Criminal Law And Procedure

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Common Law

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Judge made law defining crimes and establishing the rules of criminal responsibility according to custom and tradition

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Model Penal Code

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A suggested guide for enactment and interpretation of criminal law; the code is not law unless adopted and enacted by a legislature

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Vagueness doctrine

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Holds any statute unconstitutional when citizens "must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application"

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Legislative intent

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The purpose for which the legislators enacted a particular statute

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Bills of Attainder

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legislative acts convicting an individual of a crime

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Ex Post facto laws

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Laws that retroactively make innocent conduct illegal; increase the punishment for a criminal act; or decrease the standard of proof required for a conviction.

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Burden of proof

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The task of presenting evidence to a factfinder, normally a jury, who then weighs the cumulative evidence and decides whether it "constitutes the crime charged."

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Proof beyond a reasonable doubt

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Often defined as proof that excludes every reasonable hypothesis except guilt; proof that excludes every reasonable possibility of innocence; or proof to a moral certainty

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Corpus Delecti

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Body of the crime--the fact of its having been committed

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Directed verdict of acquittal

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A device used to remove the case from the jury's consideration. The trial judge may enter an acquittal whenever a rational jury must conclude that the prosecution failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Ultimate issue

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The question of whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of the charge.

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Affirmative defenses

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The defendant admits committing the acts charged, but seeks to justify or excuse the defendant's conduct by establishing additional facts.

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Preponderance of the evidence

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The standard of proof often required to establish an affirmative defense; asks the jury to determine whether an accused has established the reasonable likelihood of the defense.

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Prima facie evidence

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Requires that the defendant offer some plausible evidence of the defendant's claim.

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Clear and convicining evidence

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A higher standard than preponderance but lower than beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Presumption

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A fact that must be inferred (presumed) on the basis of certain predicate facts that have been proved.

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Permissive inferences

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A possible conclusion that may be drawn but is not exclusively required if certain predicate facts are proved.

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Omission

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The failure to act when the law imposes a duty to act.

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Overt act for a conspiracy

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An act committed in furtherance of a conspiracy.

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Overt act for an attempted crime

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A substantial step toward commission of the inteded offense.

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Mere preparation

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Attempted crimes require that the defendant move beyond preparation and begin consumation of the offense.

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Specific intent

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The defendant subjectively intends or desires to bring about the prohibited social harm.

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Wanton state of mind

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Extremely reckless disregard of the safety of others, or of other prohibited consequences.

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Willful state of mind

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Actual knowledge of the threat to another's safety, or of other prohibited consequences.

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Reasonably prudent person standard

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Measures the defendant's actual conduct against that of a reasonably prudent person under the same or similar circumstances.

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Simple or civil negligence

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Occurs when a person fails to act as a reasonably prudent person under the circumstances

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Recklessness (Criminal negligence)

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The defendant's deviation from reasonable conduct is excessive, or more than simple (noncriminal) negligence.

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Strict liability crimes

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The defendant commits an act that causes a prohibited harm, regardless of the defendant's state of mind or reasonableness of actions.

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Factual Cause

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A prohibited harm would not have occurred when it did in the absence of the defendant's conduct.

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Legal causation

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One of the factual causes identified as the legally significant act that warrants conviction and punishment.

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Perpetrator (principle in the first degree)

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One who performs the physical acts that consititute the offense or commits the offense by use of an instrumentality.

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Instrumentality

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Use of an inanimate object, an animal, or an innocent human being to commit a crime.

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Innocent human agent

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One who commits the physical acts constituting a crime, but who is innocent of the crime because of a legitimate defense.

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Aider and Abettor (principal in the second degree)

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Person who assists the perpetrator in the commission of the crimme while being actually or constructively present at the scene of the crime.

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Accessory before the fact

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Although not present when the crime is committed, one who previously solicited, counseled, or advised another on how to commit the crime

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Accessory after the fact

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One who impedes the apprehension, trial, or punishment of a felon.

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Misprison of a felony

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Failure to report a known crime.

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Compounding a felony

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Accepting a benefit in return for concealing a known crime.

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Inchoate Crime

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An incomplete or imperfect offense.

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Solicitation

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Occurs when a person invites or requests another to commit a crime.

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Merger

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A previously distinct offense is subsumed within a greater offense; the defendant can be convicted of either, but not both, offenses.

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Attempted crime

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The defendant intends to commit a specific offense and performs an act that constitutes a substantial step toward completing that offense.

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Mere preperation

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Portion of an attempted crime prior to the point at which consummation of the offense begins.

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Factual impossibility

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A claim of defense because the defendant's conduct could not succeed in bringing about the inteded offense.

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Legal impossibility

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A claim of defense because the defendant's state of mind precludes commission of a recognized crime.

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Abandonment

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Discontinuance of a plan to commit a crime; sometimes recognized as a valid defense to charges of attempting to commit the crime.

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Conspiracy

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An agreement by two or more persons to commit an unlawful act. (An overt act in furtherance of a conspriacy is required in many jurisdictions.)

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Pinkerton doctrine

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Each member of a conspiracy is criminally responsible for any crime committed by another party to the agreement as long as the committed crime was the object of the conspiracy or natural consequence of the unlawful agreement.

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Alibi

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A claim that the defendant was not in a position to commit the crime charged.

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Case in chief defense

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Challenges the prosecution's version of the facts, but does not introduce an independent legal claim into the case.

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Affirmative defense

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The defendant admits committing the acts charged, but seeks to justify or excuse the defendant's conduct by establishing additional facts.

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Necessity

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Excuses a violation of criminal law if (1) the defendant reasonably believes the threat of harm is imminent; (2) the only way to prevent the threatenedd harm is to violate the law; and (3) the harm that will be caused by violating the law is less serious than the harm the defendant seeks to avoid.

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Duress

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An unlawful threat of imminent death or serious bodily injury, which induces a person to commit a crime; may be used as a defense (except in the case of murder)

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Mistake of fact

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A lack of knowledge of a particular piece of information, which may be a defense if it negates a material element of the offense.

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Mistake of law

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A lack of knowledge of a particular law, which may be a defense if it negates the mens rea required for the crime.

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Voluntary intoxication

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May be a defense if it produces clouded mental facilities that negate the mental state required for a particular crime.

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Involuntary intoxication

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May be a defense if the defendant did not know of the ingested substance's intoxicating effect or if someone forced or tricked the defendant into ingesting the intoxicating substance.

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Competancy to stand trial

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the defendant must be rational, possess the ability to testify coherently, and be able to meaningfully discuss the case with defense counsel

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M'Naghten test for insanity

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Defendant is able to distinguish right from wrong

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Irresistible impulse test for insanity

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Determines whether the defendant acted from an uncontrollable impulse.

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Diminished capacity test for insanity

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Recognizes that defendant's may lack "substantial" but not total mental capacity.

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Federal test for insanity

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Uses the M'Naghten right from wrong standard, but requires that the defendant prove insanity by clear and convincing evidence.

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Guilty but mentally ill

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Confines the defendant for treatment until such time as the defendant is healthy and able to serve a sentence in a penitentiary.

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Self defense

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Actions in a situation in which (1) the defendant was not the aggressor; (2) the defendant reasonably perceived an immediate threat of bodily harm; (3) the defendant reasonably believed that defensive force was necessary to avoid the harm; and (4) the amount of defensive force used was reasonable.

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Retreat

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An avenue of safe escape; a prerequisite to self defense in some jurisdictions.

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Defense of others

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The act of protecting another from harm, which may excuse or justify the defendant's use of force.

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Alter ego theory

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A defendant acts to protect a person who has lawful right of self defense.

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Reasonable perception theory

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The defendant acts upon a perception that the aided person has a right to use defensive force, even when the perception is erroneous.

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Subjective approach to entrapment

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Prohibits police officers from instigating criminal acts by people not predisposed to commit the crime.

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Objective approact to entrapment

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Focuses on whether the government's conduct in inducing the crime was beyond judicial toleration.

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Trespass

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Taking possession of another's personal property without consent or legal justification

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Custody

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Physical control of property, but the use of the property is limited by another's lawful possession of the property.

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Asportation

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Any physical movement of property taken from another's possession.

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Dominion

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Carring away from another's possession into defendant's control.

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Conversion

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Use of another's property in a way that is inconsistent with the other's right of possession.

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False pretenses

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A false representation of a material fact made with knowledge that the fact is false and with the intent to defraud the victim, thereby causing the victim to pass title to property.

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Recieving stolen property

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Exercising control over property that has been stolen with knowledge of its stolen nature and with intent to deprive the owner of the property.

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Breaking

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Setting aside some portion of the structure that would prevent intrusion.

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Entry

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An intrusion by any portion of the burglar's body or an instrumentality for purposes of consummating a felony within the dwelling.

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Curtilage

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Area within which lie structures closely associated with the dwelling.

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Police power

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The government's broad authority to advace public health, safety, morality, and welfare.

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Disorderly conduct; breach of the peace; common nuisance

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Acts that disturb the tranquility or order of the community

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Fighting words

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Words that inflict injury, tend to create a breach of the peace, and are not primarily an expression of ideas protected by free speech.

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Communication of a threat

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Words conveying the intent to inflict harm; unlike the crime of assault, it does not require a menacing gesture.

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Unlawful assembly

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A gathering of a designated number of persons (three at common law) for any unlawful purpose or under circumstances endangering the public peace.

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Riot

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At least one member of an unlawful assembly threatens or commits an act of violence.

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Public intoxication

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Presence in a public place in a drunken state, which may be a form of disorderly conduct or covered by a specific statute.

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Implied consent laws

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Possession of a drivers license mandates voluntary submission to blood, breath, or urine tests; refusal to submit results in a suspension of the defendant's driver's license.

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Habitual offender

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A person who has been adjudged guilty of drunk driving on a specified number of occasions. (more than one)

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Actual possession

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physical contact with or control over the drug, and knowledge that the substtance is an illegal drug.

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Constructive possession

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Occurs when a controlled substance is in a place accessible to the defendant and subject to the defendant's control.

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Possession with intent to distribute (sell)

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A purposeful plan to sell or provide illegal drugs to others.

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Accommodation defense

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The defendant intended to provide the illegal drug to others without making a profit.

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Sodomy

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"A crime against nature"; "any sexual intercourse held to be abnormal, especially bestiality or anal intercourse."