1. Chapter 4 Inside Criminal Law

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Sources of American Criminal Law

6. 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)

7. 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 )

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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 )

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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.

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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