Criminal Law Outline

Criminal Law Outline
Professor Carter
 
 
I. Murder
Background: Not all States have degrees of murder. Some combine 1rst and 2nd degree murder. A little more than half are degree states. 
 
Malice: The requisite mental state for common-law murder, encompassing any one of the following: 1)the intent to kill, 2)the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, 3) extremely reckless indifference to the value of human life, 4) the intent to commit a dangerous felony. (Blacks Law Dic.)
            -Expressed Malice: intentional killing
-Implied Malice: reckless or abandoned heart (extreme reckless) killing, intent to inflict grievous bodily injury where death results.
A. First Degree Murder
                        Must be a calm cool deliberate killing
1. Premeditated Killing: to think before hand; the quantity of time in formulating the plan; a very short amount of time may be sufficient.
                                    -How much time is necessary?
How to determine intent to kill:
                                    -from circumstances of the case
                                    -from the word of parties or witnesses
                                    -if actions conflict w/ statement: actions are louder than words
                                    -forensic evidence
Instructions are necessary to the jury that there must be intent to kill: (Guthrie)
Indications of premed:
                                    a) planning activity
b) facts about prior relationship or behavior that might indicate a motive
                                    c) evidence of nature of killing, preconceived design
Idea that no time is to short to show intent is unworkable and unfair (Guthrie)
                                    -most states require an appreciable time
2. Deliberate Killing: to measure and evaluate the major facets of a choice or problem; the quality of the though process.
-PreMed and Deliberate often overlap
-things that show premed or delib: cool calm dispassionate killing, torture, poison, lying in wait
3. Provocation
-words are not enough for provocation (Girouard)
-actions which confirm words may be enough to show provocation. (Maher)
-subjective factors for provocation (Casassa)
                                    it must be Reasonable ordinary person
                                    gender/age/culture can be taken into account
 
Deadly Weapon Rule: when use a deadly weapon on a vital part of the body