Rich Spring 2011 Criminal Law Outline
I. Criminal Process
a. Initial Appearance (in a municipal court, jurisdiction only over misdemeanors)
i. Notice of Charge
ii. Rights Read
iii. Lawyer Appointed
iv. Plea Entered (but no jurisdiction)
v. Misdemeanor? judge may immediately try
b. Preliminary Hearing
i. Prosecution must present probable cause
1. Yes: probable cause
a. (bound over to) Grand Jury
b. bail set
i. “bail bond” = money given to court (10% of bail?) to assure appearance,
ii. if no appearance, Δ responsible for all of bail.
iii. If appear, most of bond returned to Δ.
2. No: à dismissed
ii. No double Jeopardy until after trial!
c. Grand Jury
i. Investigates Crime (subpoena, questions, etc)
ii. Δ has no right to remain silent (no 5th amend here)
iii. Decides if probable cause exists:
1. no = “no bill” à dismissed?
2. yes = “true bill”
d. Indictment, Arraignment
i. Served with copy of indictment
ii. Told of rights (takes place in court with jurisdiction)
iii. Plea is taken (for real this time)
1. Must know of rights before making plea
2. Not Guilty
a. Negotiations
b. Judge/jury trial decided
c. Jury selection
d. Location of trial
e. Charges, conspirators, etc…
f. Bargaining
g. Motions in limine (rules on evidence permissibility)
h. No dispositions in discovery!
i. Defense doesn’t get much in discovery (gets bill of particulars, copies of Δ’s statements and records)
3. Guilty à gives up all rights
4. Nolo contendere (no contest à guilty, but cannot use this case in future hearings)
II. Structure and Theory of Criminal Law
a. Legality
i. Jurisdiction
ii. Venue
iii. Statutes of Limitation
iv. Constitutional Constraints (Can intrude on a fundamental right IF Compelling state interest)
1. Due Process (14th amendment must give notice)
a. Vagueness
b. Overbroad = overlaps into areas protected by constitution
2. Equal Protection (14th amendment)
a. Discretion
i. Police use discretion in who to charge & how
ii. Prosecutor uses discretion in who to prosecute
3. 1st Amendment
4. Privacy (not in bill of rights, but is the core of the bill of rights)
5. 8th Amendment: Cruel and unusual punishment
b. Jurisdiction
c. Punishment and Corrections
i. Deterrence
1. For particular criminal
2. For future offences of all criminals
ii. Retribution
iii. Incapacitation / restraint
iv. Rehabilitation
d. Acts & Omissions
e. Mental State (Free Will?)
f. Attempts and Complicity
g. Excuse & Justification
III. Components of a Crime
a. Mental State
i. Mens Rea à culpable mental state (in decreasing order of mens rea)
1. Purposefully: person acts purposefully toward element of a crime if:
a. Conscious conduct to act in the nature of the crime OR
b. Conscious object of conduct to cause the result AND
c. The element involves attendant circumstances, Δ knows, believes, or hopes that circumstances exist.
2. Knowingly: person acts knowingly toward element of a crime if:
a. If element involves nature of conduct, Δ is aware that conduct is of that nature AND
b. If element involves result of conduct, Δ is aware that it is practically certain that conduct will cause those results.
3. Recklessly: person acts recklessly if:
a. Consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk resulting from conduct
b. Risk must be to a degree that conduct involves gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe
4. Negligently: person acts negligently if:
a. Should be aware of the substantial and unjustifiable risk
b. Failure to perceive risk is a gross deviation from the standard of care of a RPUC
5. Knew or Should Have Known: “Gun in handbag case”
6. Intoxication
a. Can consider intoxication in “specific intent” crimes
accepted in most courts as a defense
i. In situations where Mens Rea is “Willful”
ii. Or reliance on official interpretations of the law
1. atty general
2. official comments to statute
c. Willful blindness is NOT lack of knowledge
i. MPC: knowledge is established if a person is aware of a high probability of its existence, unless he actually believes that it does not exist.
b. Act (Actus Reus)
i. Must be a voluntary act/omission AND proved beyond a reasonable doubt
1. Not voluntary act:
a. reflex/convulsion,
b. during hypnosis,
c. movement while unconscious,
d. not a product of effort or determination of the actor
2. Liability for commission of offense may not be based on an omission unless unaccompanied by action unless:
a. Omission is expressly made sufficient by law defining offense OR
b. Duty to perform the act is otherwise imposed by law OR
c. Duty by contract
d. Putting victim in peril
ii. Act is not required to happen at same time as injury (epileptic driver)
c. Harm
d. Causation
i. Cause in fact (but for)
ii. Proximate cause
1. no superseding cause to break chain of causation (need all three)
a. independent
b. intervening
c. unforeseeable
i. protection of property is foreseeable
ii. medical gross negligence is unforeseeable
iii. medical negligence is foreseeable
e. Concurrence
