Business Law
Name________________________________________
Ch. 2 Notes Day 2
Elements of a Crime
A crime is defined by 2 elements: 1. The criminal _______, and 2. The required state of
__________. The _________________ of each of these may be different in different
______________.
Criminal Act
Each ______________ that defines a ____________ must specifically explain the
________________ that is forbidden by that statute. For example, a statute that makes
_________________ a crime specifically prohibits the _________________ taking of
another person’s __________________ property. Some criminal law ______________
make failure to ________ a crime. For instance, a young man may fail to register for the
____________ after reaching his ________ birthday. He has committed a ___________
even though he has not ______________ but failed to ________. An act must also
involve _________________ conduct. Finally, a person cannot be _______________ of
a crime if that accusation is based on a person’s ______________ or ________________.
For example, the government cannot make it a ____________ to be an alcoholic.
Required State of Mind
The second _______________ that is necessary to establish a _________ is the required
__________ of __________. It is specified in the ____________ that defines the crime.
A statute defining _____________ forbids the intentional taking of a person’s ________.
In such a statute the required mental state is ___________. A statute defining
involuntary _________________ outlaws the accidental taking of a person’s life through
________________. Notice that in both statutes the ______________ act of taking a
person’s life remains the same. The only thing that changes is the required state of
__________.
Motive
Motive- _____________________________________________________________
Motive actually plays no part in proving criminal _________________. Uncovering a
motive might help establish a list of ______________. However, the lack of motive does
not remove _______________ liability. If a person has committed the _______________
act with the required state of ___________, he or she is criminally _________________.
Business Law
Particular Crimes
Each crime must have an exact ________________. Defining a crime is necessary so
that everyone can know, without any __________, what is against the _______.
Overall, crimes can be grouped into three headings: crimes against ______________,
crimes against ________________, and crimes against ________________ interests.
Crimes Against People
The killing of one human by another is also known as ________________.
____________________ homicide takes place when a police officer kills a criminal in
the line of _________ or in _________-_________________. It also takes place when a
_________________ kills the _______________ in battle. When someone is killed by
________________ and no one is at ___________, the death is considered an
______________________ homicide.
Murder
Under the law, murder is the __________________ killing of another human being with
_______________ aforethought. The term “malice aforethought” means that the
murderer had _________ intent before the killing took place. In many states the crime is
divided into __________-____________ murder and ____________-_____________
murder.
The definition of first-degree murder, also called __________________ murder, differs
from state to state. In general, first-degree murder involves the following circumstances:
1. Killing someone with ______________________ 2. Killing someone in a cruel
way, like _______________ 3. Killing someone while committing a
____________, such as __________, robbery or kidnapping.
If none of these conditions apply, the crime is known as ______-degree murder. In most
states, the distinction between 1st and 2nd degree murder is important, 1st degree can carry
the ___________ penalty, and usually 2nd degree does not.