1. Our Criminal Law
Chapter 5

2. Criminal Law
Lesson 5-1

3. Goals Define the elements present in all crimes
Describe crimes that commonly occur in the business environment

4. What are crimes? Punishable offense against society
Defined by statutes (laws enacted by state or federal legislatures)
Society (through police/prosecutors) attempt to identify, arrest, prosecute, and punish the criminal
Criminal and civil offenses are not the same
Civil - against just the victim (not society)

5. Elements of a Crime
Before anyone can be convicted of a crime, 3 elements must be proved at trial
a duty to do or not to do a certain thing
an act or omission in violation of that duty
criminal intent

6. Duty State statutes usually describe duty
Less frequent - federal statutes or city ordinances
To establish duty in trial, the prosecutor cites a statute to the judge

7. Violation of the Duty
The specific conduct that violates the statute is the criminal act
All states have statutes that makes battery a crime
“the intentional causing of bodily harm to another person”
Prove?
Testimony of a witness

8. Criminal Intent Means the defendant: Deliberately punch someone
intended to commit the act and
intended to do evil
Deliberately punch someone
Accidentally fall and hit someone

9. Criminal Intent (cont)
Can Corporations form criminal intent like humans can?
YES
If the criminal act benefits the organization, most courts will find criminal intent
When a corporate employee commits a crime, can officers be held criminally responsible?
Liable under the doctrine of vicarious criminal liability

10. Criminal Intent (cont)
Vicarious Criminal Liability
Substituted criminal liability
The criminal intent of the employee is used as a substitute for the requirements of criminal intent for an officer
The president knows of dangerous working conditions but does not report them
Homicide

11. Criminal Intent (cont)
Related to age (early common law)
Under 10 – below the age of reason
Incapable of having the criminal intent necessary
Over 14 – know the difference between right and wrong
Accountable as adults
Ages 7-14 criminal intent has to be proved
Today, most states fix the age to 18 (range from 16-19)

12. Criminal Intent (cont)
One must have sufficient mental capacity to know the difference between right and wrong
Insane person
Not held responsible
Voluntary intoxication or use of drugs does not relieve a person

13. Criminal Intent (cont)
Not all crimes require criminal intent
Less serious crimes where being sentenced to jail is unlikely
Traffic offenses
Exception – extreme carelessness
80mph through a neighborhood drunk and kill someone
You may not have intended to speed or do evil
So careless it could be treated as criminal intent
Vehicular homicide

14. Criminal Intent (cont)
Embezzlement
Taking of another person’s property or money by a person to whom it has been entrusted

15. Criminal Conduct Crimes against:
A person (assault and battery, kidnapping, rape, murder)
Property (theft, robbery embezzlement)
The government and administration of justice (treason, tax invasion, perjury)
Public peace and order (rioting, disorderly conduct, illegal speeding)
Realty (burglary, arson, criminal trespass)
Consumers (fraudulent sale of securities, violation of pure food and drug laws)
Decency (bigamy, obscenity, prostitution)

16. Classification of Crimes
Felonies
Crime punishable by confinement for more than a year in a state prison or by a fine or more than $1,000, or both – or even death
Murder, kidnapping, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, embezzlement, forgery, theft of large sums, and perjury
Perjury
Crime of lying under oath

17. Classification of Crimes (cont)
Misdemeanor
Less serious crime
Punishable by confinement in a county or city jail for less than one year, by fine, or both
Disorderly conduct and speeding
Infractions
Minor misdemeanor
Can only be fined (no risk of jail)
Parking violations and littering

18. Business-Related Crimes
White-collar crimes
Offenses committed in the business world
No not involve force or violence
Do not cause injury to people or cause physical damage to property
Examples
Evading income taxes, defrauding consumers, cheating with false weighing machines, conspiring to fix prices, false insurance claims, false advertising, committing bribery, engaging in political corruption, and embezzling
Fines and short prison sentences because no physical violence

19. Business-Related Crimes (cont)
Antitrust Laws
Laws that prohibit competing companies from price fixing or dividing up sales regions

20. Business-Related Crimes (cont)
Larceny (theft)
The wrongful taking of money or personal property belonging to someone else, with the intent to deprive the owner of possession
Shoplifting, pickpocketing, and purse snatching
Felony or Misdemeanor (determined by value of property)
Robbery (variation of larceny)
The taking of property from another’s person or immediate presence, against the victim’s will, by force or by causing fear
Burglary (variation of larceny)
Entering a building without permission when intending to commit a crime
FELONIES

21. Business-Related Crimes (cont)
Receiving stolen property
the one who receives stolen property is known as a fence
False Pretense – One who obtains money or other property by lying about a past or existing fact (type of fraud)
Forgery – falsely making or materially altering a writing to defraud another (felony)
Bribery – unlawfully offering or giving anything of value to influence performance of an official (accepting a bribe is also criminal activity)

22. Business-Related Crimes (cont)
Computer crime
Extortion (blackmail) – obtaining money or other property from a person by wrongful use of force, fear, or the power of office
Conspiracy – an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime
The conspiracy is a separate crime from the crime that the parties plan to commit
Arson – The willful and illegal burning of a building