Criminal Law and Procedure Kaplan QS

• Actus Reus


  Guilty Act
• Actus Reus


  1. Voluntary, conscious act that causes an unlawful result

  2. Act + volition = legal act

  Exception: Reflections/sleepwalking lack of volition so not legal acts
• Omission


  • When D has duty and ability to act

  1. statutory duty (law enforcement)
  2. legal duty by k (life guard/nursing home)
  3. status (husband/wife, parent/child)
  4. voluntary undertaking to rescue that is abandoned
  5. failing to help after creating risk (hit/run)
• Mens Rea


  Guilty Mind
• Categories of Mens Rea


  • Purpose-Conscious objective to bring about result
  • Knowledge - Knows, with almost absolute certainty, that will produce result
  • Intent-Acts intentionally with purpose or knowledge
  • Willful - Acts purposefully or knowingly, with moral turpitude (similar to intent)
  • Recklessness-Aware that conduct creates risk that's unjustifiable, but ignores and engages anyway
  • Criminal negligence - creates an unjustifiable risk without subjective awareness that he is doing so, but a reasonable person would have been aware
• Recklessness


  "D knew the risk but didn't care"
• Criminal negligence


  "D did not realize he created the risk, but should have, because a reasonable person in that situation would have"
• Specific intent


  Requires proof D intended to create specifically prohibited harm, includes purpose or knowledge ("with intent to")

  Nullified by honest but unreasonable mistake of fact and voluntary intoxication
• Specific intent


  • Nullified by honest but unreasonable mistake of fact and voluntary intoxication
• General intent


  Only requires desire to do the proscribed act; includes reckless and negligent states of mind
• General intent


  • Nullified by honest and reasonable mistake of fact
• Malice


  Essential mens rea element for murder at common law
• Express Malice


  • D intended to kill another human being. To prove intent to kill, D acted with: Purpose to kill
  • Knowledge that her conduct would kill
  • Intent to inflict grievous bodily harm although no intent to kill
• Implied malice


  D caused death as a result of extreme reckless or criminal negligent conduct that manifested a wanton disregard for human life
• Strict liability


  No mens rea element. Act + Result = Guilt
• Transferred intent


  D intends to produce criminal result against one V but harms another-intent transfers
• Concurrence


  Mental state must actuate (set in motion) conduct that produces criminal result
• Actual Cause (cause in fact)


  • "But for"-Result would not have occurred but for D's conduct
  • Substantial factor-multiple causes/parties responsible but D's act was a substantial factor in causing criminal result
  • Acceleration - D's conduct speeds up inevitable death, even if brief
• Proximate Cause


  Required only when intervening event occurs between D's actual cause and criminal result. Question becomes whether intervening event supersedes D's responsibility
• Proximate Cause


  • If the intervening event is foreseeable, it will not supersede → D still liable
  • If it is unforeseeable normally will supersede → relieve D of liability and break casual connection to criminal result
• Foreseeable


  Negligence (take V as you find him, eggshell skull rule)
• Unforeseeable


  Grossly negligent or reckless conduct that accelerates a death set in motion by D

  Independent intervening cause or a mere coincidence
• Intervening cause


  Independent intervening cause or a mere coincidence
• Criminal Homicide


  Unlawful killing of a human being by another
• Homicide is unlawful when


  • Without legal justification or excuse (no defense)
  • Committed as a result of a criminal state of mind (criminal mens rea)
• Homicide + malice = murder


  Homicide without malice = manslaughter
• Murder


  Unlawful killing of a human being + malice
• Malice may be


  • Express
  • Implied
• Express malice

  Expected to cause death
• Implied malice

  Created extreme risk
• Malice is established by


  • Intent to kill → D acts with the purpose to kill another or with knowledge that his conduct will kill another
  • Intent to inflict serious bodily harm → Conscious desire or substantial certainty that D's actions will result in V's injury
  • Depraved Heart Murder (or unintended kill resulting from extreme risk creation that manifests wanton disregard for human life)
• Depraved Heart Murder


  Unintentional killing resulting from: Reckless or grossly negligent conduct+ That creates an extreme risk to others + And demonstrates wanton indifference to human life and conscious disregard of unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury
• Felony murder


  Unintentional killing + Proximately caused + During commission or attempted commission + Of serious or inherently dangerous felony (BARRK)
• Obstacles for felony murder prosecution


  • "Right type of felony" - (1) Listed in statute or (2) be independent of killing and inherently dangerous
  • "Right connection to felony" - Death must be foreseeable outgrowth of felony
  • "Right time" - death must be result of injuries inflicted during the commission, attempt, or immediate flight from felony
• Co-felon liability for felony murder


  • Agency Rule - Felony Murder liability limited to killing committed by a hand of co-felon
  • CL-Attaches to all felons for any homicide during felony, just requires proxy cause of death
  • Exceptions: Non-violent felon - Min CL, Deserving V-Min CL, Redline limitation - Maj CL
• 1st Degree murder


  Proof that D's decision to kill was done with both premeditation and deliberation elevates 2nd degree to 1st degree murder
• Premeditation


  D must think about act of killing
• Premeditation


  • CL - Can premeditate immediately
  • Modern - Some time necessary, but brief is enough time to decide
• Deliberate


  D must make deliberate choice to kill, requires rational thought
• Deliberate


  • Voluntary intoxication, diminished capacity may prevent