Chapter 1
Felonies against persons
murder, manslaughter, rape, kidnapping, and robbery
principle of legality
no one can be convicted of, or punished for, a crime unless the law defined the crime and prescribed the punishment before the person engaged in the behavior that was defined as a crime
elements of a crime
Criminal act (actus reus), Criminal intent (mens rea), Concurrence, Attendant circumstances, Bad result (causing a criminal harm)
Mens rea
Latin for guilty mind, the mental element of a crime (also called “criminal intent,” “evil mind,” “mental attitude,” or “state of mind”)
perfect defenses
defenses in which defendants are acquitted if they’re successful
Felonies against property
felony theft, robbery, arson, and burglary
rule of lenity
the requirement of courts to resolve every ambiguity in a criminal statute in favor of the defendant
Criminal liability
conduct that unjustifiably and inexcusably inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individual or public interests
General intent
the intent to commit the criminal act
Self-defense consists of four elements
Nonaggressor, Necessity, Proportionality, Reasonable belief
Hard Punishment
a year or more in prison
burden of proof
to have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt “every fact necessary to constitute the crime charged”
criminal conduct
the criminal act triggered by mens rea
Specific intent
the general intent to commit the actus reus of a crime plus the intent to cause a criminally harmful result
battered woman’s syndrome (BWS)
mental disorder that develops in victims of domestic violence as a result of serious, long-term abuse
Felonies
crimes punishable by death or confinement in the state’s prison for one year to life without parole
Fourth Amendment
right to be secure in one’s “person, house, papers, and effects” from “unreasonable searches”
criminal omissions
the failure to act when there’s a legal duty to act
principle of concurrence
some mental fault has to trigger the criminal act in conduct crimes and the cause in result crimes
choice-of-evils defense
also called the general defense of necessity justifies the choice to commit a lesser crime to avoid the harm of a greater crime
misdemeanors
punishable by fine and/or confinement in the local jail for up to one year
Barbaric punishments
punishments that are considered no longer acceptable to civilized society
“Good Samaritan” doctrine
imposes a legal duty to help or call for help for imperiled strangers
Causation
holding an actor criminally accountable for the results of her conduct
Knowing consent
the person consenting understands what she’s consenting to; she’s not too young or insane to understand