Criminal Law

According to origin, a crime can be

common law OR statutory crime

According to severity, crime can be

felony OR misdemeanor

White collar crime

crime that doesn’t inflict/threaten physical harm

2 elements crimes are usually proved with

1. state of mind

2. bad act/omission

Corporate authority can be held responsible for crimes if they:

1. Authorized conduct 

2. Failed to supervise conduct 

3. Knew about conduct 

Conspiracy

Planning of a crime

• agreement btw multiple parties to commit an unlawful act

Money laundering

intentional participation in a financial transaction designed to hide the source of the funds

Bribery

act of giving something to someone in return for influencing their judgment in the giver's favor

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act:

anti-bribery statute covering US companies’ international operations and regulations

Embezzlement

act of stealing another person's property that has been entrusted to you

RICO (Racketeer influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act)

• prohibits racketeering

• prevents infiltration of illegal enterprises into legit business

• targets organized crime

Racketeering:

illegal activity designed to make a commercial profit that's disguised as a legal business

• wrongful means to obtain a profit

SOX Act - Fraud and Obstruction of Justice: 

Increased penalties for wrongful conduct related to certifying financial statements 

• prohibits alteration/destruction of financial docs with intent to influence or obstruct investigation

Criminal procedure: 4th amendment

• Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures 

• In places where you have an expectation of privacy (from your car to something that comes from your house..), gov needs a warrant issued on a probable cause to conduct a search (unless exceptions) 

Criminal procedure: 5th amendment

• Includes protection against self-incrimination 

  • Government may not compel a person to be a witness against himself

• Corporations are not given protection against self-incrimination 

  • Corporations cannot prevent disclosure of its records on the basis of self-incrimination 

  • But they do have attorney-client privilege 

• right to due process (arraignment, preliminary hearing, discovery, trial)