1. Inside Criminal Law

2. Written Sources of American Criminal Law
American criminal law is codified, or written down and accessible to all.
This allows citizens to know which acts are illegal, and to understand the procedures used to determine an individual’s innocence or guilt.
Written sources of law are known as substantive law.

3. Written Sources of American Criminal Law
The U.S. Constitution and the various state constitutions
Statutes (or laws) and ordinances passed by Congress and state legislatures
Regulations, created by agencies such as the federal Food and Drug Administration
Case law (court decisions)

5. The Purposes of Criminal Law
Protect and Punish: the legal function of the law
Maintain social order by protecting citizens from criminal harm
Includes harms to both individuals and society in general
Maintain and Teach: the social function of the law
Expressing public morality
Teaching social boundaries

6. The Elements of a Crime
Criminal law normally requires that the corpus delicti (the body of the crime) be proved before a person can be convicted of wrongdoing

7. The Elements of a Crime Corpus delicti consists of:
Criminal Act - Actus reus
Crimes may be acts of commission, or acts of omission, or even attempted acts.
Mental State - Mens rea
Intent is required to establish guilt of a crime. Intent includes elements of purpose, knowledge, negligence, and recklessness.
Concurrance - The guilty act and the guilty intent must occur together.

8. The Elements of a Crime
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
Accomplice Liability – Suspects can be charged for crimes they did not actually commit if it can be proven they acted as an accomplice

9. The Elements of a Crime Corpus delicti also consists of:
Causation - The criminal act caused the harm suffered.
Attendant Circumstances – In certain crimes, accompanying circumstances are relevant to corpus delicti.
Harm – Damages resultant from the criminal act. Inchoate offenses are conduct deemed criminal without actual harm being done.

10. Defenses Under Criminal Law
Excuse Defenses:
These defenses apply
When the actor lacks
the requisite mental
condition to form intent.
There are four excuse
defenses.
Justification Defenses:
These defenses apply
when the defendant
admits to the criminal
act, but argues that the
act was justified.
There are four
justification defenses.

11. Defenses Under Criminal Law
Excuse Defenses:
Infancy - Youthful offenders cannot understand the consequences of their actions.
Insanity- A person cannot have the state of mind (intent) to commit the crime if s/he didn’t know the act was wrong, or didn’t understand the quality of the act.

12. Defenses Under Criminal Law
Insanity is determined by:
M’Naughten Rule
A person is insane if they can’t distinguish right from wrong
ALI/MPC Test
Also known as the substantial capacity test, the defendant must lack the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his/her conduct.
Irresistible Impulse Test
A person is insane if some “irresistible impulse” resulting from a mental deficiency drove him or her to commit the crime

14. Defenses Under Criminal Law
Excuse Defenses:
Intoxication
Voluntary and Involuntary
Mistake
Mistake of Fact
Mistake of Law

15. Defenses Under Criminal Law
Justification Defenses:
Duress
The defendant is threatened with seriously bodily harm, which induces him/her to commit the crime.
Self-Defense
The defendant must protect him/herself from injury by another.
Duty to retreat? “Castle Doctrine” no duty to retreat if in your home.

16. Defenses Under Criminal Law
Justification Defenses:
Necessity
Circumstances required the defendant to commit the act.
Entrapment
The defendant claims s/he was induced by police to commit the act. (Predisposed to commit the crime?)

17. 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.

18. Procedural Safeguards
The Bill of Rights:
The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.
The Bill of Rights was adopted by the states in Since then, seventeen more amendments have been added
The Bill of Rights has served as the basis for procedural safeguards of the accused in the U.S.

19. Procedural Safeguards
Procedural safeguards in the U.S. Constitution include:
Fourth Amendment
provides protection from unreasonable searches and seizures
Fifth Amendment
requires that no one can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without “due process of the law,” including protections against double jeopardy and individuals being required to be a witness against himself or herself

20. Procedural Safeguards
Sixth Amendment
guarantees a speedy trial, a trial by jury, a public trial, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a lawyer at various stages of criminal proceedings
Eighth Amendment
prohibits excessive bails, fines, and cruel and unusual punishments
Fourteenth Amendment
provides due process and equal protection of the laws

21. Procedural Safeguards
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.