I. What are the principles of punishment?
a. The ultimate goal of criminal law is punishment. The judges who do sentencing are influenced by the goals of society, what society is against which also has an influence on the prosecutors of today who are influenced by what the public wants, and have different ethical obligations as a result.
i. Deterrence
1. General deterrence- I will never do that because they got punished
2. Specific deterrence- I will never do that again
ii. Retribution- look to the past rather than the future, the goal being to ensure that the individual gets what he or she deserves. Doesn’t matter about deterrence but rather that wrong that has been done must be punished.
A. Communicative retribution theory- right deprivation helps to define the fundamental equal worth of all human beings. Denying another person a right is treating them as worthless
B. Shared responsibility involves the mitigation of a ∆’s punishment
iii. Rehabilitation- utilitarian theory, idea that society has an obligation to punish an individual in a way that makes him or her a better person
iv. Isolation/incapacitation- remove wrongdoers from law-abiding persons. While in prison one person cannot harm others, at least those outside the prison. Does not require ∆ to change his behavior from fear or redemption
v. Education- of the populace in what rules society considers to be most sacred and important. The value it holds.
II. What is sentencing?
a. Sentencing- nothing is more important to the ∆ and arguably nothing is more important to the public. Public wants fairness at trial for the ∆.
i. When dealing with sentencing have to look at what the statute provides for in a sentence. If a sentence is within reasonable boundaries under the statute then the appellate court is very rarely going to step in.
ii. Intermediate sentencing- legislative established maximum sentence for a crime
iii. Mandatory sentencing- legislative arraigned, debates about the effectiveness because takes away the judge’s discretion in the sentencing process.
iv. Judicial discretion- judge gets to make the decision on sentencing based upon the facts while following the intermediate sentencing guidelines
III. What do appellate courts look to on appeals?
a. The nature of the crime: background of the crime, buildup and planning’
b. Character of the offender: education history, friends view of person, and all other pertinent background information about the character of the offender
c. Protection of public interest: gravity of the offense, the principles of punishment and how it has impacted the decision
i. Most common standard appellate courts use is the abuse of discretion standard, because they do not have the same access to all of the testimony and the witnesses that were used in the trial
IV. What are the limitations on Criminal Law
a. Ex post facto- constitution forbids congress and state legislatures from passing ex post facto criminal laws. Cannot enact statutes that criminalize acts that were innocent when done or that increase the severity of the crimes punishment after the fact. Courts do not extend conduct beyond what is intended by the legislature. Punishment is purposely inflicted by the state because one of its laws was violated
b. Plain meaning rule- language is plain and its meaning is clear, the court must give effect to it even if the court feels the law is unwise or undesirable
c. Expression Unius, Exclusio Alterius- the expression of one thing impliedly indicates an intention to exclude another
i. Canons- abstract rules for dealing with statutory problems. Often in the form of Latin phrases, often has to do with exclusion of things not there
d. Lenity- a statute must be strictly construed in favor of the ∆. An ambiguous statute is one susceptible to or more equally reasonable interpretations. A vague statute is one that is so unclear as to be susceptible to no reasonable interpretation. “construe a penal statute as favorably to the defendant as its language and the circumstances of its application may reasonably permit”
i. Model penal code- requires statues be “construed according to fair import of their terms”
e. Dynamic – it is the courts job to find an interpretation of a statute that fits underlying policies and serves society’s goals. May be considered judicial activism or aggressiveness when interpreting a statute. In criminal law there is not supposed to be much statute interpretation.
f. Burden of proof- prosecution has the burden of proof, and the standard of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt (BRD). The idea is to prevent ∆’s from facing a loss of liberty, and stigmatized for committing an immoral act that was not yet clear. (somewhere around 76% -95% of to meet standard
V. What is the model penal code?
a. An update to the law of crime and criminal definitions. the model penal code was intended to get rid of some of the long legal words and replace them with more modern concepts
VI. What are the basics of Criminal Prosecution?
a. The investigation
b. The charge
i. Indictment- an indictment is sent down by jurisdictions with a grand jury issue
ii. Information- sent down by a prosecuting attorney who is filing the charges
c. Pre-trial motions
d. The trial
i. Petit jury- trial jury, meaning small
e. Plea Bargain
f. Jury instructions
i. Jury instructions are handed down by the judge, and a lot of cases turn on the jury instructions and the appropriateness of the instructions
g. Motion for Judgment on Acquittal
i. did not provide enough evidence for a jury to find them guilty, prosecutors should not have brought the case
VII. What is the basis for appeals?
a. Insufficient evidence
i. government fails to present sufficient evidence of the of the ∆’s guilt
b. Improper jury instruction
i. when the court gives improper definition of the crime or interpretation of the statute
c. Evidentiary statutes
i. when evidence is improperly admitted or the court excluded evidence relevant to the case.
d. Constitutional Challenge
i. when the statute, charges, jury instruction or pre-trial procedure deprived the defendant of a constitutional right.
VIII. What is the classification of Crimes?
a. Misdemeanors
i. are crimes punishable in prison up to 5 years
b. Felonies
i. severe crimes , punishable by prison to death
c. Lesser offenses
i. traffic violations, punishable by fines
d. Malum in se
i. wrong in itself, inherently evil, either because intent is an element of the offense
e. Malum prohibitum
i. wrong only because it is prohibited by legislation
IX. What are the elements of a crime?
a. Actus reus
b. Mens rea
c. Causation
d. Result
e. Attendant circumstances
i. Attendant Circumstances- part of the thing has to be true in order for there to be a crime
ii. Under the US criminal code a voluntary act is presupposed
iii. Involuntary acts- physical force, reflex, sleepwalking, hypnotized, unconscious
1. ∆ would then have an involuntariness defense
iv. MPC § 1.12, 1.13: attendant circumstances are elements, but NOT material elements, so they have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
X. What is actus reus?
a. Actus reus- (guilty act) a physical act or unlawful omission by the ∆
i. Act must be voluntary ie: must be a conscious exercise of the will or directed by the actor, the result of a habit or inadvertence as long as the individual could have behaved differently
1. Not all of the behavior must
no prison sentence
E. Typically used for public welfare offenses
ii. 4 types of Intent
1. Purposely
A. It is his conscious object to engage in conduct(act): and he is aware of the existence of such circumstances or he believes/hopes they exist(attendant circumstances)
2. Knowingly
A. Aware of the nature of his conduct (act) or that or that some situation (attendant circumstances) exists and is aware that conduct it is practically certain that conduct will cause such a result
B. Willful blindness is knowingly, aka willfully
i. When you believe something is probable, but you deliberately avoid making a reasonable inquiry; when D has ample evidence of it (Rice v. State).
3. Recklessly
A. Conscious disregard of a substantial unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct.
B. Disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in the actor’s situation
4. Negligently
A. Should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct. Failure to perceive it, considering the nature and purpose of conduct and the circumstances involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe in the actor’s situation.
B. Gross deviation from standard of care
C. Failure to think about/ignorance
i. If a statute does not specify the type of mens rea then can use purposely, knowingly or recklessly interchangeably
iii. 2.02(3) – culpability not prescribed, established if a person acts purposely, knowingly, or reckless with respect to the material element
iv. 202(4) mens rea applies to all elements of an offense unless a contrary purpose plainly appears
v. 2.02(5)Negligence can also be met if a person acts purposefully, knowingly, or recklessly
vi. 2.02(6) conditional purpose
vii. 2.02(7) knowledge satisfied by knowledge of high probability
viii. 2.02(8) willfully is satisfied if a person acts knowingly with respect to the material elements of the offense
ix. 2.02(9) ignorance of the law is no excuse
x. 2.02(10) degree of proof is the degree in which you are subject to punishment
f. What is Mistake ?
i. For either reasonable or unreasonable mistake of law or fact: If statute requires SI: not guilty. If GI: guilty.
ii. In mistake cases, determine what is wrong in ∆’s head. Then figure out if this is facts and circumstances (mistake of fact) or legal rules and policy (mistake of law-faulty analysis or conclusion)
1. Mistake of fact
A. If mens rea is purposely or knowingly, an honest mistake reasonable or unreasonable is a legitimate defense to negate that mens rea
B. If mens rea is recklessly or negligently an honest reasonable mistake is a legitimate defense to negate that mens rea.
2. Mistake of law
A. Level 1: ignorance (or mistake) of law is no excuse
