California Criminal Law and Liability Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering California criminal classifications, elements of liability, legal defenses, inchoate crimes, and parties to crime based on lecture transcript notes.

The four classifications of criminal offenses in California

• felony

• wobbler

• misdemeanor

• infraction

Felony

• criminal offense where state prison is possible

• punishment is more than a year in jail

names for a 2-4-6 year punishment

lower, mid, upper

Wobbler

• offense that could be classified as either a felony or a misdemeanor

• usually identified by the word "OR" in penal code

Misdemeanor

A criminal offense with punishment up to a year in county jail; if punishment is not stated in the penal code, it is $6$ months under Penal Code $19$.

Infraction

A minor public offense punishable by a fine only.

Elements of Criminal Liability

The five essential elements required for criminal liability: Actus Reus, Mens Rea, Concurrence, Causation, and Resulting harm.

Actus Reus

The physical element of a crime consisting of a bodily movement plus will.

Mens Rea

The mental state of the defendant required to establish criminal intent.

Concurrence

The requirement that Actus Reus and Mens Rea occur at the same time.

Factual Causation

Causation established by the "but for test," where the actor's conduct set a chain of events in motion which led to the harmful result.

Proximate Cause

A type of causation that indicates a nearness in time and place between the actor and the result.

Recognized Mental States

The four legal mental states recognized in criminal law: general intent, specific intent, transferred intent, and constructive intent.

Specific Intent Key Phrase

The phrase "with intent to," which is often found in penal code definitions for specific intent crimes.

Self-Defense Requirements

Justification requiring an actual belief (subjective standard) and a reasonable belief (objective standard) of being in imminent danger.

CALCRIM 505

Jury instruction establishing that the burden of proof rests on the prosecutor to prove a killing was not justified, requiring that the person reasonably believed they were in imminent danger of death or bodily harm.

CALCRIM 3470

Jury instruction clarifying that general self-defense without death requires fear of bodily injury, and that prior threats or harms do not justify acting more quickly or taking greater self-defense measures.

CALJIC 5.51

Jury instruction stating that actual danger is not necessary to justify self-defense.

CALJIC 5.52

Jury instruction stating that the right to self-defense exists only as long as the real or apparent threat dangers continue to exist.

Necessity Elements

A defense requiring $6$ proven elements: acting in emergency to prevent bodily harm, no legal alternative, not creating greater danger, actual belief of necessity, reasonable person belief, and no substantial contribution to emergency.

Phases of Insanity Cases

The two procedural phases of an insanity defense trial: the Guilt phase (determining if guilty) and the Sanity phase (determining if sane or insane).

Burden of Proof for Insanity

The requirement that the defendant prove it is more likely than not ($50.0001\%$) that they were legally insane when the crime was committed.

Voluntary Intoxication Defense

A defense rule establishing that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to general intent crimes, but is a defense for specific intent crimes when relevant.

Unconsciousness Defense

A defense rule stating that when a criminal act is committed when a person is unconscious, the individual is not guilty of the crime.

Attempt (CALCRIM 460)

A specific intent crime requiring two elements: a direct but ineffectual step done towards its commission (actus reus) and a specific intent to commit the crime (mens rea).

Direct Step

An action required for attempt that goes beyond merely planning or preparing, demonstrating that a person is putting a plan into action.

Penal Code 664

Statute defining the punishment for an attempted crime that is not completed as half of the time in custody.

Abandonment (CALCRIM 460)

When a person abandons further efforts to complete a crime after taking a direct step toward committing it; if abandoned before taking a direct step, the person is not guilty of attempt.

Conspiracy

An agreement entered between two or more persons with specific intent to agree to commit a crime and with further specific intent to commit that crime, followed by an overt act.

Solicitation

An offense where a defendant requests another person to commit a crime with intent that the crime be committed; guilty even if the solicited crime is not completed or started.

Principals

Party to a crime consisting of people who actually commit the crime and those who aid and abet its commission.

Accessories

Party to a crime consisting of those who assist after a felony has been committed, harboring or aiding a principal with knowledge of the felony and intent that the principal avoid or escape punishment.

Target Offense

The specific crime that the accused parties intended to commit.

Non-Target Offense

An additional unintended crime that occurs during the commission of the target offense.

Natural and Probable Consequence

A crime result that a reasonable person would know is likely to happen if nothing unusual intervenes, making an aider and abettor guilty of that additional crime.

Flight

When a defendant fled immediately after the crime was committed.

Punishment for Felony if not Prescribed

$16$ months, $2$ years, or $3$ years

Can you give something different than the low, mid or upper in a felony?

• no

Is it still a felony if served in local/county jail?

• yes

If you get probation in a felony case, is it still consided a felony?

• yes