South Texas College of Law
Michael Wheeler-Criminal Law-Fall 2014
4 components of Criminal Law (other than strict liability)
– Mens Rea (guilty mind)
– Actus Reus (guilty act)
– Concurrence between first two
– Causation (in some cases)
3 major groups in Common Law
– Treason
– Felony
– Misdemeanor
– Petty Offenses
o A misdemeanor punishable by not more than 6 months imprisonment
– Infraction
o Punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 days and a fine of up to $5000 and is also a petty offense
Statutes
– A statute that violates a right to privacy (or other rights from the Constitution) may be upheld if it shows a compelling state interest and the statute is narrowly drawn to achieve that interest
o Some rights may be considered fundamental; personal intimacies of the home, the family, marriage, motherhood, procreation, and child rearing
– State’s police power must have a rational basis and not be arbitrary or discriminatory or violate a fundamental right
o May be used to promote economic welfare of the state; must be for the public interest
– No man shall be held criminally responsible for conduct which he could not reasonably understand to be proscribed
Responsibility in General
– Malum in se
o Against the law b/c it is evil in and of itself; no question this is evil and a punishment is needed; technically, all crimes in common law fell into this category
– Malum prohibitum
o Wrong because legislatures have prohibited the conduct; not wrong in and of itself
– Distinction btwn misdemeanors and felonies is normally to do with punishment
– Infamous vs. Non-infamous cases
o Nature of offense, not of the punishment
o Common Law
§ Infamous could not be a witness
o “infamous” – felony; “non-infamous” – not a felony
Mens Rea
– Factors where no mens rea can be formed
o Too young OR too disturbed in mental health
– For Mens Rea
o On the negative side there must not be found any factor which is sufficient for exculpation or excuse
o On the positive side there must be found an intent to do the deed which constitutes the Actus Reus for the offense charged (or some other mental state recognized as a substitute such as criminal negligence)
– Courts must presume and establish that legislature intended some culpable mental state
– Common law broke crimes into 3 categories involving the mental state
o General Intent crimes
§ Voluntarily doing an illegal act; not doing an act required to do and capable of doing
o Specific intent crimes
§ (e.g.) larceny – intent to steal the glass; a specific intent is needed to be convicted
o Crimes having criminal negligence providing sufficient mental state to hold one accountable
– Negligence and Recklessness
o Recklessness
means an intent to do the very harm done, or harm of a similar nature, or a wanton and willful disregard of an obvious likelihood of causing such harm
o Requires only an intent to do harm w/o lawful justification or excuse
o Some intents to kill (heat of passion) does not qualify
o Negative side
§ Absence of all justification, excuse or legal mitigation
o Positive side – presence of either
§ Actual intent to cause particular harm or harm of similar nature
§ Wanton and willful doing of an act w/ awareness of plain and strong likelihood that such harm may result
– Knowledge
o Deliberate ignorance – deliberate attempt not to know info can make a person liable (for jury to decide)
o Knowledge comes in more than one form:
§ Guilty knowledge: awareness of a fact through own observation
§ Guilty belief: you can believe, which turns out to be correct, is knowledge
§ Guilty avoidance of knowledge: shutting one’s eyes for fear of discovery of what it would disclose – consciously avoiding the truth
– Willfulness generally means an act which is:
o Intentional, knowing, or voluntary, as opposed to accidental
