not needed for a police officer to seize items that are in plain view of where the police officer is lawfully situated.

Petty larceny

Larceny that is a misdemeanor rather than a felony. Also called petit larceny.

High treason

Acts against the king (under the English common law).

Stop and frisk rule

A rule that allows police officers who believe that a person is acting suspiciously and could be armed to stop and frisk that person for weapons, without a search warrant.

Strict liability

Liability for an act that causes harm, without regard to fault or negligence. Also called absolute liability.

Aiding and abetting

Participating in a crime by giving assistance or encouragement.

Petit treason

Acts against one's master or lord (under the English common law).

Hot pursuit doctrine

The principle that a search warrant is not needed when police pursue a fleeing suspect into a private area.

Penal laws

Laws that impose a penalty or punishment for a wrong against society.

Insanity

A defense available to mentally ill defendants who can prove that they did not know the nature and quality of their actions or did not appreciate the criminality of their conduct.

Mala in se

Wrong in and of itself.

Accessory before the fact

One who procures, counsels, or commands another to commit a felony, but who is not present when the felony is committed.

Cybercrimes

Criminal activity associated with a computer.

Drug trafficking

The unauthorized manufacture or distribution of any controlled substance, or the possession of such a substance with the intention of manufacturing or distributing it illegally.

Suicide

The deliberate taking of one’s own life.

Model Penal Code

Created by the American Law Institute, this serves as the template for many states' criminal codes, and breaks from the common law doctrine. For example, it makes an accessory liable only for those acts that were contemplated by the perpetrator, as opposed to those acts which were foreseeable from the plan.

Deadly weapon

An item that is, from the way it is used, capable of causing death or serious bodily injury. Also called dangerous weapon.

Fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine

A court-created rule holding that evidence generated or derived from an illegal search or seizure cannot be used at the trial of a defendant.

Stalking

The willful, malicious, and repeated following, harassing, and threatening of another person, intended to place the person in fear of death or serious bodily injury.

Computer fraud

Use of a computer to obtain money, property, or services by false pretenses.

Foreseeable

Known in advance; anticipated; likely to occur.

Check

A draft that is drawn on a bank and payable on demand.

Ex post facto

After the fact.

Good faith exception to the exclusionary rule

Evidence that is discovered by officers acting in good faith, but under the mistaken belief that a search was valid, and that can be used at the trial of a defendant.

Illegal profiling

A law enforcement action, such as a detention or arrest, based solely on race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.

Entrapment

A defense that may be used when a law enforcement induces a person to commit a crime that the person would not have otherwise committed.

Cyberlaw

The area of law that involves computers and their related problems.

Exclusionary rule

A court-created doctrine holding that evidence obtained by an unconstitutional search or seizure cannot be used at the trial of a defendant.

Self-defense

A valid excuse for the use of force in resisting attack, especially for killing an assailant.

Actus reus

A voluntary act.

Strict liability crime

A crime that has no criminal intent element. It was created to protect the public from acts thought to be so dangerous as to be categorized as crimes, regardless of the intent of the actor.

Constructively

Made so by legal interpretation.

Incarceration

Confinement.