CRIMINAL LAW OUTLINE
1) Criminal Law Overview
a. Nature of Crime
i. Malum in se: crimes that are inherently dangers, bad or immoral in themselves
ii. Malum prohibitum: act made criminal because it is necessary to do so for the general welfare
b. Proving Guilt at Trial
i. Right to Trial By Jury
1. Scope of the Right
a. twelve persons who must reach a unanimous verdict to convict or acquit
i. Juries as small as six persons are constitutional
ii. state laws permitting non-unanimous verdicts are also constitutional so long as the vote to convict represents a substantial majority of the jurors
b. Jury must be drawn from a fair cross-section of the community
i. to protect an accused from governmental oppression and to provide her with the common-sense judgment of the community
ii. Burden of Proof
1. Prosecution has the Burden of proving every element beyond a reasonable doubt
2. Defendant has burden of affirmative defenses
2) Justifications for Punishment
a. Goals of Criminal law
i. Deterrence, Retribution, Restraint, and Rehabilitation
b. Retribution
i. Believes morally culpable persons should be punished
1. looks at the nature of their moral responsibility
2. punishes what happened in the past
c. Utilitarian – Cost Benefit Analysis
i. We impose punishment because it is good for the future
1. Punishment itself is bad, but there is a good that may come out of it
2. Requires Cost/Benefit Analysis
a. If costs can be justified then they should be borne
3. Desired effects
a. Deterrence
b. Incapacitation
c. Revenge
d. reform
1) Legality Principal: condemns judicial crime creation!
a. Bill of Attainder and Ex Post Facto Clauses
i. Bill of Attainder
1. special legislation that declares a specific person to be guilty of a crime and subject to punishment without trial or conviction
2. prohibited by the constitution, something that declares a particular persons activities as criminal, by individualizing a crime it goes against the Constitution
ii. Ex Post Facto
1. cannot retroactively make something a crime or retroactively increase severity of crime
b. Due Process Prohibition Against Vagueness
i. In General
1. 5th & 14th Amendment Due Process Clauses prohibit enforcement of statutes defining crimes if those statutes are impermissibly vague
a. Violates the element of Notice
i. persons should be able to tell whether their conduct will be criminal
b. Requires
bility – Affirmative vs. Negative Acts
1. Affirmative Acts
a. must be a showing that Δ made some conscious and volitional movement
2. Negative Acts (Omissions)
a. Δ’s omission will support a finding of liability only where it is shown that
i. Δ was under a legal duty to act
ii. Δ had the necessary knowledge to act
iii. it was physically possible for Δ to act Act
b. Situations that Give Rise to Legal Duty
i. Duty based on the Relationship of the Parties
ii. Statutory Duties
iii. Duties Arising from Contract
iv. Duties Arising from Voluntarily Undertaking Task
v. Duties Based on Creation of Peril
3. Knowledge Required for Liability
i. Common law – knowledge of duty not required for liability for omissions – ignorance no defense
iii. MPC 2.01
1. A person is not guilty of an offense unless his liability is based on act or omission of which he is physically capable
2. Liability cannot be based on omission unless expressly made so by law
