Chapter 4 Inside Criminal Law

1. Chapter 4 Inside Criminal Law

2. Learning Outcomes LO1: List the four written sources of American criminal law. LO2: Explain the two basic functions of criminal law. LO3: List and briefly define the most important excuse defenses for crimes. LO4: Describe the four most important justification criminal defenses. LO5: Distinguish between substantive and procedural criminal law.

3. List the four written sources of American criminal law.

4. Learning Outcome 1 • American criminal law was originally uncodified. • Difficult for people to know what was illegal. • Difficult for people to know how guilt or innocence is established. • American criminal law now has several written sources (substantive criminal law)

5. Constitutional Law - The U.S. Constitution and the various state constitutions Statutory Law - Laws and ordinances passed by Congress and state legislatures Learning Outcome 1 • Administrative Law – rules, orders, and decisions of regulatory agencies. • Case Law – rules of law announced in court decisions (precedents)

6. Explain the two basic functions of criminal law.

7. Learning Outcome 2 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

8. Learning Outcome 2 Maintain and Teach: the social function of the law • Expressing public morality • Teaching societal boundaries

9. Learning Outcome 2 Criminal law normally requires that the corpus delicti (the body of the crime) be proved before a person can be convicted of wrongdoing

10. Learning Outcome 2 Corpus delicti consists of: • Criminal Act - Actus reus • Crimes may be acts of commission, or acts of omission, or even planned/attempted acts. • Mental State - Mens rea • Intent is required to establish guilt of a crime. Intent includes elements of purpose, knowledge, negligence, and recklessness.

11. Learning Outcome 2 Corpus delicti consists of: • Criminal Liability • Strict Liability – for some crimes, the defendant is found guilty regardless of intent. Helps protect the public and minors • Accomplice Liability – a person can be charged for helping another person commit a crime. • Felony-Murder – a person can be charged as an accomplice if the crime was a “natural and probable consequence” of his actions.

12. Learning Outcome 2 Corpus delicti consists of: • Concurrence • The guilty act and guilt intent must occur together. • Causation • The criminal act must cause the harm suffered. • Attendant Circumstances • Many states differentiate between assault with a gun or a knife.

13. Learning Outcome 2 Corpus delicti consists of: • Hate Crime Laws • Make the suspect’s motive an important attendant circumstance. • Harm • Some crimes are categorized by the harm done to the victim regardless of intent. • Inchoate offense – acts that are deemed criminal if they could do harm that laws try to prevent.

14. CAREERPREP Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent Job Description: • Enforce the nation’s environmental laws protecting air, water, and land resources. • Investigate cases that involve negligent, knowing, or willful violations of federal environmental laws. What kind of training is required? • Eight weeks of basic federal law enforcement and criminal investigation training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. • An additional eight weeks of training in conducting investigations of the criminal provisions of federal environmental laws. Annual salary range? $43,000–$128,000 For additional information, visit: www.epa.gov/Compliance/criminal/investigations/ agents.html.

15. List and briefly define the most important excuse defenses for crimes.

16. Learning Outcome 3 Criminal Responsibility and the Law In some cases, the law “excuses” a person for his or her behavior because of responsibility.

17. Learning Outcome 3 Excuse Defenses • Infancy - youthful offenders cannot understand the consequences of their actions. • Insanity- defendant’s state of mind is such that he or she cannot claim responsibility for actions.

18. Learning Outcome 3 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

20. Learning Outcome 3 Excuse Defenses: • Intoxication • Voluntary • Involuntary • Mistake • Mistake of Law – claim that defendant did not know the law. • Mistake of Fact – claim that defendant did not know actions were criminal.

21. Describe the four most important justification defenses.

22. Learning Outcome 4 Justification Defenses • Duress • Four conditions • The threat must be of serious bodily harm or death. • The harm threatened must be greater than the harm caused by the crime. • The threat must be immediate and inescapable. • The defendant must have become involved in the situation through no fault.

23. Learning Outcome 4 Justification Defenses • Self-Defense • There must be reasonable belief of death or harm. • Duty to retreat.

24. Learning Outcome 4 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.

26. CAREERPREP Criminal Court Judge Job Description: • Preside over trials and hearings in federal, state, and local courts. Ensure that all proceedings are fair and protect the legal rights of everyone involved. • Rule on admissibility of evidence, monitor the testimony of witnesses, and settle disputes between prosecutors and defense attorneys. What kind of training is required? • A law degree and several years of legal experience. • Depending on the jurisdiction, judges are either appointed or elected. Annual salary range? $93,000–$162,000 For additional information, visit: education-portal.com/become-a-judge.html.

27. Distinguish between substantive and procedural criminal law.

28. Learning Outcome 5 Procedural Criminal Law: Procedures, drawn from the Bill of Rights, that are designed to protect the constitutional rights of individuals. Substantive Criminal Law: Laws that define the acts that the government will punish.

29. Learning Outcome 5 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 1791. 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.

30. Learning Outcome 5 Procedural safeguards in the U.S. Constitution: • 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

31. Learning Outcome 5 • 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

32. Learning Outcome 5 • Due process clause • Requires that the government not act unfairly or arbitrarily. • The government cannot rely on individual judgment or impulse when making decisions.

33. Procedural due process is a provision in the Constitution that states that the law must be carried out in a fair and orderly manner Learning Outcome 5

34. Substantive due process is a Constitutional requirement that laws used in accusing and convicting persons of crimes must be fair Learning Outcome 5