Chapter 6 Offenses Against Persons

Four basic groups of offenses against persons  Assault, battery, and mayhem  Homicidal crimes – murder, manslaughter, and suicide  Sexual offenses – rape, sodomy, and abortion  False imprisonment and kidnapping Murder, manslaughter, suicide, rape and sodomy were common-law felonies; the remaining offenses were classified as misdemeanors. Murder, manslaughter, suicide, rape and sodomy were common-law felonies; the remaining offenses were classified as misdemeanors.

Assaultive Offenses  Assault - a threat to someone  Battery – touch  Aggravated Assault – a threat to someone with a weapon  Aggravated Battery – physical contact with a weapon

Assaultive Offenses Continued:  The California Penal Code defines an assault as “an unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury on the person of another.”  The California Penal Code defines as battery “any willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another.”

Assaultive Offenses continued : Burden of the Prosecution To convict a defendant of simple assault or battery, prosecution only needs to prove the act and the defendant’s general intent, unless there is intent to commit a specific felony, for example, murder. Then the prosecution has to prove the defendant’s specific intent to accomplish those results.

Assaultive defenses continued: Defenses to Charges of Assault and Battery A person charged with battery may defend by showing that the touching or hitting was unintentional, physical force used was reasonable, or that the action was taken in self-defense.

Assaultive defenses continued:  Stalking – A person is knowingly follows another person or places a person under surveillance or combination of both and threatens them or places that person in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint.

Assaultive defenses continued:  Mayhem – willfully and maliciously injuring another so as to render the victim less able to fight.  Aggravated mayhem – a specific-intent crime because the statute proscribing it refers to the perpetrator’s intent to do some further act like permanently disable the victim.

Homicide  Homicide - Taking the life of one human being by another.  Murder – unlawful killing of one person by another with “malice aforethought.”  Manslaughter – unlawful killing of one human being by another when no malice is involved.  Voluntary Manslaughter – intentional unlawful killing that occurred in the heat of passion as a result of provocation.  Involuntary Manslaughter – unintentional killing of another by gross negligence of accused.

Homicide continued: Approach to Homicide  First degree murder – requires either malice aforethought or premeditation. Intent to kill.  Second degree murder – requires proof that accused was guilty of imminently dangerous or outrageous conduct. Depraved mind or heart.  Felony murder – accused unintentionally killed someone while committing or attempting to commit, common-law felonies like burglary, arson, rape, or robbery.

Homicide continued: Approach to Homicide  Justifiable homicide – taking another life by authority of the law (ex: executioner performing a duty).  Excusable homicide – inadvertent taking of another life when the actor is not guilty of criminal negligence (ex: death occurring from unavoidable traffic accident).  Vehicular homicide – killing of someone by the operation of a motor vehicle in a reckless manner.

Homicide continued:  Corpus delicti – body of crime. The prosecution must show that the victim died as a result of a criminal act.  Proximate cause – The cause nearest a given effect in a causal relationship.

Homicide continued: When does death occur? When does death occur? When irreversible cessation of total brain functions ceases.

Homicide continued:  One year and a day rule – if more than a year and a day intervened between the injury inflicted by the accused and the victim’s death, the person who caused the injury could not be held criminally responsible for the victim’s death.

Suicide  Suicide – intentional taking of one’s own life by destruction.  Assisted suicide – an offense of aiding or assisting a person to take his life.

Sexual Battery  Common-law rape or forcible rape – having unlawful carnal knowledge (sexual intercourse) by force and against their will.  Statutory rape – having sexual intercourse with a female child under the age of 10 with or without the child’s consent (see Iowa Code for specific rules).  Marital exception – a husband could not be guilty of raping his wife. Hale’s Rule – English common law credited to Sir Matthew Hale, holding that a husband could not be charged with rape of his wife.

Sexual Battery continued:  Gender-neutral offense – a law or practice that applies equally to males and females nondiscriminatory.  Rape shield law – a law that protects the identity of a rape victim or prevents disclosure of a victim’s sexual history.

Sexual Battery continued:  Sexual penetration – sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any other intrusion of any part of a person’s body or of any object into the genital or anal openings of another person’s body, but emission of seed is not required.  Sexual contact – intentional touching of the victim’s intimate parts or the intentional touching of clothing covering the immediate area of the victim’s intimate parts.

Sexual Battery continued:  Rape trauma syndrome – a recurring pattern of physical and emotional symptoms experienced by rape victims.  Megan’s Law – a law requiring convicted sex offenders who are released from prison, move into the state, or change their addresses to register with local law enforcement agencies. This is in memory of Megan Kanka, a 7 year old, who was raped and killed in 1994.

Sexual Battery continued: Defenses to charges of sexual battery:  The most common is consent from the victim. Except in cases where the victim is underage because they are legally incapable of consenting to sex.  Impotency – inability to engage in intercourse.

Sodomy This is considered an offense against morality. In some cases, sodomy is charged in addition to sexual battery in instances of rape involving forcible oral or anal intercourse.

Abortion  Willful bringing about of the miscarriage of a pregnant woman.  Roe v. Wade – (1973) held that a fetus was not a “person” within the meaning of the 14 th Amendment to the US Constitution. So the fetus was not protected by law.

Abusive Offenses Child Abuse: Actions that physically, mentally, or morally endanger the welfare of a child. Spousal Abuse: Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse of one’s husband or wife. Abuse of the Elderly: Physical abuse, neglect, fiduciary abuse, abandonment, isolation, or other treatment resulting in physical harm or pain or mental suffering.

False Imprisonment and Kidnapping  False Imprisonment – confining someone against their will.  Kidnapping – unlawful taking and forcible carrying away (asportation) of a victim without consent.

False Imprisonment and Kidnapping  Child Snatching – one parent deliberately retains or conceals a child from the other parent.

Civil Rights Offenses  Rights protected by the federal and state constitutions and statutes. The right to be free from unlawful discrimination.