Criminal Law Flashcards Preview

Multistate Bar Exam > Criminal Law > Flashcards

Flashcards in Criminal Law Deck (60)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

Specific Intent —

A

one performs an act with the intent to achieve a particular result.

2
Q

How is specific intent proven?

A

By outside evidence. Specific intent cannot be proven by an act’s being performed in and of itself.

3
Q

What are the common law levels of intent?

A

Specific intent; general intent; malice; strict liability

4
Q

General Intent —

A

the defendant is aware of the factors constituting the crime. General intent does not require that the defendant have a particular result in mind.

5
Q

Malice —

A

the defendant recklessly disregarded an obvious or high risk that a particular result would occur.

6
Q

To what crimes does malice apply to?

A

Common law murder and arson.

7
Q

What kind of intent does strict liability require?

A

None.

8
Q

What are the levels of intent under the Model Penal Code?

A

Purposely; knowingly; recklessly; negligently

9
Q

Purposely —

A

the defendant acted with a desire to engage in conduct or cause a certain result.

10
Q

Knowingly —

A

the defendant is aware of the nature of the conduct or that certain circumstances exist.

11
Q

Recklessly —

A

the defendant is aware of the substantial and unjustifiable risk that a certain result will occur and he consciously disregarded the risk.

12
Q

Negligently —

A

the defendant should have been aware of the substantial and unjustifiable risk that a certain result would occur.

13
Q

Who is a principal?

A

Someone who has the actus reus and mens rea to commit a crime, and who actually commits the crime.

14
Q

Who is an accomplice?

A

Someone with intent to assist the principal; intent the crime be committed; and actually aids, counsels, or encourages the principal before or during the crime’s commission.

15
Q

Who is an accessory after the fact?

A

Anyone who receives, relieves, comforts, or assists another knowing that the person has committed a felony, in order to help the felon escape arrest, trial or conviction.

16
Q

What are the inchoate offenses?

A

Solicitation; attempt; conspiracy

17
Q

What crime includes inciting, counseling, advising, inducing, urging or commanding someone to commit a crime with the specific intent that the person solicited commit the crime?

A

Solicitation

18
Q

What level of intent is required for solicitation?

A

Specific intent

19
Q

What are the elements of conspiracy?

A

Agreement between two or more people; intent to enter into an agreement; and intent to achieve the objectives of that agreement.

20
Q

Attempt —

A

an act done with intent to commit a crime but which falls short of completing the crime.

21
Q

What are the types of crime included in common law homicide?

A

First degree murder; second degree murder; voluntary manslaughter; involuntary manslaughter.

22
Q

Common Law Murder —

A

the unlawful killing of another with malice aforethought.

23
Q

Malice Aforethought —

A

intent to kill; intent to inflict great bodily harm; reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life; or intent to commit a felony.

24
Q

First Degree Murder —

A

murder which is deliberate and premeditated.

25
Q

Second Degree Murder —

A

a killing committed with a reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk of human life.

26
Q

Voluntary Manslaughter —

A

killing that would otherwise be murder but which is distinguishable by the existence of adequate provocation.

27
Q

Adequate Provocation —

A

that which would arouse sudden and intense passion in the mind of an ordinary person.

28
Q

Involuntary Manslaughter —

A

killings committed with either 1) criminal negligence; or 2) during the commission of a criminal act, such as misdemeanors or felonies not included in the felony murder rule.

29
Q

Common Law Larceny —

A

the taking and carrying away of the tangible personal property of another with possession without consent and with intent to permanently deprive that person of his interest in the property.

30
Q

Robbery —

A

the taking of personal property of another from the other’s person or presence by force or threat of immediate death/physical harm to the victim or a member of their family in the victim’s presence with intent to permanently deprive the victim of their property.

31
Q

False Pretenses —

A

obtaining title to the personal property of another by an intentional false statement of a past or existing fact with the intent to defraud another.

32
Q

Embezzlement —

A

the fraudulent conversion of personal property of another by a person in lawful possession of that property.

33
Q

Burglary —

A

breaking and entering a dwelling place of another at nighttime with the intent to commit a felony in the structure at the time of the breaking and entering.

34
Q

Arson —

A

the malicious burning of the dwelling of another. There must be actual damage to the structure. It must be more than smoke or heat damage.

35
Q

What is the M’Naughten Rule?

A

One of several rules of determining insanity when the defendant makes an insanity defense. The rule states that the defendant is entitled to acquittal if a disease of the mind caused a defect of reason such that the defendant lacked the ability to either know the wrongfulness of his actions or understand the nature and quality of his actions at the time he performed them.

36
Q

What is the irresistible impulse test?

A

One of several tests in determining whether a defendant is insane for the purposes of making an insanity defense. The test states that the defendant is entitled to acquittal if, because of mental illness, he was unable to control his actions or conform his conduct to the law.

37
Q

What is the Durham Test?

A

One of several tests in determining whether the defendant is insane. The defendant is entitled to an acquittal if the crime was a product of the mental illness.

38
Q

What is the ALI/MPC Test?

A

One of several tests for determining whether the defendant is insane. The defendant is entitled to acquittal if he had a mental defect and because of that mental defect he lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or conform his conduct to the law.

39
Q

Voluntary Intoxication —

A

the intentional taking without duress of a substance that is known to be intoxicating.

40
Q

Voluntary intoxication is only a defense to _________________ crimes if the intoxication prevents formation of the required intent.

A

specific

41
Q

Involuntary Intoxication —

A

taking an intoxicating substance without knowledge of its nature, pursuant to medical advice while unaware of the substance’s intoxicating effect, or if the intoxicating substance is ingested under direct duress of another.

42
Q

What must be present for a person to be able to claim the defenses of defense of self/others/property?

A

A threat of imminent harm.

43
Q

Will a threat of future harm make a defense of self/others/property available?

A

No

44
Q

When is deadly force justified?

A

To prevent death or serious bodily harm.

45
Q

What is the defense of duress?

A

A defense to a crime other than intentional homicide when the defendant reasonably believed that another person would imminently inflict death or great bodily harm on him or a member of his family if he did not commit the crime.

46
Q

When is the defense of mistake of fact available?

A

When it shows the defendant lacked the required state of mind for the crime.

47
Q

Mistake of fact is not a defense to a _______________ crime.

A

strict liability

48
Q

What are the elements of attempt?

A

1) the specific intent to commit an act and obtain a particular result that, if achieved, would constitute a crime, and 2) an overt act in furtherance of the crime.

49
Q

Does conspiracy merge with the completed crime?

A

Not under the majority rule. You can be convicted of both conspiracy and the completed crime.

50
Q

A conspirator can be convicted of a crime committed by another conspirator if . . .

A

1) the crimes were committed in furtherance of the objectives of the conspiracy; and 2) the crimes were foreseeable.

51
Q

The crime of solicitation is completed when?

A

When the solicitation is made.

52
Q

A defendant who is charged with murder may be convicted of ______________.

A

attempted murder

53
Q

A defendant charged with attempted murder cannot be convicted of ______________.

A

murder.

54
Q

A defendant who is charged with an attempt can only be convicted of what?

A

attempt.

55
Q

In order to relieve a defendant of homicide liability, substandard medical care by another must be . . .

A

grossly negligent or intentional mistreatment of the victim.

56
Q

Liability for felony murder ends when . . .

A

the felon reaches a place of temporary safety.

57
Q

For voluntary manslaughter, the element of provocation has both _____________ and _____________ elements.

A

Objective; subjective. The provocation must have been such that a reasonable person would have been provoked, and the defendant must have actually be provoked.

58
Q

Adequate provocation, for the purposes of voluntary manslaughter, includes being subjected to . . .

A

serious battery; a threat of deadly force; discovering one’s spouse in bed with another.

59
Q

Under the felony murder rule, must the defendant be convicted of the underlying felony?

A

No. The defendant need not be convicted of the underlying felony in order to be found guilty of felony murder.

60
Q

What is the agency theory of felony murder?

A

The felon or one of their agents must commit the killing for felony murder to attach.