Crim Law CASES

Regina v. Dudley

retribution. The stranded on the ocean case. Court said its mainly punishment for retribution but there is also general deterrence in the fact that's cannibalism always treated bad so other people won't do it

Robinson

Man is a habitual drug user. Court said it can not be a crime to be an addict

Kellogg

guy who is a homeless man urges that punishment for being an alcoholic which he can not control is cruel and unusual. Court says conviction is not for being an alcoholic but rather being intoxicated in a public place like near a highway where he could endanger others so conviction is okay

Powell

guy liked to drink and go places while drunk. Court said " being an addict is not a crime but what you do after drinking or drugs can be"

In Re Joseph

Suicide pact where one drove a car off a cliff. looked more like a double suicide rather than the D taking an active role in the death of Joseph

Stark

general intent. contractor using money from one job to pay debts on another. Court says it does not matter what the funds were used for or why, general intent applies and the only mens rea needed was to misuse the funds willfully

Sargent

general intent plus. Father shaking his baby and drops him. Statute requires 1) conduct must be willful and 2) under the circumstance that are likely to result in great harm Court says for direct abuse the defendant needs general intent to commit the act (shaking), but there needs to be an additional objective component (general intent plus

Frey

specific intent. Statute: "Whoever knowingly and willfully resists, obstructs, or opposes any officer..... In the lawful execution of any legal duty, by offering or doing violence to the person of such officer, is guilty of a felony." Holding: sees no heightened intent for the crime in the statute

Schminkey

specific intent. One guy accidentally steals another guys car while drunk and does not intend to keep the car. Court said per the statute he did not know what he was doing was theft which is stealing with the intent to permanently deprive. He only intended to joyride, and not to permanently deprive

Bergdahl

specific intent. soldier abandons his post to go help other soldiers who are pinned down. Military statute included terms "intent to avoid hazardous duty." He did not intend to avoid hazards but rather help soldiers in danger

Ogilvie

MOF General intent. Soldier charged with bigamy because he believed he was divorced and remarried. He could not show that his mistake was honest and reasonable because a reasonable person would have checked to see if his divorce was final

Binegar

MOF Specific intent. military contact lenses case where the soldier was charged with stealing contact lenses which is a specific intent crime. Court said its a valid mistake of facts because his honestly believed what he was doing was not a crime because his superiors told him to do it

Marrero

Mistake of law. Piece officers only allowed to carry guns in social clubs, off duty corrections officers though it applied to him. Mistake of meaning does not invalidate criminal charges

Darab

mistake of law. group charged with unlawful entry of a mosque because they had a bona fide religious belief they could not be asked to leave. Religious beliefs do not amount to mistake of law

Varszegi

mistake of law. landlord charged with larceny for taking equipment from a tenant who did not pay which was in the contract. Larceny required felonious intent and he relied in good faith on the contract

Lodge

strict liability. kid driving his dads truck with an open container in the car. The legislature left out intent in the statute so assume strict liability

Ducker

strict liability. Mother who left her children in the car to see a guy and they died of heat stroke. She could have reasonably knew leaving kids in a car (conduct) for 9 hours could lead to death (result)

Dotterweich

strict liability. Company shipped non-conforming drugs and FDA said principle officer can be strictly liable. Statute had no mens rea so found against defendant

Morrissette

strict liability. Guy went into an old air force bombing range and took old parts for sale. Statute said knowing for conversion of government property so no strict liability

Rehaif

strict liability. Statute says illegal aliens can not possess firearms. Court said the "knowingly" part of statute applied to resident status and the possession of the firearm

Luke

property crime. defendant enters the wrong building complex looking for elderly friend and is arrested for trespass because they think he has drugs. Court said Luke believed was licenced to enter and mistook the building as the right one. statute had a knowingly" portion so no mens rea for defendant

Ligon

property crime. defendant challenging the NY.Y stop and frisk practice. Court allowed trespass injunction to be dismissed

Keeton

property crime. Guy robs a convenience store and the cashier blocks the door and Keeton goes through him. Court said that robbery contains larceny with assault and cashier could reasonably been apprehensive of a battery

Hunte

drug crimes. road trip to pick up drugs and she never actually touched the drugs. Court said the fact one person leads and the others follow does not mean only the leader has possession. Court read in constructive possession

Whitaker

drug crimes. defendant has 9 pounds of meth in his bed and the statute has a minimum of a kilo. Court rejects knowingly component to be for quantity of drugs

Ryan

drug crimes. defendant ordered a "shit load" of mushrooms and was ratted out by a friend. Court said knowingly should apply to amount

Whatley

drug crimes. defendant has 3.2 grams of coke within 1000 feet from a church which he did not know was a "youth organization. " Court said he should have known because there were visibly kids at the church it could be considered a youth organization too

Kimbrough

drug crimes. Crack and powder cocaine carry different sentences. defendant has crack and sentenced for almost 3X longer than powder. Court said its an abuse of discretion to sentence for longer for crack

Pinkerton

conspiracy. One brother in jail and the other running an illegal distillery. Both charged and brother in jails argues he could not be a conspirator. Court says each conspirator is criminally liable for all crimes committed by co-conspirators, if those crimes were committed in furtherance of the conspiracy

Colon

conspiracy. guy going to buy drugs and police arrest him for conspiracy. Court says it was just a buyer seller relationship

Ruiz

conspiracy. defendant helped an undercover agent buy drugs because she thought that if she helped the government would let her son off the hook. Court allowed the mistake of fact defense because it could negate the mens rea

McElroy

legal impossibility. Guy admits to having amphetamine but turns out not to be. Argued legal impossibility because they were not drugs. Court says legal impossibility is an okay defense but factual impossibility is not

Acosta

abandonment. Guy was buying drugs but declined them because they were not good enough but said he would wait for others. Court said he did not abandon the crime because he only postponed it

Romero

aiding and abetting. CI picks up defendant who was bringing him to a drug dealer where Romero received $200 for facilitation. Court said he knowingly participated in the possession and selling of coke

Lopez

rape. defendant had sex with a 17 y/o who said she did not want to. Asked for a mistake of fact defense for her consent. Court said no mistake of fact defense and even if its a general intent crime so would not have been honest and reasonable

Clay

rape. Plaintiff invites 3 men into her dorm room and they all have sex with her. Said this was a close call for a rape charge and intermediate court erred in overturning the dissmisal of the case

Smith

rape. defendant had sex with the plaintiff while she was unconscious from consumption of alcohol. Statute said if defendant knew they were incapable of giving consent because of substance ingestion there is not defense

Carter

CL Homicide causation. girlfriend tells boyfriend to go through with suicide. a defendant's conduct is a proximate cause of death if the conduct, "by the nature and continuous sequence of events, causes the death and without which the death would not have occurred."

Robertson

CL Homicide forgeability. Defendant running from officer where officer falls off a bridge and dies. Charged with second degree murder. The officer's death was a foreseeable from pursuing a suspect

Carlson

CL Homicide forgeability. Defendant blew a stop sign and put a woman who already had respiratory issues in critical condition where she refused to be kept alive on a ventilator. Court said is was foreseeable that that she would refuse medical services and "you take them as you find them"

Porter

CL implied malice. 2 guys in a bar fight where the defendant kept hitting him while he was down and he died. Implied malice because it was intentional and a disregard for human life

Robinson

CL Involuntary manslaughter. Father fighting kids and a kid kills the father with a golf club. Argues he should not get second degree but rather involuntary manslaughter. Court said not second degree because its reserved for extreme indifference for human life which this is not

Billa

CL Felony murder. Guys trying to commit insurance fraud by burning his truck and one ends up lighting fire. making felons strictly liable for deaths deters felons from killing negligently or accidentally, thus furthering the purpose of the felony-murder rule. All three conspirators were acting in furtherance of the conspiracy, including committing the acts that resulted in Bhardwaj (decedent) death

Clark

aiding and abetting murder. Woman made a fake phone call to the police to lure them to a certain spot where one was shot and killed. She could properly be charged for aiding and abetting premeditated murder

Goetz

reasonability. defendant shoots four black youths who he says tried to rob him and were armed with only screwdrivers and tried to escape. Courts says,To allow use of force when genuinely reasonable to defendant would allow citizens to set their own standards for permissible use. There has to be an objective standard not just subjective

Gartland

retreat. Woman shoots her long time abusive husband in her sep bedroom. N.J. has a cohabitant retreats policy. Court says Even if deadly force is permissible the actor still has the duty to retreat from the scene if the actor can do so safely

Mobley

stand your ground. Guy leaves Chili's and two guys from a previous verbal altercation confront him trying to fight and he shoots. Florida has a stand your ground rule so he did not have to try and retreat first

Kahler

Kansa only uses M'Naghten "cognitive capacity" prongSupreme court holds that kansas can allow a person to be convicted despite their inability, due to mental disease or defect, to recognize the wrongfulness of their conduct (in other words, D can be convicted if you just prove one prong. D knew what he was doing was wrong

Arriola

insanity. Defendant severely mentally disturbed and shot and killed a police officer. He had been hospitalized numerous times before the event. If a defendant proves by clear and convincing evidence either prong 1) that he cannot appreciate the nature of his acts OR 2) that he cannot appreciate the wrongfulness of his act - he has met the burden of the insanity defense. Tennessee says a defendant need only prove one of these prongs to be successful in his insanity defense

Clines

recidivist. D sentenced under two of the four recidivist categories and argues he can only be charged under one of them because of double jeopardy. The supreme court held you can not be in two categories, you have to be in one or the other

Ewing

recidivist. Guy with a long rap sheet steals golf clubs and is sentenced to 9 years under Cali 3 strikes rule. Asks for a reduction. The sentence imposed under CA's 3 strikes law does not violate the constitution's 8th amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment

McCleskey

death penalty. Confesses to the robbery and killing of a white police officer. It is felony murder. He is sentenced to death. His argument itself is facially discriminatory and cites the Balda study (shows racial disparity in death penalty). There is racism in the legal system and it does not mean they are not going to allow georgia to have the death penalty

Glossip

death penalty. DP has not evolved to become more equitable
DP is still arbitrarily applied
DP is not reliable (wrongful convictions)
Lengthy delays undermines retributive purpose

Carroll

Premeditation. U.S. vet who comes back from deployment and tells his wife he needs to leave again. They get into a fight and a few hours later he kills his wife at 3 A.M. Court says first degree because premeditation can happen in a short amount of time

Wooton

sexual assault manager of a strip club is charged with pimping and pandering which includes lewd acts of the genitals touching after undercover agents payed for sexual acts. Court said managers did not know this form of touching can not rise to the lewd acts under the statute for pimping and pandering