Chapter 4 Inside Criminal Law

Law: Enforceable Rules Law consists of enforceable rules governing relationships among individuals and their society An early example of law was Hammurabi’s Code, which was based on the principle of lex Talionis Mosaic Code – covenant Code of Justinian – collected laws

English Common Law English Common Law- judges borrowed from English traditions and prior rulings on similar cases – Precedence Precedence – authority for subsequent cases to rule based on similar facts Developed from the customs of the populace Stare Decisis ( to stand on decided cases) Judges are obligated to follow the precedents established under prior decisions In the U.S. these decisions can be pre-empted by the constitution

Sources of American Criminal Law Constitutional Law The U.S. Constitution and the various state constitutions Statutory Law Laws and ordinances passed by Congress and state legislatures Administrative Law Regulations, created by agencies such as the federal Food and Drug Administration Case Law Court decisions

Sources of American Criminal Law

Protect and Punish Protect and Punish: The legal function of the law Maintain social order by protecting citizens from criminal harm ( easier function although there are different degrees and elements) Includes harms to both individuals and society in general ( Problem: what are societies collective interests)

Maintain and Teach Maintain and Teach: The social function of the law Expressing public morality (reflects values and norms of society/ societies views of morality changes over time) Teaching societal boundaries Laws teach values as expressed by society Various forms of punishment drive the social order Criminal Justice System teaches a lesson to people ( Traffic Laws/ Burglary )

Elements of a Crime Corpus delicti = “body of the crime” (Body of circumstances that must exist in order for a criminal act to have occurred) Criminal Act Actus reus = guilty act Crimes may be acts of commission ( voluntary ) Maybe acts of omission, or even attempted acts Must have taken substantial steps to have committed the crime ( Punishment is less ) NYS Penal law – attempted crimes and conspiracy

Elements of a Crime Mental State Mens rea Intent is required to establish guilt of a crime. (Need to know that it is a crime) Categories of Mens rea ( RICK) Reckless (consciously disregard a risk) Intentionally ( purposefully) act with intent of criminal result Criminal Negligence – failure to exercise the standard of care a “reasonable person” would exercise in similar circumstances Knowingly – be aware of illegality; fail to dispel or confirm belief

Elements of a Crime Concurrence The guilty act and the guilty intent must occur together Coming together of the criminal act and the guilty mind

CRIMINAL LIABILITY Intent plays an important part in allowing the law to differentiate varying degrees of criminal liability for similar, though not identical, guilty acts Different degrees of criminal liability leads to different penalties Ie. Intentional vs. negligence vs. reckless NYS Homicide Stautes

STRICT LIABILITY Mens Rea plays a crucial role in differentiating between varying degrees of criminal responsibility or criminal liability STRICT LIABILITY Offenses hold the defendant guilty even if intent to commit the offense is lacking Generally involve endangering the public welfare in some way Drug control statutes, health and safety regulations, statutory rape provisions and traffic ordinances are all strict liability laws

ACCOMPLICE LIABILITY Accomplice Liability Suspects can be charged for crimes they did not actually commit if it can be proven they acted as an accomplice To be found guilty as an accomplice, suspect needs to have “dual” intent To aid the person who committed the crime Such aid would lead to the commission of the crime Under felony – murder law, a person can be convicted as an accomplice to an intentional killing, even when there is no intent

MORE CORPUS DELICTI Corpus delicti also consists of: Causation Concurrence The guilty act and the guilty intent must occur together Coming together of the criminal act and the guilty mind Causation The criminal act caused the harm suffered The link between the act and the legal definition of the crime

MORE CORPUS DELICTI Attendant Circumstances Harm In certain crimes, accompanying circumstances are relevant to corpus delicti Any accompanying circumstances Allow for differentiating amongst varying degrees of crime Attendant circumstances must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt Hate crime laws consider a motive of bias an attendant circumstance and increase the criminal penalty accordingly Harm For a crime to occur, some harm must have been done to a person or to property Some crimes are categorized according to the harm done to the victim regardless of the intent behind the criminal act Many acts are deemed criminal if they could do harm that the laws try to prevent ( inchoate offenses )

DEFENSES UNDER CRIMINAL LAW Defenses generally rely on two arguments: The defendant is not responsible for the crime The defendant was justified in committing the crime

DEFENSES UNDER CRIMINAL LAW Excuse Defenses: the law “excuses” the person for his/her behavior Infancy Youthful offenders cannot understand the consequences of their actions. Earlier criminal codes the age was 7 Some states the age is 18 / NYS = 16 13,14,15 in NYS for certain crimes Juvenile Offender vs. Juvenile Defender

DEFENSES UNDER CRIMINAL LAW Insanity – defendants state of mind is such that he/she cannot claim legal responsibility for his or her actions if he/she: Does not perceive the physical nature or consequences of his/her conduct Does not know that his/her conduct is wrong and/or criminal Is sufficiently unable to control his or her conduct so as to be held accountable for it

INSANITY TESTS Measuring Sanity Society has long debated standards for a criminal trial M’Naghten Rule – right/wrong test ALI/MPC Test – the defendant lacked “substantial capacity” to know the act was wrong or to conform to the requirements of the law Irresistible – Impulse test – aware criminal act was wrong but irresistible impulse resulting from mental deficiency drove them to commit the crime

MORE INSANITY Prior to the trial, defendant may have a competency hearing to determine that the defendant is competent to stand trial Guilty but mentally ill Allows a jury to determine that a defendant is “mentally ill” though not insane, and therefore criminally responsible for his/her actions Defendants found guilt but mentally ill spend the early years of their sentence in a psychiatric hospital

DEFENSES UNDER CRIMINAL LAW Intoxication Defense- criminal defense for liability in which the defendant claims that the taking of intoxicants rendered him or her unable to form the requisite intent to commit a criminal act. Involuntary intoxication occurs when a person is physically forced to ingest or is injected with an intoxicating substance, , or is unaware that a substance contains drugs or alcohol and can be a viable defense to a crime Voluntary intoxication is not a defense in itself

MISTAKE DEFENSE Mistake of Law: Ignorance of the law can be a modified defense If the law was not published or reasonably known to the public If the person relied on an official statement of the law that was erroneous Mistake of Fact: Operates as a defense if it negates the mental state to commit the crime

JUSTIFICATION DEFENSES Duress - the defendant is threatened with seriously bodily harm, which induces him/her to commit the crime The threat must be of serious bodily harm The harm threatened must be greater than the harm caused by the crime Threat must be immediate and inescapable Defendant must have become involved in the situation through no fault of his own

JUSTIFICATION DEFENSES Self - Defense – legally recognized right to protect self or property from injury by another. The priviledge of self-defense covers only acts that are reasonably necessary to protect one’s self or property People can use the amount of nondeadly force necessary to protect themselves, their dwellings or other property to prevent the commission of a crime. Deadly Physical force can be used in self-defense if there is reasonable belief that imminent death or bodily harm will otherwise result Duty to retreat – outside the home

JUSTIFICATION DEFENSES Necessity Circumstances required the defendant to commit the act Justifiable if “the harm or evil sought to be avoided by such conduct is greater than that sought to be prevented by the law defining the offense charged” Used as a defense against criminal liability in which the defendant asserts that circumstances required him or her to commit an illegal actre

JUSTIFICATION DEFENSES Entrapment The defendant claims to have been induced by police to commit the act A justifiable defense that criminal law allows when a police officer or government agent deceives a defendant into wrongdoing Police cannot persuade a suspect to commit a criminal act, nor can they coerce a suspect into doing so, even if they are certain that he or she is criminal.

PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS Substantive Criminal Law: Law that defines the acts that the government will punish Procedural Criminal Law: Procedures, drawn from the Bill of Rights that are designed to protect the Constitutional Rights of individuals Defines laws for criminal procedures

AMENDING the CONSTITUTION THE BILL OF RIGHTS Ten Amendments adopted into the Constitution in 1791 Have been interpreted by the United States Supreme Court Serve as safeguards for those accused in this country

AMENDING the CONSTITUTION Fourth Amendment Protection from unreasonable searches and seizures Requirement that no warrants for a search or an arrest can be issued without probable cause Fifth Amendment Requirements that no one can be deprived of life, liberty or property without “due process” of law Prohibits against “ double jeopardy” Guarantees that no person can be a witness against him/her self

THE CONSTITUTION Sixth Amendment Guarantees a speedy trial, a trial by jury, a public trial Guarantees the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a lawyer at various stages of criminal proceedings Eight Amendment Protects against excessive bail and fines Protects against cruel and unusual punishment

DUE PROCESS Due Process clause, as expressed by the fifth and the fourteenth amendments, requires that the government not act unfairly or arbitrarily Procedural due process is a provision in the Constitution that states that the law must be carried out in a fair and orderly manner Substantive due process is a Constitutional requirement that laws used in accusing and convicting persons of crimes must be fair

DUE PROCESS Judicial Role: Supreme Court ultimately decides if due process has been violated Lawmaking body may be able to prove that its interests are greater than the due process rights of the individuals and in those causes the statute may be upheld Due Process and National Security: The Supreme Court is more likely to defer to the government in times of national crisis Controversies concerning anti-terrorism strategies have their basis in due process concerns