Criminal Law
Samuel Jones (Fall 2016)
OUTLINE COVERS:
KEY CLASS NOTES
CASES
CLASS HYPOS
QUIZ ANSWERS
actus reus
guilty act- a voluntary act that gives rise to criminal liability
must be voluntary
STRICT LIABILITY: no mens rea is required, guilty once you commit the act for minor crimes (speeding, fake ideas, food inspection, etc)
homicide
killing of one human being by another
1st degree murder
1. willful, deliberate and premeditated
2. killing
3. of another
2nd degree murder
is missing element of 1st degree or
1.willful and intentional intent to commit serious bodily harm
2.that results in the death
3. of another
deadly weapon doctrine
1st degree murder, specific intent to kill by use of any object used in a manner designed to cause serious bodily injury or death
manslaughter
accidental killing; or done in the heat of the passion which is intentional; need to be provoked for heat of passion; words are not enough
1. PRESUMPTION OF EVIDENCE
Presumption of Innocence:
a. Every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Prosecution is required to persuade the fact finder beyond a reasonable doubt that D committed the crime
Jury Nullification: occurs when a jury returns a verdict of “Not Guilty” despite its belief that the defendant is guilty of the violation charged. The jury in effect nullifies a law that it believes is either immoral or wrongly applied to the defendant whose fate they are charged with deciding.
2. Power vs Right=will be on quiz
Jury do not have the right but have the power to resist the law aka find person not guilty
because the LAW does not recognize the right to IGNORE the LAW
Because the belief is that the jury represented the people and a collective conscience
Owen v. State:
Whether or not P can be convicted through circumstantial evidence alone.
Rule: “[A] conviction on circumstantial evidence alone is not to be sustained unless the circumstances are inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence.”
Analysis: The court reasons that there are only two reasonable conclusions that can be drawn from the scene that the state trooper discovered.
1. The defendant had just finished driving drunk.
Already drove
2. The defendant was about to drive drunk.
About to leave
NOT GUILTY
Ewing v. California
8th Amendment
Forbids cruel and unusual punishment (prohibits sentences that are disproportionate to the crime
GRAVITY OF THE OFFENSE: not the current offense, but the collection of crimes
Keeler v. Superior Court
A person may not be convicted and punished unless the conduct was defined by criminal statute when committed.
Born Alive Rule-is a legal rule governing an infant that could not be the subject of homicide at common law unless it had been born alive.
LEGISLATIVE ACT=EXPO FACTO
JUDICIARY ACTING RETROACTIVLY -DUE PROCESS
A statute providing penalties for criminal conduct is unconstitutionally vague if it fails to give sufficient notice regarding the type of conduct prohibited.
What is an Ex Post Facto law
“The first essential of due process is fair warning of the act which is made punishable as a crime”
Distinguish between Due Process and Ex Post Facto clause violation (ON EXAM)
The same exact thing theoretically, protecting a D from a lack of fair notice
If Judiciary act, due process
Construes intent
Legislature act, it is ex post facto
Legislature will not construe itself.
An ex post facto law is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law.
Due process is the legal requirement that the state must respect all leg
f Law. An “act” committed during unconsciousness is not voluntary, and therefore one cannot be held criminally culpable for said act. However, voluntarily induced unconsciousness, such as by drugs or alcohol, is not a complete defense.
Within the definition of homicide, an act must be a willed movement, not committed while unconscious. There must be an exercise of will.
When the state of unconsciousness is voluntarily induced using drugs or alcohol, then the defense falls short of being a complete defense.
-Criminal intent is not an element of manslaughter.
-“Voluntary” is included in definition of word “act” in instruction that law presumes every man intends the natural and probable consequences of his own acts.
•Mistake of Fact
•Specific Intent Offenses: D is not guilty of an offense if a mistake of fact negates the specific-intent portion of the crime, even if mistake is unreasonable.
•General Intent offenses: D is not guilty of the offense provided, the mistake of fact is reasonable.
Barber v. Superior CT
OMISSIONS vs. ACTS:
Things you do vs things you fail to do…
There is no legal liability for a failure to act unless there is an obligation.
A physician has no duty to continue treatment, once it has proved ineffective. Doctor's omission to continue treatment, though intentional and with knowledge of certain death, did not create criminal liability.
We punish omissions far more rarely than actions, and the standard for punishing an omission is higher than that for punishing an action.
