BarBri Criminal Law Outline.docx

BarBri Criminal Law Outline.docx

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BarBriCriminalLawOutline

CriminalLawOutline

I.Jurisdiction

a.Astateacquiresjurisdictiontoadjudicateacrimeifthatstateisthelegalsitus

i.Thecriminalconducthappenedthere;

ii.Theresulthappenedthere;or

iii.Forcrimesinvolvingomission,jurisdictionlieswheretheactshouldhavebeenperformed

b.Merger

i.Thereisnomergerofcrimes

1.Exceptions:

a.Onewhosolicitsanothertocommitacrimemaynotbeconvictedofbothsolicitationandthecompletedcrime（ifthesolicitedpersondoescompleteit）（solicitationmergesintothesubstantiveoffense）

b.Apersonwhocompletesacrimeafterattemptingitmaynotbeconvictedofboththeattemptandthecompletedcrime（acompletedefensetoattemptisthatyouactuallycarriedoutthecrime）（attemptmergesintothesubstantiveoffense）

ii.Almostalljurisdictionsforbidtheconviction（oratleastpunishment）ofacriminaldefendantforbothacrimeanditslesser-includedoffense,whereasinglecriminalactisatissue（jurycanchoseonecrimeortheothertoconvicton）.

iii.Conspiracydoesnotmergewiththesubstanceoffense（youcanbeconvictedofconspiringtodosomethingandactuallydoingit）

iv.Nevermergeanycrimesthathavedifferentvictims

II.ElementsofaCrime

a.PhysicalAct（anyvoluntarybodilymovementorfailuretoactundercircumstancesimposingalegaldutytoact）

i.Anactperformedwhilebeingpushed,whileinareflexiveorconvulsivestate,orwhileunconsciousorasleepisnotvoluntary（doesnotincludefallingasleepwhiledriving）

ii.Omission（failuretoactwhenalegaldutyimposesaction）

1.Dutybystatute（e.g.,requirementyoufiletaxreturns）

2.Dutybycontract（e.g.,alifeguardornurse;employmentcontract）

3.Dutybroughtonbytherelationshipbetweentheparties（e.g.,parentshaveadutytoprotecttheirchildren,spouseshaveadutytoprotecteachother）

4.Dutybroughtonbyvoluntarilyassumingadutyofcaretowardssomeoneandthenfailingtoadequatelyperformit（e.g.,sayingyouwillsaveapersonwhoisdrowninginapool,butthenchangingyourmindwhenyoudiscoverwhothevictimis）

5.Dutybroughtonbythefactthatyourconductcreatedtheperil（e.g.,youpushsomeoneintoaswimmingpoolandtheycannotswim）

b.MentalState

i.SpecificIntentCrimes（qualifyforadditionaldefensesnotavailableforotherkindsofcrimes）

1.Solicitation（intenttohavethepersonsolicitedcommitthecrime）

a.Crimeiscompletewhenyouasksomeonetocommitacrime

i.Ifthepersonagreestocommitthecrime,itbecomesconspiracyandthetwocrimesmergesoonlyconspiracyisleft.

b.Itisnotsolicitationtorequestonepersontocommitacrimewheretherequestiscommunicatedinsuchawaythatanother,unintendedpersonreceivesthemessageanddecidestoactuponitandcommitthesamecrime（sincethesolicitordidnotintendfortheother,unintendedpersontoreceivethemessageandcarryoutthecrime,therecanbenoliabilityforsolicitationastothatunintendedperson）

i.Somecourtsholdthatwherethedefendant’smessageneverreachesthetargetrecipient,therehasonlybeenanattemptedsolicitation.Othercourtshaveheld,however,thatthesolicitationiscompletewhenthedefendantdispatchesthemessage,evenifitneverreachesitsintendedrecipient

2.Conspiracy（intenttohavethetargetcrimecompleted）

a.Elements:

i.Anintenttoagreebyatleast“twoguiltyminds”;

ii.Anagreement;

1.Doesnothavetobeexpressorinwriting

2.Variouspeoplecanbeinaconspiracyeveniftheydon’tknoweachotherorinteractwitheachother（buttheyhavetoatleastbeawareoftheother’sparticipation）

iii.Toachieveanunlawfulobjective

1.Itisnotunlawfultosneakintoyourownhomeandtakesomething

2.Theconspiratorsmusthavethesamecriminalintentasisnecessaryforconvictionofthetargetoffense

a.Ifonepartydidnotintendtostealbecausehebelievedhewastryingtohelpanotherpartyretrievehisrightfullyownedproperty,heisnotguiltyofconspiracytosteal

b.Afeignedconspirator（onewhomerelypretendstogoalongwiththeillegalobjective,butactuallyalertsthepolicetothwarttheconspiracy）lacksthespecificintentrequiredforaconspirator

iv.Anovertactinfurtheranceoftheagreement（underthemajorityrule;notrequiredinminorityruleorcommonlawrule）

1.Anylittleactwilldo（evenjustshowingup）

b.Eachconspiratorisliableforallofthecrimesofco-conspiratorsifthosecrimeswerecommittedinfurtheranceoftheconspiracyandwereforeseeable

c.Impossibilityisnodefense

d.Withdrawalfromtheconspiracy,evenifadequate,cannotreleaseadefendantfromtheconspiracycharge（butitcanreleasehimfromliabilityfortheotherco-conspirators’subsequentcrimes）

3.Attempt（intenttocompletethecrime）

a.Specificintenttocommitthetargetoffense;and

b.Asubstantialstep（beyondmerepreparation）inthedirectionofthecommissionofthecrime（inthe“zoneofperpetration”）

c.Legalimpossibilityisavaliddefensetoattemptcrimes

i.“Legalimpossibility”iswherethedefendantdoeseverythingheintendedtodo,buthisactionsdonotconstituteacriminaloffense

4.“Firstdegreepremeditatedmurder”（labeledassuchordescribedinastatute）

a.Ifexamsaysjust“murder,”thismeansthemalicecrimeofcommonlawmurder（e.g.,seconddegreemurder）.

5.Larceny（intenttopermanentlydeprivetheotherofhisinterestinproperty）（crimeagainstpossession）

a.Awrongfultaking（carryingawaymotion,howeverslight）ofthepersonalpropertyofanotherwithouthisconsentbytrespassortrick/fraud（e.g.,stealing）

i.Anyconsentobtainedbyfearorfraudisnotvalidconsent（e.g.,ifthedefendantfraudulentlyinducesthevictimtodeliverpossessionofthepropertytohimandthencovertsthepropertytohisownuse,thisislarceny）

ii.Itisirrelevantifthepropertyownercouldnotlawfullypossesstheitemwrongfullytaken（e.g.,drugs）（larcenyisacrimeagainstpossession,andcontrabandmaybetheobjectoflarceny）

b.Withtheintentatthetimeofthetakingtopermanentlydeprivetheownerofhisinterestinhisproperty

i.Takingpropertyinthebeliefthatitisyoursorthatyouhavesomerighttoitisnotlarceny

ii.Incaseswherethetrespassorytakingisduetofraud,aminorityofjurisdictionsdonotrequirethedefendanttohavehadtheintenttostealatthetimeofthefraudulentinducement

c.LostProperty

i.Anowneroflostpropertyisstillconsideredtobeinconstructivepossessionofthepropertyuntilitistakenbyafinder.Therefore,atthemomentoftaking,ifthefinderhadalreadyformedtheintenttokeepitforhimself,thetakingandcarryingawaywasatrespassorytaking.Ifthelostpropertyhadcluestoownershipsuchthatthetrueownercouldbeidentified,thenthefinderhascommittedlarceny

6.Embezzlement（intenttodefraud）

a.Alawfulpossession（e.g.,atrusteeoveratrustfund）;

b.Followedbyanillegalconversion

i.Embezzlerdoesnothavetobenefithimself

c.Asubsequentconfessionofthetruthbytheembezzlerdoesnotchangethefactthathecommittedthecrime（stillguilty）

7.FalsePretenses（intendtodefraud）

a.Persuadingtheownerofpropertytoconveytitletosomethingbyamisrepresentation/falsepretenseastoapresentorpastfact（notafalsepromisetodosomethinginthefuture）;

i.Thevictimmustactuallyrelyonthefalserepresentationintransferringtitle（thefalsemisrepresentationmustbeasubstantialfactorincausingthevictimtoact）

1.However,thereliancedoesnothavetobereasonable–aslongasthevictimactuallyreliedonit,itisirrelevantthatthebeliefwasunreasonable

b.Withtheintenttopermanentlydeprivethevictimofthatproperty

8.NoteonTakingByDeliveryCrimes

a.Wherethevictimvoluntarilypermitsthedefendanttotakephysicalchargeofhisproperty,youmustdistinguishbetweenwhetherthedefendanthaspossessionofthepropertywhenhedecidedtoconvertittohisownuse,orwhetherhemerelyhadcustody.

i.Ifinpossession（e.g.,managersorsupervisoryemployeeswithdiscretion）,thedefendantcanbeguiltyofembezzlementorfalsepretensesonly

ii.Ifincustody（e.g.,anemployeewithchargeofhisemployer’sproperty）,thedefendantisguiltyoflarceny（andadefendantcandefendhimselfagainstalarcenychargebyclaiminghehadpossession）

iii.Ifathirdpartydeliversthepropertytotheemployeefortheuseoftheemployer,theemployeegainspossessionoftheproperty（andcanonlybechargedwithembezzlementorfalsepretenses）,unless:

1.Thetransactionistobecompletedinthethirdparty’spresence;or

2.Theemployeeplacesthepropertyinareceptacledesignedbytheemployer

9.Robbery（larceny+assault）（intenttopermanentlydeprivetheotherofhisinterestinproperty）

a.Awrongfultaking（carryingawaymotion,howeverslight）;

b.Fromthepersonorhispresence

i.Presenceisverybroadlydrawnandwouldcovertyingupafarmerinabarnandthentakingsomethingfromhishouse

c.Againsthiswill,withviolence（e.g.,yankingoffsomeone’snecklace）orbyputtingthepersoninfearofimminentharm（“yourmoneyoryourlife”;notthreatsoffutureharm）

d.Withtheintentatthetimeofthetakingtopermanentlydeprivetheownerofhisinterestinhisproperty

i.Takingpropertyinthebeliefthatitisyoursorthatyouhavesomerighttoitisnotrobbery

10.Burglary（intenttocommitafelonyinthedwelling）

a.Anactual（involvingsomeforce,howeverslight,evenjustopeningacloseddoor）orconstructive（throughfraud）breaking

i.Ifthedoororwindowtheyenterthroughiswideopen,thisisnotanactualbreaking.However,iftheythenpushopenaninteriordoorwithintheh