Law - Unit 3 test

Criminal Law

Crime

Any or omission of an act or failure to act that is punishable by federal state

What four conditions must be true to be considered a crime HARV

• Harm must be serious(physical, emotional, mental, verbal)

• Action must be considered wrong by society

• Remedy is handled by the justice system

• Violation causes harm to other people, society, or those in need of protection

Main purposes of criminal law

• Protection of people and property

• Preserving society’s standards

• Provide order

What are the 4 types of crime

Indictable offenses - Major, serious offences that can be life sntences like murder

Summary offenses - Less serious crime, less punishment up to 2 years in prison eg trepassing

Hybrid offences - Crown has a choice to charge with either indictable of summary, eg stealing 500 dollars from a store, they can pick cause it could be both

Quasi - breaking a law resulting in a fine rather than a criminal record, eg speeding ticket

Parties of a crime

Perpetrator - person who commited crime

Accessory after the fact - Someone who knowingly assists in a person escaping from the police(providing food, shelter to the person

Aiding - Voluntarily helping the perpetrator commit the crime eg getaway car

Abetting - Encouraging or supporting the perpetrator to commit the crime without providing assistance

Actus reus

the voluntary action, omission, or state of being that is forbidden by the criminal code.

Mens rea

Guilty Mind

Intent - a state of mind in which someone desires to carry out a wrongful action, they have plans, eg stalking the person

Knowledge - awareness of certain facts, eg search history

Recklessness - someone knows their actions could cause harm or a risk, but does anyway eg driving 60 in a 30

Willful blindness - someone suspects something is illegal or wrong but deliberately avoids finding out the truth so they can deny knowing about it.

Both guilty action and guilty mind have to be demonstrated to prove that someone is guilty

what are the 9 kinds of objections

Leading questions - Guiding the witness to answer in a certain way rathered than an opened question, Instead of what was the colour of the truck you hit, you say the colour of the semitruck you hit was red wasn’t it?

Hearsay statement - As a lawyer if you catch a witness saying I hear from someone else who told them… you can not say that, you can only say as a witness I saw this directly

Non-Responsive answers - When you ask a witness a question and they go on a tangent, eg what time did you leave work on the night of october 26th. I was working late, I decided to have some dinner

Relevance - if the witness has no relevance to the answer or queston

Speculaton - When a witness doesn’t know a fact to be true but testifies about it anyway(through guessing), eg he probably likes her

Not letting witness answer - Opposing lawyer will raise an objection saying that the lawyer will not let the witness answer the question

Repetitive question - Asking the same thing multiple times, often in different ways, eg shower

Compound questons - dual questions, did you feel happy and sad at the same time

Courtroom participants

Trial process CASPPPPC

1. Charge

2. Arraignment

3. Show cause/bail hearing

4. Petrial release options

5. Preliminary hearing

6. Plea bargianaing

7. Pretrial confrence

8. Conference begins

Charge

• Police formally charge a person with committing an offence, they are under arrest

Arraignment

Charge is formally read to the accused and is classified as indictable, summary, or hybrid

accused pleas guilty or not guilty

show hearing bail

• Show cause hearing: The hearing where the judge decides whether the accused stays in jail or can be released.

• Bail, let out

Pretrial release options

Summons: A document ordering the accused to appear in court on a certain date

Release Order with a Financial Pledge - The accused promises a certain amount of money, which they could lose if they break their conditions or miss court.

Unconditional Release Order - The accused signs a promise to attend court when required, without paying money or following extra rules.

Release Order with Conditions - The accused is released from jail but must follow certain rules, such as a curfew or no-contact order.

Release Order with a Surety - The accused is released into the supervision of another person who promises to make sure they follow their bail conditions and attend court.

Preliminary hearing

A hearing to decide if there is enough evidence for the accused to go to trial.

plea bargaining

Plea bargaining: When the accused and Crown negotiate an agreement, often involving the accused pleading guilty to a lesser charge or receiving a lighter sentence.

pretrial confcrenece

Pre-trial conference: A meeting between the lawyers and judge to discuss the case and try to resolve any issues before the trial.

Probative

Proves or disprooves

Dircet evidence

Evidence that proves the fact drectly

Circumstancial evidence

Allows for inferece about the case, annd doesn’t directly prove it

Types of dircet evidence

Witness testimony, documentation, confession demonstrative

Types of circumstancial evidence

Physicsal, timng, marking impressions