Criminal Liability Defenses
Justification Defenses
defendants admit they were responsible for their acts but claim that, under the circumstances, what they did was right
Insanity
the legal term that refers to a mental disease or defect that impairs the reason and/ or will to control action
Accomplices
participants before and during the commission of crimes
Accomplice Liability
liability that attaches for participation before and during a crime (prosecution for the crime itself)
Criminal Attempts
trying but failing to commit crimes
Excuse Defenses
defendants admit what they did was wrong but claim that, under the circumstances, they weren’t responsible for what they did
Civil Commitment
courts have to decide if defendants who were insane when they come
Accessories
participants after crimes are committed
Accessory Liability
liability that attaches for participation after crimes are committed (prosecution for a minor offense other than the crime itself)
Criminal Conspiracy
making an agreement to commit a crime
Affirmative Defenses
defendants have to “start matters off by putting in some evidence in sup- port” of their justification or excuse defenses
Mental Disease
most courts define it as psychosis, mostly paranoia and schizophrenia
Principals in the First Degree
persons who actually commit the crime
Conspiracy
an agreement to commit some other crime
Criminal Solicitation
trying to get someone else to commit a crime
Perfect Defenses
Defenses in which defen- dants are acquitted if they’re successful
Mental Defect
refers to mental retardation or brain damage severe enough to make it impossible to know what you’re doing, or if you know, you don’t know that it’s wrong
Principals in the Second Degree
persons present when the crime is committed and who help commit it [lookouts and getaway drivers]
Pinkerton Rule
the crime of conspiracy and the crime the conspirators agree to commit are separate offenses
Inchoate Offenses
from the Latin “to begin”; crimes that satisfy the mens rea of purpose or specific intent and the actus reus of taking some steps toward accomplish- ing the criminal pur- pose—but not enough steps to complete the intended crime
Imperfect Defenses
when a defendant fails in the full defense but is found guilty of a lesser offense
Defense of Duress
when defendants use the excuse that they were forced to do what they did
Accessories Before the Fact
persons who are not present when the crimes are committed but who help before the crime is committed (for example, someone who provided a weapon used in a murder)
Mere Presence Rule
a person’s presence at, and flight from, the scene of a crime aren’t enough to satisfy the actus reus requirement of accomplice liability
Racketeering
original meaning was the extortion of money or advan- tage by threat or force; now the meaning has expanded to include a pattern of illegal activity (such as extortion and murder) carried out in the furtherance of an enterprise owned or controlled by those engaged in the activity