Proof and Punishment
The burden of proof held by the prosecution in a criminal case.
What is beyond a reasonable doubt?
Bob loads his gun, takes aim at a passerby, and shoots him in the back.
What is specific intent
Incomplete or imperfect offenses.
What are inchoate crimes?
The actual perpetrator of a homicide and generally the only person subject to the capital punishment.
Who is the triggerman?
Prohibited by the Constitution, these laws punish conduct done before the law's passage.
What are ex post facto laws?
Minor crimes, sometimes punished by less than one year in jail.
What are misdemeanors?
Bob is at a shooting range. As he is carefully putting his gun back in its case, it slips from his hand, falling to the ground and discharging. An onlooker is shot and killed.
What is simple (non-criminal) negligence?
This crime requires both criminal intent and a substantial step toward completion of the crime.
What is an attempt?
A person who is present, at least constructively, at the scene of a crime, aiding the perpetrator.
Who is the principal in the second degree OR aider and abettor.
A defense to attempt if done so voluntarily and not due to increased fear of apprehension.
What is abandonment?
This phrase refers to the prosecution's responsibility to prove all elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
What is its burden of proof?
Bob loads his gun on the 4th of July and begins spraying bullets into the air. As the bullets return to earth, they strike three people, severely injuring them.
What is wanton or willful state of mind?
An agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime.
What is a conspiracy?
A person who assists or advises another on how to commit a crime but is not physically present at teh time the crime is committed.
Who is an accessory before the fact?
In order to impose criminal liability, both _________ and ________ causation must exist.
What are factual and legal?
The burden of proof for affirmative defenses.
What is preponderance of the evidence?
Bob is running through the park with his gun. As he jumps over a fence, he drops the gun. It discharges because the safety was not on and shoots and kills a child.
What is recklessness (or criminal negligence).
The crime committed when Harvey asks Mary to help him rob a bank.
What is solicitation?
A person who gives aid and comfort to persons known to have committed crimes.
What is an accessory after the fact?
The body of the crime, that is, the fact of its having been committed.
What is corpus delecti?
According to this theory, the purpose of criminal punishment is to eliminate an offender's capacity to commit crimes.
What is incapacitation theory?
Missouri has a law that requires guns to be locked in a case while being transported.
What is strict liability
This concept subsumes a previously distinct offense within a greater offense.
What is merger?
Failure to report a known crime.
What is misprision of a felony?
The doctrine that there is no conspiracy when there is an agreement between only the parties necessary for the commission of a substantive offense.
What is a Wharton's rule.