crim outline

actus reus

guilty hand

voluntary acts

speech and bodily movements, acts duress, habitual acts

time framing

courts can look back to find a voluntary act

actual possession

physical control

constructive possession

knowledge of the item, control over location, intent to control, extends to shared spaces

legal duties for omission liability

SCRAP- statute, contract, relationship, assumption of risk, peril you created

involuntary acts

reflex, sleepwalking, hypnosis (MPC), convulsions, forced actions; acts are assumed to be voluntary

mens rea

mental state

specific intent

intended the result, purpose/knowledge required

general intent

awareness of conduct, reckless/negligence required

MPC purposely

conscious objective

MPC knowingly

practically certain

MPC recklessly

subjective- defendant aware of risk
objective- risk substantial, disregard unreasonable

MPC negligently

defendant should have known of the risk

willful blindness

defendant knowingly avoided learning the truth

hate crimes

require but-for causation

mistake of fact

negates specific intent

mistake of law

does not negate mental state, even if reasonable

intoxication

specific- lack of capacity defense when the defendant is too intoxicated to form intent

insanity

temporary- no defense
fixed- complete defense but involuntary commitment

elements of provocation

actually provoked, reasonable person provoked, no cooling off, reasonable person wouldn’t cool off

MPC extreme mental or emotional disturbance (EMED)

applies to all but negligent killings when a person is suffering from EMED;

felony murder causation requirement

actual- “but for” the felony, death would not have occurred
proximate- the death was a foreseeable result of the felony

MPC felony murder

rebuttable presumption- jury can presume recklessness from BARRK felony but defendant can rebut it

elements of reckless killings

conscious disregard of the risk, substantial risk (magnitude of harm x probability of harm), unjustifiable risk, gross deviation from the reasonable person standard of care

MPC involuntary manslaughter

requires recklessness- a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk

MPC “extreme recklessness” murder

extreme indifference to human life