CRIM LAW CRIME DEFINITIONS

1. Homicide
a. Murder: an unlawful killing of a human being by another human being with malice
aforethought.
i. 4 types:
1. Intent to kill (express)
2. Intent to inflict grievous bodily injury (implied malice)
3. Extremely reckless disregard for the value of human life (implied)
4. Felony murder (implied)
b. Manslaughter: an unlawful killing of a human being by another human being without
malice aforethought
i. 2 types
1. Voluntary manslaughterintentional
a. Sudden heat of passion: an intentional killing done in a sudden
heat of passion as a result of adequate provocation without
reasonable opportunity to cool off
2. Involuntary manslaughterunintentional
a. An act lawful in itself, but done in an unlawful manner without
due caution, resulting in death.
b. Person should have been aware of the unjustifiable risk, but he
was not.
c. Gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable
person would have exercised under the same circumstances.
2. Attempt: a criminal attempt occurs when a person, with the intent to commit an offense,
performs some act done towards carrying out the intent
a. Must be in a preparation stage + substantial step.
3. Assault: an unlawful attempt coupled with a present ability to commit a violent injury to
another.
4. Battery: unlawful application of force to another willfully or in anger.
5. Solicitation: occurs when a person invites, requests, asks, commands, hires, or encourages
another to engage in conduct constituting a felony or misdemeanor relating to the obstruction
of justice or a breach of peace.
6. Burglary: the breaking and entering of a dwelling at night with the intent to commit a felony
therein.
7. Larceny: trespassory taking and carrying away of personal property of another with intent to
permanently deprive.
8. Embezzlement: the property comes lawfully into possession of the taker and is fraudulently or
unlawfully appropriated and converted by him.
9. False Pretenses: knowingly and designedly obtaining the Title of property of another by means
of untrue representations of fact with intent to defraud.
10. Robbery: larceny from a person by violence or intimidation.
11. Rape: Carnal knowledge of a woman, not ones wife, by man forcible and against her will.

OTHER DEFINITIONS
1. Actus Reus: a voluntary act that causes social harm.
2. Mens Rea: the guilty, more culpable mind.
3. Causation: Actual Cause + Proximate Cause.

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AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES
Necessity: Necessary to prevent an even greater harm from occurring.
a. Choice of Evils defense Natural Force
Duress: Used for human threats
Intoxication: Disturbance of mental or physical capacities resulting from the introduction of a
substance to the body.
a. Voluntary
b. Involuntary
Diminished Capacity: Mental abnormality
Insanity
a. MNaghten: A person is insane if at the time of her act, she was laboring under such
defect of reason, arising from a disease of the mind that:
i. She did not know the nature and quality of her act or
ii. If she did know, she did not know what she was doing was wrong.
b. Irresistible Impulse: A person is insane if at the time of the offense:
i. She acted from an irresistible impulse
ii. She lost the power to choose between right and wrong, and
iii. Her will has been so completely destroyed that her actions acre beyond her
control.
c. MPC: a person is not responsible if she lacks substantial capacity to:
i. Appreciate the criminality or moral wrongfulness of her actions, or
ii. Conform her conduct to the requirements of the law.
d. Durham/Product Test: A person is excused if her unlawful act was the product of a
mental disease or defect.
e. Federal Test: A person is excused if at the time of the offense, as a result of a severe
mental disease, she was unable to appreciate:
i. The nature and quality of her conduct, or
ii. The wrongfulness of her conduct.

ATTEMPT TESTS
1. Physical Proximity: must be able to be committed immediately.
2. Dangerous Proximity: nearness, greatness, apprehension felt.
3. Indispensable Element: the actor must have gained control over an indispensable element of the
crime.
4. MPS: Substantial step that corroborates the actors criminal purpose->commences perpetration.
5. Probable Desistance: in the ordinary course of events, without outside intervention, the conduct
will result in a crime.
6. Abnormal Step: step that does beyond the point where a normal citizen would desist.
7. RIL/Unequivicality: Actors conduct manifests an intent to commit a crime (act only, not words)
8. Last Act: Occurs when actor performed all the acts believed necessary to commit offense (look
for complete attempts)

ATTEMPT DEFENSES
1. Pure Legal Impossibility: Actor engages in conduct he believes is criminal, but it is not.
2. Hybrid Legal Impossibility: Exists when the actors goal is illegal but the commission of the
crime is impossible due to a factual mistake regarding the legal status.
3. Factual Impossibility: s intended end constitutes a crime, but she fails to commit it because of
a factual circumstance unknown or beyond her control.

1. Actus Reus: Voluntary act that causes social harm -> culpable act itself; must be voluntary.
a. Omissions: only if there is a duty (5 types)
i. Status Relationship
ii. Contractual Obligation
iii. Creation of Risk
iv. Voluntary Assistance
v. Statute
2. Mens Rea: The guilty, or more culpable mind -> the particular mental state provided in the
definition of the offense.
a. General Intent: The act itself is sufficient
b. Specific Intent: Must have the Act + Required Mental State
c. CL Intent:
i. Desire, or
ii. Knowledge that social harm is virtually certain to occur.
d. MPC Intent:
i. Purposely
ii. Knowingly
iii. Recklessly
iv. Gross Negligence
e. Strict Liability: Do not require any mens rea
f. Mistake of Fact: based on reasonable person standard; if reasonable person would
make this mistake, then can argue it.
g. Mistake of Law: General Rule: Ignore of the law is no excuse:
i. Exception: Reasonable Reliance -> Reasonably relies on an official statement of
law (statute later declared invalid, or judicial opinion from the highest ct., or
erroneous interpretation secured from public office in charge of it)
1. NO DEFENSE (Exception to the exception):
a. Reliance on ones own interpretation of lawNO
b. Advice of your own attorneyNO
3. Causation: Actual Cause + Proximate Cause
a. Actual Cause: Cause in Fact -> But-For Test
b. Proximate Cause: if theres intervening cause, proximate cause determines who is
ultimately responsible.
i. Direct Cause: there is no intervening cause, so is the direct cause.
ii. Intervening Cause:
1. Wrong doing by 3rd party,
2. Vs own suicidal act, or
3. Act of God.
a. If foreseeable: is guilty
b. If unforeseeable: is not guilty.
i. To determine foreseeability, distinguish:
1. Responsive (dependent) intervening cause =
foreseeable

a. Ex.: shoots someone, they got to

hospital, dr. botches surgery, this type
of negligence is foreseeable, so is
guilty.
2. Coincidental (independent) intervening cause =
unforeseeable.
a. Ex.: shoots someone, theyre in
ambulance, meteor lands on
ambulance; this is unforeseeable, so
not guilty.
3. Superseding, intervening Causes: not guilty

HOMICIE MURDER OR MANSLAUGHTER

1. Murder: the unlawful killing of a human being by another human being with malice
aforethought.
a. Intent to kill another human being: knowing, intentional, willful, deliberate, purposeful
(express malice)
b. Intent to inflict grievous bodily harm: intended to inflict grievous bodily harm, which
killed V (implied malice)
c. An extremely reckless disregard for the value of human life (Depraved Heart Murder): I
know but IDGAF! (implied malice)
d. Felony murder: applies regardless if felon kills intentionally, recklessly, negligently,
accidentally, or unforeseeable -> strict liability (implied malice)