criminal law final exam

bill of attainder

a legislative act that punished a person or a select group of people without the benefits of a judicial trial

criminal law

the body of rules and regulations that defines the specified punishments for offenses of a public nature or for wrongs committed against the state or society - also called penal law

statutory

law in the form of formal written codes made by a legislature or governing body with the power to make laws

civil law

what type of law governs relationships between private parties

law

rules created to ensure an orderly functioning society (A legitimate controlling authority creates these and has legal force

due process of law and rights

procedures that effectively guarantee individual rights in the face of criminal prosecution

corpus delicti

facts that show that a crime has occurred and that someone violated it

body of the crime

corpus delicti literally means

stare decisis

the legal principle that requires courts to be bound by their own earlier decisions and by those of higher courts having jurisdiction over them regarding subsequent cases on similar issues and facts

mens rea

in criminal law, this is considered behavior and the accompanying mental state

ex post facto

refers to a law that prohibits previously lawful conduct and seeks to retroactively punish previously lawful conduct

actus reus

latin term for guilty act

before sentencing of convicted offenders

victim impact statements are used at this point in a criminal proceeding

strict liability

makes it a crime to simply do something even with no intent to commit a crime

inchoate

an unfinished crime that usually leads to another crime

infraction

least serious crime

uniform crime report

a data collection program run by the FBI that tallies crime statistics annually and reports under this program primarily consist of data on crimes reported to the police and arrests

felony

crime punishable by at least one year in prison

accidental killing

a death that is the result of a purposeful human act of lawfully undertaken in the reasonable belief that no harm would result in this kind of killing

excusable homicide

Cliff is driving down the street, obeying all the traffic laws. Eileen suddenly darts out in front of Cliff's car. Cliff’s car hits and kills Eileen. Cliff has committed:

justifiable homicide

Jodie stabs Carly with a knife, hollering that she will kill Carly. Carly manages to pull a gun out of her pocket and shoot and kill Jodie before Jodie can stab Carly a second time. Carly has committed:

reasonable person

envisions a person who acts with common sense and who has the mental capacity of an average, normal, sensible human being

larceny

the trespassory or wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal property of another with the intent to steal

just deserts

model of criminal sentencing suggest that punishments should be appropriate to the type and severity of the crime

natural law

rules of conduct inherent to human nature (discovered through human reason, intuition, or inspiration, and they decrease the need for man-made laws)

rule of law

no one is above the law and that those who enforce it must also obey it

felony murder rule

establishes murder liability for a defendant if another person dies during the commission of certain felonies

norms

unwritten rules that underlie and are inherent in the fabric of our society

common law

type of law derived from customs, traditions, and judicial precedent instead of written statutes. (connected with early english courts)

duty to act

an omission to act, or a failure to act, may be criminal when the person in question is required by law to do something, i.e., when the law specifies a ________

1984 victims of crime act

established a federal crime victim compensation fund, which provides payments for expenses that crime victims face

sentencing

the process by which an authority imposes a lawful punishment or other sanction on a person convicted of violating the criminal law

seriousness

degree of crime is its level of ___

fihgting words

speech which is likely to provoke a person of normal prudence to violence

apparent danger

form of danger that exists when the conduct or activity of an attacker makes the threat obvious

necessity

“choice of evils” defense under model penal code

battery

unlawful physical violence inflicted upon another without his or her consent

statutory rape

sexual intercourse wether or not consensual with a person under the age of consent as specified by law

criminal liability is the degree of _______ assigned to a defendant by a criminal court

blameworthiness

the judicial review doctrine

the early Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison set out

castle doctrine

a person does not have to retreat when confronted with violence in their home/vehicle/workplace, allows lawful use of whatever force is necessary to protect themselves, and justifies the use of deadly force if the intruder is to commit a felony

an accessory after the fact

if someone has nothing to do with a murder, but then knowingly helps to bury the body afterward.

This person has now become what party to the original crime?

National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program collects trends in crime volume and crime rate per 100,000 inhabitants under the program’s ______

proximate cause

holds individuals criminally liable for causing harm when it can be shown that the harm caused was reasonably foreseeable from their conduct. It can also be thought of as the first cause in a string of events that ultimately produced the harm in question

premeditation

difference between murder 1st degree and 2nd degree murder

murder

an unlawful killing of a human being, with malice

battery

unlawful physical violence inflicted upon another without his or her consent

apparent danger

form of danger that exists when the conduct or activity of an attacker makes the threat obvious

malice aforethought

demonstrates advanced planning and is someone’s “evil intention” or “depraved heart”

homicide

the killing of a human being by the act, procurement, or omission of another human being

kidnapping

an unlawful taking and carrying away of a human being by force, fraud, threats, or intimidation, and against the person's will

aggravated assault

an assault that is committed with the intention of committing an additional crime

excuses

a category of legal defenses in which a defendant claims that some personal condition or circumstance at the time of the act was such that he or she should not be held accountable under criminal law

affirmative

defense is one in which the defendant must take the offense and respond to the charges against him or her with his or her own assertions being based on legal arguments

justification

defense that admits that an act/crime occurred, but that it was done to avoid greater harm

defenses

evidence and arguments offered by the defendant to show why the defendant should not be held liable for a criminal charge

excuses

admits that the action committed by the defendant was wrong and that it violated the criminal law, but claims that the defendant should not be held accountable under the criminal law by virtue of special conditions or circumstances that suggest the defendant is not responsible for his or her deeds

voluntary manslaughter

a killing committed without lawful justifications, wherein the defendant acted under a sudden and intense passion resulting from adequate provocation

imminent danger

the use of force to defend oneself has generally been extended to permit the use of reasonable force to defend others who are, or who appear to be, in ____

consent

a justification, offered as a defense to a criminal charge, claiming that the person suffering an injury either agreed to sustain the injury or accepted the possibility of injury before the activity was undertaken

involuntary manslaughter

an unintentional killing