CCJS230 Exam II The Book terms

Born alive rule

the rule that to be a person, and therefore a homicide victim, a baby had to be "born alive" and capable of breathing and maintaining a heartbeat on its own

Feticide

killing a fetus

murder

killing a person with "malice aforethought"

manslaughter

killing a person without malice aforethought

Justifiable Homicide

Killing in self-defense, capital punishment, and law enforcement use of deadly force

Excusable Homicide

Killings done by someone "not of sound memory and discretion" (insane and immature)

criminal homicide

All homicides that are neither justified nor excused

malice aforethought

originally the mental state of intentional killing, with some amount of spite, hate, or bad will, planned in advance of the killing

depraved heart murder

extremely reckless killings

intent to cause serious bodily injury murder

no intent to kill is required when a victim dies following acts triggered by the intent to inflict serious bodily injury short of death

serious bodily injury

bodily injury that involves a substantial risk of death; protracted unconsciousness; extreme physical pain; protracted or obvious disfigurement; or protracted loss or substantial impairment of a function of a bodily member, organ or mental faculty

"express" malice aforethought

killings that fit the original meaning of "murder"— intentional killings planned in advance

"implied" malice aforethought

intentional killings without premeditation or reasonable provocation; unintentional killings during the commission of felonies; depraved heart killings; and intent to inflict grievous bodily harm killings

murder actus reus

the act of killing by poisoning, striking, starving, drowning, and a thousand other forms by which human nature can be overcome

murder mens rea

can include purposeful, knowing, or reckless killing

First-degree murder

consists of (1) premeditated, deliberate intent to kill murders and (2) felony murders; the only crime today in which the death penalty can be imposed

capital cases

death penalty cases in death penalty states and "mandatory life sentence without parole" cases in non- death penalty states

bifurcation procedure

the requirement that the death penalty decision be made in two phases: a trial to determine guilt and a second separate proceeding, after a finding of guilt, to consider the aggravating factors for, and mitigating factors against, capital punishment

deadly weapon doctrine

one who intentionally uses a deadly weapon on another human being and thereby kills him presumably intends to kill him

second-degree murders

murders that aren't first-degree murders, including intentional murders that weren't premeditated or deliberate, felony murders, intent to inflict serious bodily injury murders, and depraved heart murders

felony murder rule

unintentional deaths that occur during the commission of some felonies are murders

manslaughter

an ancient common law crime created by judges, not by legislators, consisting of two crimes: voluntarily or involuntarily killing another person

voluntary manslaughter

suddenly and intentionally killing another person in the heat of anger following adequate provocation; elements include murder actus reus, mens rea, causation, and death

adequate provocation

the requirement that the provocation for killing in anger has to be something the law recognizes, the defendant himself had to be provoked, and that a reasonable person would have been provoked

Mutual Combat (Fighting)

Only serious fights qualify as adequate provocation; scuf- fles don't. Some batteries—but not all offensive touching—are adequate provocation. Being pistol whipped on the head, being struck hard in the face by fists, or enduring "staggering" body blows qualify. Being slapped or shoved doesn't.

Assault and Battery

Assault without body contact is sometimes adequate provocation. In Beasley v. State (1886), a man shot at Beasley and missed him. Beasley was so enraged he shot his attacker in the back as the assailant ran away. The court ruled the shot in the back wasn't justified as self-defense, but the initial incident was provocative enough to reduce murder to manslaughter.

Trespass

Trespassing is adequate provocation only if the trespassers invade a home and threaten someone with death.

Adultery

Almost everywhere spouses who catch their spouse in an act of adultery are reasonably provoked. In most states, the law extends to spouses who reason- ably believe their spouses are committing adultery, even though they don't see it happening, or it's not true.

objective test of cooling- off time

requires that a reasonable person under the same circumstances would have had time to cool off

"words can never provoke" rule

the rule that words are never adequate provocation to reduce murder to manslaughter

"last-straw" rule (also called the "long smoldering" or "slow burn" rule)

adequate provocation defined as "a smoldering resentment or pent- up rage resulting from earlier insults or humiliating events culminating in a triggering event that, by itself, might be insufficient to provoke the deadly act"

extreme mental or emotional disturbance manslaughter

a homicide committed under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse. The reasonableness of such explanation or excuse shall be determined from the viewpoint of the person in the actor's situation under the circumstances as he believes them to be

Paramour rule

the common law rule that a husband who caught his wife in the act of adultery had adequate provocation to kill

gay panic

based on "the theory that a person with latent homosexual tendencies will have an extreme and uncontrollably violent reaction when confronted with a homosexual proposition"

emotion-act distinction

separating the emotions that led to a killing from the question of whether it was reasonable

act reasonableness

meaning "a finding that a reasonable person in the defendant's shoes would have responded as violently as the defendant did"

emotional reasonableness

a finding that "the defendant's emotional outrage or passion was reasonable

involuntary manslaughter

an unintentional killing (mens rea) by a voluntary act or omission (actus reus)

criminal negligence manslaughter

death caused by a person who is aware that her acts create a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death or serious bodily injury, but acts anyway

unlawful act manslaughter or misdemeanor manslaughter

unintended deaths occurring during the commission of nonhomicide offenses

malum prohibitum crime

death has to be a foreseeable consequence of the unlawful act; the act is unlawful only because it's prohibited by a specific statute or ordinance

euthanasia

helping another person to die

presumption of bodily integrity

a state can't exercise power over individual members of society except to prevent harm to others

aggravated rape

rape by strangers or individuals with weapons who physically injure their victims

unarmed acquaintance rape

nonconsensual sex between individuals who are known to one another

common law rape

intentional forced heterosexual vaginal penetration by a man of a woman who isn't his wife

corroboration rule

an element in rape that the prosecution had to prove rape by the testimony of witnesses other than the victim

rape shield statutes

statutes that prohibit introducing evidence of victims' past conduct

prompt-reporting rule

requires that rape victims report the rape soon after it occurs

rape actus reus

Sexual penetration by force or threat of force

rape mens rea

Intentional sexual penetration

rape circumstance

Nonconsent by the victim

force and resistance rule

provided that victims had to prove to the courts that they didn't consent to rape by demonstrating that they resisted the force of the rapist

utmost resistance standard

requirement that rape victims had to use all the physical strength they had to prevent penetration

reasonable resistance rule

provides that the amount of force required to repel rapists shows nonconsent in rape prosecutions

extrinsic force

in rape cases, requires some force in addition to the amount needed to accomplish the penetration

intrinsic force

in rape, requires only the amount of force necessary to accomplish the penetration

subjective fear

means that the victim honestly feared imminent and serious bodily harm

objective fear

means that the fear was reasonable under the circumstances

fraud in the fact

in rape, occurs when the rapist fraudulently convinces his victim that the act consented to was something other than sexual intercourse

fraud in the inducement

in rape, occurs when the fraud is in the benefits promised, not in the act

honest and reasonable mistake rule

a negligence mental element in rape cases in which the defendant argues that he honestly, but mistakenly, believed the victim consented to sex

statutory rape

to have carnal knowledge of a person under the age of consent whether or not accomplished by force

defense of reasonable mistake of age

a defense to statutory rape in California and Alaska if the defendant reasonably believed his victim was at or over the age of consent

simple rape

also known as second-degree rape, it's rape committed without aggravated circumstances

battery

unwanted and unjustified offensive touching

assault

an attempt to commit battery or intentionally putting another in fear

stalking

intentionally scaring another person by following, tormenting, or harassing

attempted battery assault

consists of having the specific intent to commit battery and taking substantial steps toward carrying it out without actually completing the attempt

intentional scaring

threatened battery assault (sometimes called "intentional scaring") requires only that actors intend to frighten their victims, thus expanding assault beyond attempted battery

conditional threats

threats based upon the existence of certain conditions that don't presently exist aren't enough to satisfy the mens rea of assault because they're not immediate

cyberstalking

, the use of the Internet, email, or other electronic communication devices to stalk another person through threatening behavior

right of locomotion

the right to come and go without restraint

kidnapping

the taking and carrying away of another person with the intent to deprive the other person of personal liberty

false imprisonment

depriving others of their personal liberty without the asportation requirement

culpability or blameworthiness

the idea that it's fair and just to punish only people we can blame

cause in fact (also called "factual cause" or "but for causation")

the objective determination that the defendant's act triggered a chain of events that ended as the harmful result, such as the death in a homicide

legal cause

the subjective judgment that it's fair and just to blame the defendant for the bad result

mens rea

Latin for guilty mind, the mental element (also called "criminal intent," "evil mind," "mental attitude," or "state of mind") in crime

motive

something that causes a person to act

subjective fault

fault that requires a "bad mind" in the actor

objective fault

requires no purposeful or conscious bad mind in the actor

strict liability

liability without either subjective or objective fault

general intent

the intent to commit the criminal act as defined in a statute

specific intent

, subjective fault; it refers to criminal intent in addition to the criminal act

general intent "plus"

where "general intent" refers to the intent to commit the actus reus of the crime, and "plus" refers to some "special mental element" in addition to the intent to commit the criminal act

purposely

the mental attitude that a person acts purposely with respect to a material element of an offense when, if the element involves the nature of his conduct or a result thereof, it is his conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result

knowingly

the mental attitude that a person acts knowingly with respect to a material element of an offense when: (1) if the element involves the nature of his conduct or the attendant circumstances, he is aware that his conduct is of that nature or that such circumstances exist; and (2) if the element involves a result of his conduct, he is aware that it is practically certain that his conduct will cause such a result

recklessly

the mental attitude that a person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree, that considering the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to him, its disregard involves a gross standard of conduct that a law abiding person would observe in the actor's situation

negligently

the mental attitude that a person acts negligently with respect to a material element of an offense when he should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the actor's failure to perceive it, considering the nature and purpose of his conduct and the circumstances known to him, involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation

principle of concurrence

some mental fault has to trigger the criminal act in conduct crimes and the cause in result crimes

causation

holding an actor criminally accountable for the results of her conduct

factual cause

also called "but for" cause or "cause in fact"; if it weren't for an actor's conduct, the result wouldn't have occurred

legal ("proximate") cause

a subjective question that asks, "Is it fair to blame the defendant for the harm triggered by a chain of events her action(s) set in motion?"

intervening cause

an event that comes between the initial act in a sequence and the end result

proximate cause of a death

has traditionally been defined in criminal cases as "a cause which, in natural and continuous sequence, produces the death, and without which the death would not have occurred."

superseding cause

an intervening act or force that the law considers sufficient to override the cause for which the original wrongdoer was responsible

failure of proof defense

mistake defenses in which defendants usually present enough evidence to raise a reasonable doubt that the prosecution has proved the mens rea required for criminal liability

cybercrime

crimes aimed at the valuable information contained in computers and wireless devices, especially computer databases accessible through the Internet

robbery

taking property by force or the threat of force—a violent crime against persons and their property