Terminology
Latin for "guilty act"
What is "Actus Reas?"
attempt, soliciation and conspiracy are examples of crimes in this category
What are incomplete crimes
I had to take that person's property to keep myself and my family alive
What is a necessity defense
Doctrine that says missing your intended victim but hitting someone else is no excuse.
What is the doctrine of transferred intent?
Warning police must give before questioning a suspect in custody, regarding the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney
What is the Miranda warning?
Latin for "guilty mind"
"What is mens rea?"
first and second degree murder, and voluntary and involuntary manslaughter are types of this crime
What are homicides?
I suffer from a diagnosed mental disease or defect, so serious that I did not know what I was doing or did not know it was wrong
What is the insanity defense. (This is the traditional McNaughten rule form of the defense.)
Idea that sometimes you can be punished for an action, even though you didn't mean to do it and weren't even careless!
What is strict liability
Best way for an officer to insure in advance that a planned search, seizure of property or arrest is legal
What is get a warrant?
Of a guilty act and a guilty mind, the one that is always required in order to commit a crime.
What is a guilty act?
Burglary, robbery, larceny, fraud and embezzlement are types of this crime
What are property crimes?
I had a seizure; I was sleepwalking; He pushed me; The prescription drug I'm taking made me do it!
What are involunary act defenses.
Type of crime that involves high order thought or planning, so that being so drunk or otherwise intoxicated that you can't think straight becomes a limited defense.
What are specific intent crimes. (Note that a person who is found to have been too drunk to plan a specific intent crime will typically be found guilty of a less serious but related general intent crime)
Succesful challenges to the death penalty (for minors, for the intellectually disabled, and for those who did not kill the victims of their crimes) have been based on this Constitutional amendment
What is the 8th amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The reason why someone commits a crime
What is "motive?"
Principals in the first and second degree, and accessories before the fact are members of this group
What are co-conspirators
The undercover cops pushed me so hard that they broke my will. I would never otherwise have committed that crime!
What is an entrapment defense.
Special rule that applies to you if helping a victim was your job, if a victim was a family member, or if your actions put a victim in peril.
What is criminal liabilty for failure to act?
The right to remain silent; the right not to be put in jeopardy more than once for the same offense; and the right to due process of law are all covered by this Constitutional amendment.
What is the 5th amendment? (Note that a suspect who refuses to answer questions on the ground that her answers might incriminate her is said to be "taking the fifth.")
Of felonies and misdemeanors, the type of crime that is most serious.
What are felonies?
robbing an FDIC insured bank; attempting to assasinate a federal official; hijacking an airplane; espionage; treason; and moving drugs or contraband across state lines are examples of this type of crime
What are federal crimes
He had a gun and it was pointed right at me. It was him or me!
What is self defense.
Evidentiary rule created by the U.S. Supreme Court that keeps evidence found or developed through police misconduct from being introduced against a defendant in court.
What is the exclusionary rule?
Searches of places in plain view from a place where an officer has a legal right to be; searches with consent; searches incident to an arrest; inventory searches of seized or towed cars; and pat downs for weapons when an officer has a reasonable articulable suspicion that a suspect is armed and involved in criminal behavior
What are recognized exceptions to the 4th Amendment's warrant requirement