Chapter 3

Front 1

“Good Samaritan” doctrine

Back 1

doctrine that imposes a legal duty to render or summon aid for imperiled strangers.

Front 2

actus reus

Back 2

the criminal act or the physical element in criminal liability.

Front 3

corpus delicti

Back 3

the Latin name for “body of the crime.”

Front 4

mens rea

Back 4

the “state of mind” the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt; criminal intent from an evil mind; the mental element in crime, including purpose, knowledge, recklessness, and negligence.

Front 5

actual possession

Back 5

physical possession; on the possessor’s person.

Front 6

American bystander rule

Back 6

there’s no legal duty to rescue or call for help to aid someone who’s in danger even if helping poses no risk whatsoever to the potential rescuer.

Front 7

attendant circumstances element

Back 7

an accompanying or accessory fact, event, or condition required for criminal liability.

Front 8

bad result crimes (result crimes)

Back 8

serious crimes that include causing a criminal harm in addition to the conduct itself.

Front 9

concurrence

Back 9

the requirement that actus reus must join with mens rea to produce criminal conduct or that conduct must cause a harmful result.

Front 10

conduct crimes

Back 10

crimes requiring a criminal act triggered by criminal intent.

Front 11

constructive possession

Back 11

legal possession or custody of an item or substance.

Front 12

criminal act

Back 12

the physical element of criminal liability.

Front 13

criminal conduct

Back 13

acts triggered by criminal intent.

Front 14

criminal liability

Back 14

actus reus, mens rea, concurrence, causation, and harmful result, which are the basis for the elements of crime the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

Front 15

criminal omissions

Back 15

take two forms: (1) mere failure to act or (2) failure to intervene in order to prevent a serious harm.

Front 16

elements of a crime

Back 16

the parts of a crime that the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt, such as actus reus, mens rea, concurrence, causation, and bad result.

Front 17

failure to intervene (criminal omission)

Back 17

one type of omission actus reus.

Front 18

failure to report (criminal omission)

Back 18

one type of omission actus reus.

Front 19

knowing possession

Back 19

awareness of physical possession.

Front 20

legal duty (in criminal omission)

Back 20

liability only for duties imposed by contract, statute, or “special relationships.”

Front 21

legal fiction (in actus reus)

Back 21

treating as a fact something that”s not a fact if there”s a good reason for doing so.

Front 22

manifest criminality

Back 22

the requirement in law that intentions have to turn into criminal deeds to be punishable.

Front 23

mere possession

Back 23

physical possession.

Front 24

one voluntary act is enough

Back 24

conduct that includes one voluntary act will satisfy the actus reus requirement for criminal liability.

Front 25

principle of mens rea

Back 25

see mens rea the principle that to secure a conviction the prosecution has to prove the state of mind of a defendant at the moment the crime was committed.

Front 26

status (as actus reus)

Back 26

who we are as opposed to what we do; a condition that’s not an action can’t substitute for action as an element in crime.