Accounting Law

Exam 2

Civil Law

defines the relationships between citizens or between citizens and their government

Criminal Law

defines what a crime is (Usually state versus defendant)

Actus Reus

A criminal or guilty act

Mens Rea

A criminal or guilty mind

Actual Authority

Acting with the direct knowledge and permission of the corporation

Apparent Authority

a reasonable person would have believed that the employee was authorized by the company to act in a certain manner because of representations made by the corporation to a third party

Responsible Corporate Officer doctrine

Officers may also be criminally liable for criminal acts of employees, even if they didn’t know about the act, if he or she fails to meet their responsibility as corporate leaders to ensure compliance with the law

Violent Crimes

Homicide, Rape, Assault

Property Crimes

Burglary, Larceny, Arson, Forgery

Public-order Crimes

Intoxication, prostitution

Cybercrimes

Hacking, Phishing

Felony

Serious crime that is punishable by death or by imprisonment for more than one year.

Misdemeanor

A lesser crime than a felony, punishable by a fine or incarceration in jail for up to one year

Petty Offense

In criminal law, the least serious kind of criminal offense, such as a traffic or building code violation

Ponzi scheme

an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors

Embezzlement

A type of theft that occurs when a fiduciary is lawfully entrusted with the personal property of another and then fraudulently takes or uses that property for his or her own gain

Theft of Trade Secrets

The intentional taking, copying, or using another’s trade secrets with the knowledge the owner of the trade will be injured by such action.

Fraud

The knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment

Insider Trading

The purchase or sale of securities on the basis of inside information (Inside information = nonpublic)

Tipper

Tipper is the person who gives the tip

Tippee

is the person who gets the tip

Money Laundering

transferring illegally obtained money through legitimate people or accounts so that its original source cannot be traced

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)

Enables prosecution of criminal organization “bosses” for the crimes of their subordinates. The criminal acts are imputed as part of a larger “criminal enterprise.”

Theft

crimes involve a defendant either 1) taking the property of another or 2) interfering with their use of it

Larceny

stealing tangible property with the intent to deprive the owner of the property

Robbery

taking of property by force, intimidation or threat of violence with the intent to deprive the owner of the property

Burglary

breaking and entering into the dwelling house of another at nighttime with the intent to commit a felony

Arson

malicious burning of the dwelling of another person

Forgery

making or altering a writing with the intent to defraud

Obtaining goods by false pretenses

intentionally misrepresenting a material fact to a person in order to

persuade another to transfer property

Extortion

wrongfully using a public office to obtain assets from a victim

Blackmail

wrongfully obtaining assets by threat

Criminal trespass

defendant knowingly interferes with another’s property rights

Criminal mischief

intentionally causing damage to another’s property

Receiving stolen goods

act of receiving property that the defendant knew or should have known was stolen with the intent to deprive the real owner of such property

Hacking

unauthorized access to another’s computer with intent to change the settings or access information

Phishing

accessing another’s computer or personal information through electronic deception with the intent to use that information to commit a fraud

Credit Card Fraud

using credit card information to obtain an unauthorized benefit

Identity theft

to knowingly transfer or use another person’s identity without authorization with the intent to commit a crime

Justification

society generally condones or approves of the act under the circumstance.

Excuse

society does not condone but determines punishment is less appropriate because of mitigating circumstances.

Necessity

I broke the law to avoid an even greater harm (speeding in order to

transport dying victim to hospital). a defense when acting in response to emergency not of your own making. Society approves of this act.

Duress

I broke the law to avoid a different harm (maybe greater) (I stole something for a drug dealer because he threatened to kill my family if I didn’t). Society doesn’t condone but understands the reasonable person might have behaved in the same way under the circumstances.

Self Defense

A person may be justified in using force against another person; however, there are limits to this rule. While a person can use force to protect himself or others from a real or threatened attack, the force used must be reasonable and not excessive under the circumstances.

Castle doctrine

an use lethal force without retreating if attacked in your own home

Stand your ground laws

can use lethal force without retreat if acting in self-defense

Mistake of Fact

For specific-intent crimes an honest mistake may negate one of the elements of the offense (You walk off with someone’s bag because you thought it was yours).

Mistake of Law

generally not a defense (Citizens are assumed to know the law in the United States).

Model Penal Code Tes

Must prove defendant lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of their conduct or to conform their conduct to the requirements of the law as a result of a mental disease or defect

Entrapment

A public official gets the defendant to commit a crime that he or she would not have committed had it not been for overbearing actions of the public official (Louis is standing outside his apartment on a public sidewalk. An undercover police officer offers Louis alcohol. Louis is underage. Louis takes the alcohol and drinks it. The police officer then arrests Louis).

Involuntary intoxication

intoxication on the part of the defendant was not intentional

Voluntary intoxication

intoxication was brought about by the defendant’s intentional acts

Fourth Amendment Protections - Search warrant

an order granted by a public authority,

such as a judge, that authorizes law enforcement

personnel to search particular premises or property

Fourth Amendment Protections - Probable Cause

reasonable grounds to believe that evidence of a crime is currently located in the place, or on the person to be searched.

Fourth Amendment

In a business setting police still need a warrant but businesses have a lower expectation of privacy so it is easier for a government official to get a warrant.

Exclusionary Rule

any evidence that is obtained in violation of the accused’s constitutional rights is automatically excluded at trial (Police obtain a confession from Rita, but they did not read her the Miranda rights and were legally required to do so. Rita’s confession would be excluded at trial).

Arrest (criminal process)

need a warrant unless there is no time to get one

Initial Appearance (criminal process)

Defendant appears before judge

indictment (criminal process)

a formal written accusation issued by a grand jury that charges a person with committing a crime

Arraignment (criminal process)

court proceeding in which defendant hears charges in court and enters a plea

Pleas (Criminal Process Continued)

Guilty “I did it”

Sentencing Guidelines (trial issues)

help the judge determine the sentence which is imposed