CRIMINAL LAW
Chapter 1
You must try to meet some goal through the criminal process; if you are not then there might not be a reason to pursue.
***This will be on the exam***
The 3 goals of Criminal Law:
Punishment – the goal is to make the defendant suffer in order to pay for his crime.
Deterrence – punishment is justifiable if it is expected to result in a reduction of crime.
Rehabilitation – psychiatric care, therapy for drug addiction, or academic or vocational training to correct the activity.
***Always consider***
Who did the crime?
Who was hurt by the crime?
How much publicity is the crime getting?
Does it satisfy any of the 4 goals?
Miterm
Ch 1 (purpose of crim law)
Mens rea
Attempt
Conspiracy and defenses to it
Lack of knowledge is not a defense
Look at his handouts for the exam. This is the test material.
Chapter 2
Voluntary Act:
General Rule – Subject to limited exceptions,a person is not guilty of a crime unless his conduct includes a voluntary act.
The physical aspect of the criminal activity includes a:
1. Voluntary act – You meant to do it.
2. That causes
3. Social harm.
Definitions:
“Act” – An act involves physical behavior. It does not include the mental processes of planning or thinking about the physical act that gives rise to the criminal activity.
“Voluntary” –May be defined simply as any volitional movement. Habitual conduct – even if the defendant is unaware of what he is doing at the time – may still be deemed voluntary.
· Acts deemed involuntary may include: spasms, seizures, and bodily movements while unconscious or asleep.
Burden of Proof – the prosecution bears the burden of proving conduct was voluntary, the voluntariness of an act proscribed by criminal law is in fact an element of the crime.
· The prosecution does not need to show, however, that every act was voluntary in order to establish culpability.It is sufficient that the defendant’s conduct – which is the actual and proximate cause of the social harm – included a voluntary act.
Robinson v. California [370 U.S. 660 (1962)] (pg. 31) – Robinson was convicted under a California statute that made it an offense for a person to “be addicted to the use of narcotics.” The Supreme Court struck down the statute on Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment grounds.
Essentially, the Court held that, although a legislature may use criminal sanctions against specific acts associated with narcotics addiction, e.g., the unauthorized manufacture, sale, purchase, or possession of narcotics, it could not criminalize the status of being an addict, which the Court analogized to other illnesses.
Chapter 3
Mens Rea:
“Mens Rea” refers to the mental state of mind (intent)
Knowingly = voluntarily or intentionally
· Mens rea is negated by => mistake of fact, mistake of law, negligence
6 Types of Mens Rea Requirements:
1. “Intentionally” – A person intentionally/Purposefully causes the social harm of an offense if:
(1) it is his desire to cause the social harm; or
(2) he acts with knowledge that the social harm is virtually certain to occur as a result of his conduct.
“transferred intent” attributes liability to a defendant who, intending to kill (or injure) one person, accidentally kills (or injures) another person instead.The law “transfers” the defendant’s state of mind regarding the intended victim to the unintended one.
2. “Knowingly” or “With Knowledge” –A person ha
ered the states burden. The appeals court says that this resulted in an additional burden of proof on the state.
Holding: There is no reversible error. They affirm the trial courts holding, since the trial courts instruction were erroneous.
United States v. Villanueva-Sotelo (pg. 75)
Facts: Mexican presented a fake ID and the US govt. charged him with unlawful entry and identity theft, and fake documents. D plead guilty to first 2 charges but not guilty to the fact he knew the alien registration number was some on else’s.
Holding: This is by chance and the court drops the third charge and it is affirmed based on statutory interpretation of knowing.
Strict Liability (pg. 80)
Strict liability offenses – the mere proof of the act is sufficient for a conviction, regardless of the defendant’s voluntary act/state of mind at the time of commission.
· Strict liability statutes often address so-called “public welfare” offenses. Such statutes are aimed at conduct that, although not morally wrongful, could gravely affect the health, safety, or welfare of a significant portion of the public.
· Strict liability statutes also regulate other types of conduct against individuals, such as the offense of statutory rape which is aimed at protecting underage females who may be too immature to make knowing decisions about sexual activity.
o Examples of strict liability:
1. Speeding
2. Rape
3. DUI
