Criminal Law
Fox
Fall 2015
The Criminal Justice System and Theories of Punishment
The required elements of crime
Actus Reus – ‘Guity Act’
A physical act or omission committed by D
Mens Rea – ‘Guilty Mind’
The state of mind or intent of D at the time of the act
Concurrence
The physical act and mental state existed simultaneously
Causation of harmful result
D’s act caused someone harm
Criminal Justice
Society’s method for enforcing a standard of conduct meant to protect the safety and security of people and the wider community
Two primary sources
Common Law – Judge made law carried over from English tradition, and then added upon
Statutory Law – Laws created by legislation that further defines crime and punishment
Limits on punishment
Constitutional Law – Limits legislative power
Due Process clause
Ex Post Facto, or making what is lawful unlawful after the fact, or applying that new standard retroactively
Void for Vagueness Doctrine
Ordinary people need to be able to reasonably determine a statute’s meaning and application
The statute cannot confer excessive discretion to law enforcement when deciding who to arrest or prosecute
It also cannot confer discretion to judges and juries to determine whether conduct was prohibited or not
Rule of Lenity
Requires court to construe penal statutes as favorably to the D as the statutory language and circumstances permit
Ambiguity is thus in D’s favor
Burden of Proof
The burden of proof is therefore on the prosecution to identify and prove EVERY ELEMENT OF THE OFFENSE
In re: Winship
Juvenile court, when weighing a case of larceny, convicted D using preponderance of the evidence owing to age and lower punishment. Court held standard was unconstitutional for criminal cases because the prosecution must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt
It is better to let a thousand guilty men go free than to convict one innocent man.
Patterson v. New York
D shoots a man after he sees man having sex with his wife. Jury instructed on voluntary manslaughter (extreme emotional disturbance) and second-degree murder (depraved heart), jury convicted of murder.
Affirmed because malice aforethought only applies to Maine, not NY
Defining reasonable doubt
Reasonable doubt is not beyond every shadow of a doubt. Rather, it’s to quell the sort of doubt a standard, reasonable person may have
Role of the Jury
Right to acquit an individual of a crime, even if prosecution proves they are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But a judge isn’t required to instruct on jury nullification.
United States v. Dougherty – DC 9 destroy a Dow chemicals plant. Wanted the judge to provide nullification instructions, which he effused to do. Appeals affirmed, stating jurors are obligate to decide what they think is right, and instructing on nullification causes chaos
All people are entitled to a trial by jury, regardless of the size of the crime
Duncan v. Louisiana – LA statute allowing trial by jury for crimes with small punishment is unconstitutional
Punishment and Criminal Law Theory
Punishment, by definition, is meant to cause one to suffer. So a just society must justify the infliction of suffering in some way
Social Utility Theory – weigh the cost and benefits to a society
Lawmakers have to ascertain what sort of conduct is wrong, and who should be held accountable for breaking that conduct
Regina v. Dudley – Four men are stranded on a boat, decide to eat a 17-year-old boy without his consent. Argued it was a sacrifice to save them all.
Court says that killing in a wilful and deliberate manner means it was murder, regardless of context
Philosophy of punishment
– Justification of a practice depends only on the consequences of doing that action. Inflicting harm is, in itself, wrong so it must create a societal good. (Social Harm Theory)
Pain inflicted by punishment is justifiable if it reduces that pain of crime that would otherwise occurred
People are rational, and will balance benefits and punishment
Forward looking – past is a road map to predict the future
Goals of Utilitarianism
General deterrence – Deters community from undergoing criminal activity in the future
Individual deterrence – Deters individual from repeatedly committing same crime
Incapacitation – Imprisonment prevents person from committing the same crime since they’re locked up
Rehabilitation/Reform – Goal is to reduce crime by remodeling the imprisoned through correctional system
Problems with Utilitarianism
D must accurately hear and understand the law they are violating
D has to think they will be captured and punished for the deterrence
Rehabilitation rarely works
It allows for unjustifiably punishing people to serve as deterrence
R
the street. He is then arrested from being drunk in public. Court held that he was taken involuntarily from his house into public, so there was no voluntary action.
People v. Newton (1970) – Newton charged with voluntary manslaughter after killing a cop. During scuffle Newton was shot and blacked out – doesn’t remember shooting the other cop. Court held he showed enough evidence to support the claim and revered.
– Woman axes her daughter twice in the head while sleepwalking. Only thing she remembers is going to her sisters and saying something bad happened. Shrinks agreed that emotional instability and lack of sleep could result in living out projections while sleep-walking.
People v. Decina – Man has an epileptic seizure and kills four people while driving. Court held he was guilty because he was aware of his seizures and got into the car anyway.
Voluntary act that lead to death
Possession
Possession of drugs, along with constructive control over them
Many MPC jurisdictions add ‘knowingly’ to mens rea requirements, but that knowledge can be inferred if D intentionally doesn’t learn of the nature of what they possess.
Willful blindness is no excuse.
Normally you have no duty to act. This isn’t the case when you are bound by law to help or care for another person in peril.
Must be punished for failure to act, rather than what they did do
Making things worse, rather than make things better
Legal Duty
Statutorily created duties
All American jurisdictions require members of certain designated professions to report suspected cases of child abuse; usually failure to do so is a misdeameanor.
Some have expanded from doctors, nurses, and teachers to professions like clergy, optometrist, psychotherapists.
Special Moral Relationship
Courts are pretty hesitant to expand this duty to anyone outside of an immediate family.
Jurisdictions differ as to whether it’s extended to live-in, non-married couples, or to step-parents
