POLS 140 Quiz 3 - Chapter 8: Criminal Law

criminal law

a branch of law dealing with crimes and their punishments (crime is an offense against the public)

mala in se

bad in and of itself, inherently bad crime (murder)

mala prohibita

crime because we don’t want people to not follow the law (running a stop sign)

property crimes

burglary, arson, vandalism

white collar crimes

fraud, pyramid schemes

constitutional limitations on law

a law cannot be over-broad or vague, no ex post facto or bills of attainder, right to privacy, equal protection clause, eighth amendment

proportionality

punishment has to fit the crime

elements of a crime

actus reus and mens reus

actus reus

the guilty act

mens rea

the guilty mind

motive

why someone committed an act

levels of criminal liability (highest to lowest)

intent, knowing, reckless, negligence

acting intentionally

one performed an act on purpose with intent to accomplish a result

acting knowingly

one is consciously aware that a result is practically certain

acting recklessly

one consciously disregards a substantial and unjustified risk

acting negligently

one fails to exercise a reasonable standard of care

strict liability

intent is assumed; it does not matter whether you intended to or not (traffic offenses, selling liquor to minors, sexual contact with minors)

why have strict liability crimes

in order to make sure individuals get justice over situations they should know better on

inchoate crimes

offenses based on crimes not yet completed (solicitation, conspiracy, attempt)

doctrine of complicity

everyone who joins the crime (in any fashion) is as guilty as if they had committed the crime alone

solicitation

to ask, hire, or encourage another to commit a crime

conspiracy

an agreement between two or more conspirators takes significant action in furtherance of the intended criminal objective

attempt

if one intends to commit a criminal offense and does an act that tends to corroborate the intent, but does not complete the criminal offense

criminal defenses

it is the states duty to provide all elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt

reasonable doubt

most common strategy; simply cast doubt on any/all aspects of the prosecution’s case (e.g., reliability of witness, chain of evidence, illegally obtained confession)

alibi

it couldn’t have been the defendant because they were somewhere else other than the crime scene

self-defense

one has the right to defend one’s self… amount of force used must be proportional mto the nature of the threat

defense of others

one can use force in defense of others if they cannot defend themselves; same level of force that they could lawfully use

stand your ground rule

if someone is going to use force on you, you are not required to retreat, even if you can

castle doctrine

if you’re in your home, you’re not required to retreat ever

defense of property

this is limited… generally, deadly force is not allowed

necessity (choice-of-evils)

yes, one committed the act, but it was to prevent a greater evil (e.g., breaking into a mountain cabin during a snowstorm to keep from freezing to death)

dures

one committed the act, but one was pressured into it (e.g., threatened)

mistake of fact

if one takes a coat out of a restaurant that looks like theirs but isn’t, they’ve made a reasonable mistake of fact (no mens rea)

entrapment

getting someone to commit crimes they would not otherwise commit; merely providing the opportunity to commit a crime is not entrapment

involuntary intoxication

voluntary intoxication is generally not a defense

syndromes (battered women’s syndrome or PTSD)

the idea behind these is that sometimes people are subjected to conditions that are so traumatic they lose the capacity to control their actions (no mens rea)

insanity

if one is suffering from some type of mental illness or defect, one cannot have the requisite mens rea to commit a crime

infancy

children are generally not assumed to be capable of forming criminal intent; this becomes a rebuttable presumption as they get older

criminal procedure

since the criminal justice system is designed to punish people and potentially deprive them of their liberty, we need to ensure that they receive due process (process must be fair)

arrest

the physical taking into custody of someone believed to have committed a crime; force can be used as long as it is reasonable

probable cause

facts that would lead a reasonably intelligent person to believe that an offense has been committed and that the person accused committed it

custodial interrogation

confessions are great; the fifth amendment places limitations on police

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

miranda rights; trying to determine when one is in “custody” and when miranda warnings are necessary can be tricky