CJ101: Introduction to Law and Justice Notes
Learning Objectives
- Name the five elements of corpus delicti.
- Identify the four written sources of laws in the United States.
- Distinguish criminal law from civil law.
- Describe the most common defenses for crimes.
- Define due process as it relates to the criminal justice system.
Corpus Delicti
- Definition: Elements that must be proven to establish that a crime has occurred.
- Five elements:
- Actus Reus (Guilty Act/Harm): The physical act of committing a crime.
- Mens Rea (Guilty Intent): The mental state of intending to commit the crime.
- Law: There must be a law prohibiting the act.
- Concurrence: The guilty act and guilty intent must occur together.
- Jurisdiction: The crime must have occurred within the legal jurisdiction of the court.
- Exceptions:
- Strict Liability Offenses: Do not require demonstrated mens rea. An example was not provided.
- Statutory Offenses: Do not require demonstrated harm.
- Hypothetical Scenarios:
- Guilty intent (mens rea) and a guilty act (actus reus) but no law prohibiting the act: Not a crime because there is no law being broken.
- Guilty intent (mens rea) and law prohibiting the intended act, but no guilty act (actus reus): Not a crime because the act was not carried out.
- A guilty act (actus reus) and a law prohibiting the act, but no guilty intent (mens rea): Could be a crime, but defenses like mistake of fact or lack of intent could apply.
- All three elements, but no concurrence between the guilty intent and the guilty act: Not a crime because the intent and act did not occur together.
Common Defenses
- Mens Rea defenses (Defenses challenging the guilty intent):
- Infancy: The defendant is too young to form criminal intent.
- Insanity: The defendant's mental state prevents them from understanding the nature of their actions.
- Intoxication: The defendant was intoxicated and unable to form criminal intent (may not always be a valid defense).
- Mistake of Fact: The defendant was mistaken about a fact that negated criminal intent.
- Duress: The defendant was forced to commit the crime under threat of harm.
- Necessity: The defendant committed the crime out of necessity to prevent a greater harm.
- Actus Reus defenses (Defenses challenging the guilty act):
- Dispute of Fact: Disputing the evidence presented or the facts of what happened.
- Justifiable Force: The use of force was justified (e.g., self-defense).
- Alibi: The defendant was somewhere else when the crime was committed.
- Legal defenses:
- Mistake of Law: The defendant was unaware of the law.
- Entrapment: Law enforcement induced the defendant to commit a crime they would not have otherwise committed.
- Did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt: The prosecution failed to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Violated due process: The criminal justice system violated the defendant's due process rights.
Sources of Law and Examples
| Source | Federal | State | Local |
|---|
| Constitution | U.S. Constitution | Constitution of Maine | (n.a.) |
| ("Supreme Law") | | |
| Statutes/Legislation | U.S. Code | Maine Revised Statutes | Bangor Ordinances |
| | | ("Laws") |
| Code of Federal Regulations | Maine State Regulations | Bangor City Regulations | |
| Regulations | | (“Administrative Laws“) | |
| Court decisions | Supreme Court rulings / U.S. court rulings | Maine Supreme Court rulings | (n.a.) |
| (“Case Law”/”Common Law”) | | |
- Stare Decisis: (“It stands decided”): A legal principle that once a court has made a legal ruling, it stands as precedent for all future decisions involving similar circumstances. Lower courts are bound, equivalent or higher may overturn.
Civil Law versus Criminal Law
| Issue | Civil Law | Criminal Law |
|---|
| Area of concern | Rights and duties between individuals | Offenses against society as a whole |
| Wrongful act | Harm to a person or business entity | Violation of a statute that prohibits some type of activity |
| Party who brings suit | Person who suffered harm (plaintiff) | The state (prosecutor) |
| Party who responds | Person who supposedly caused harm (defendant) | Person who allegedly committed a crime (defendant) |
| Standard of proof | Preponderance of the evidence | Beyond a reasonable doubt |
| Remedy | Damages to compensate for the harm | Punishment (fine, incarceration, alternative sentences) |
- Infractions/Petty Offenses: Not really "crimes,” generally punishable only by a fine
- Misdemeanor: Lesser crime, typically punishable by days or months in a House of Corrections (jail)
- Felony: Serious crime, typically punishable by years in prison
- Classes: Another way of classifying crime seriousness (used in Maine)
- Capital Crime: Crimes punishable by death
Qualifiers
- Degrees (first, second): More serious to least
- Petty or Petit: Less serious
- Gross or Grand: More serious
- Aggravated: With some additional factor that makes it worse
- Reckless, Negligent, or Involuntary: Unintentional but predictable
- Attempted: You tried but failed to commit the crime
Due Process
- Substantive due process: Basic fairness, no trickery, spirit of the law
- Procedural due process: Each step of the criminal justice process is followed, all rights respected, letter of the law
Key Terms
- Constitution
- Statute
- Case Law
- Stare Decisis
- Civil Law
- Burden of Proof
- Felony
- Misdemeanor
- Mens Rea
- Actus Reus
- Strict Liability
- Due Process
- Entrapment