Crimes Against Persons

1. Crimes Against Persons US Government Mrs. Lacks

2. Four types of CAP • taking a life • unwanted sexual invasions • bodily injury • personal restraint

3. Battery • Unwanted and unjustified offensive touching (pushing, punching, shoving, kicking, etc) • Requires contact with victim’s body • Some injury required • Minor injury = misdemeanor • Serious injury = felonies

4. Assault • Intentional scaring or menacing (yelling, use of bad language, threatening) • Specific intent to frighten another • Words alone are generally insufficient, but with gestures its enough • Awareness of victim is generally essential • Conditional threats are generally insufficient • Attempted battery assault • Specific intent to commit a battery plus taking substantial steps toward completion, but no completion • Incomplete physical injury, victim awareness is irrelevant

5. Stalking • Intentionally scaring another person by following, tormenting, or harassing him or her • Fill in gaps in law by criminalizing conduct which falls short of assault and battery • All states have enacted some sort of stalking law (since early 1990s) • Statutes vary greatly

6. Stalking • Actus Reus: • Variety of actions, generally involving maintaining physical proximity or visual proximity • Some states require threats • All states require conduct be repeated • Some states provide list of very specific acts • Mens Rea • Offender must have specific intent to commit the actus reus • Offender must also have mental attitude causing bad result but statutes vary as to which mental attitude is needed. • Subjective fault (half states)—offender himself knew behavior would cause result • Objective fault (1/3 states)—reasonable person would know behavior would cause bad result.

7. Cyberstalking • Using internet, e-mail, other electronic communications devices to stalk another person through threatening behavior

8. Rape • Originally, criminal law recognized only • Common law rape: Intentional, forced, nonconsensual, heterosexual vaginal penetration (by a non-spouse) • Common law sodomy: Anal intercourse between two males • Modern interpretation • Aggravated rape: Rape by strangers or men with weapons who physically injure victims • Unarmed acquaintance rape: Nonconsensual sex between dates, lovers, neighbors, co-workers, employers

9. Rape • Actus reus – sexual penetration by force or threat of force • No force if victim consented; historically victims have had to show they absolutely did not consent • Resistance rule has changed over time – from “utmost” (all power they had) to “reasonable” to being dropped completely (resistance tends to need to be present in acquaintance cases) • Mens rea- intentional sexual penetration

10. Statutory Rape • Having sex with minors • Age of victim substitutes for force requirement • Non-consent is not an element • Consent is not a defense because minors cannot give consent (legally incompetent to consent) • Some states allow for reasonable mistake of age

11. Grades of Rape • Most statutes distinguish between aggravated rape and simple rape • Aggravated rape involves additional circumstance • Serious bodily injury to victim • Stranger commits rape • Rape occurs in connection with other crime • Rapist is armed • Rapist has accomplices • Victim is minor and rapist is several years older

12. Kidnapping • Common law crime • Originally involved taking king’s relatives (to another country) for ransom • Seizing • Carrying away (asportation of) or • Confining • By force, threat of force, fraud or deception • Another person

13. Kidnapping • Actus Rea: seizing and carrying away • Distance has become a non-issue • Quality and character of the carrying away not the actual distance • Mens Rea: intent to deprive the other person of his liberty

14. Kidnapping • Grading Seriousness of Kidnapping • Simple • Aggravating • For purpose of: sexual invasions, hostage taking, ransom, robbing, murdering, blackmailing, terrorizing victim, achieving political claims

15. False Imprisonment • Lesser form of kidnapping • Deprive a person of personal liberty • No asportation requirement • Deprivation of liberty is brief • Compelling a person to remain where he does not wish to remain

16. False Imprisonment • Actus reus • forcible detention—even if brief • Restraint must interfere substantially with the victim’s liberty, but in most states any interference is enough • Physical force or threatened force accomplishes the detention • Mens Rea: • specific intent to confine and restrain another without his or her consent

17. Crimes Against Persons: Murder

18. Homicide • Homicide: when someone is killed • criminal homicide • noncriminal homicide (Justifiable homicide or Excusable homicide) • Common Law divided criminal homicide into • Murder (Killing a person with malice aforethought) • First degree, second degree, felony murder, corporate murder • Manslaughter (Killing a person without malice aforethought) • Voluntary or involuntary

19. Malice Aforethought • Malice: specific intent, killing on purpose with ill will, hate, or spite • Aforethought: acts planning in advance

20. First Degree Murder • Premeditated, deliberate, intent to kill murder • Felony murder • Only crime for which death penalty can be imposed (capital cases) • Death penalty issues complicate murder law • Supreme Court decisions have resulted in following • Mandatory death sentences are banned • Unguided discretionary death penalty decisions are banned • Mitigating factors are required • Additional aggravating factors are allowed

21. First Degree Murder • Actus Reus • Voluntary act of killing • many forms of killing • Many statutes require heinous atrocious or cruel acts to accomplish the actusreus of first degree murder • Mens Rea • Wilfull, deliberate, and premeditated murder (The “grand criterion of murder” • Something more than the intent to kill • Often disagreement what deliberate and premeditated mean • Wilfull = intent to kill • Premeditated = sufficient time to enable the mid to frame the design to kill • Deliberate = conscious of purpose and design

22. Second Degree Murder • Implied malice • Intent to inflict serious bodily injury • Depraved heart murders (unintentional, but extremely reckless) • Some states make this the “catch all” category

23. Felony Murder • Unintentional deaths that occur during the commission of some felonies • States vary as to what felonies are included—some list the felonies • Variation regarding whether co-defendant’s death can be basis for felony murder • Third party exception; resisting victim exception • Some states say that felony murder applies to “inherently dangerous felonies.” • Approach 1- Determine whether felony is inherently dangerous by looking at the crime in the abstract • Approach 2-determine whether the felony is inherently dangerous by looking at the facts presented in the case. (case by case approach)

24. Corporate Murder • Corporations commit murder through the acts of their agents • Ford Pinto • Autumn Hills Convalescent Center • Concerns about corporate murder stem from concerns about vicarious liability in general (imputing acts of one to another)

25. Manslaughter • Voluntary Manslaughter • Intentional killing • Done in the sudden heat of passion • Timing of whether this was still in heat of passion is determined by the facts of the case • Without a cooling off period • Objective test of cooling off time (would a reasonable person under the same circumstances had time to cool off) • Because of legally adequate provocation • Provocation is both subjective (defendant himself was provoked) and objective (reasonable person would be provoked) • Types of provocation recognized • Mutual combat, assault and battery, trespass and adultery • Paramour rule: common law rule that held that a man who found his wife in the arms of her lover was not guilty of murder but rather voluntary manslaughter (presumed that this would be adequate provocation which would cause sudden heat of passion) • Words cannot be provocation, but there may be statutes that allow words to suffice for provocation • Last straw rule, smoldering resentment

26. Manslaughter • Involuntary Manslaughter • Criminal homicide constitutes manslaughter when • It is committed recklessly; or under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disturbance for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse • Example: Hitting and killing a pedestrian crossing the street after you’ve had a couple of drinks • Actus reus –killing • Mens rea –unintentional killing

27. Unlawful Act Manslaughter • Death that occurs during the commission of an unlawful act • Sometimes referred to as misdemeanor homicide