Our Criminal Laws
Chapter 5
What are Crimes?
Crime – punishable offense against society
Contrast with civil offenses – offenses against just the
victim, not society.
** 2 parties: defendant and plaintiff
In criminal cases:
Defendant – Person accused of a crime
Plaintiff – the state or fed. Govt., representing the
public at large (prosecutor)
Crimes are defined by statute (laws enacted by state or
federal legislatures.
- tell us what conduct is prohibited
Elements of a Crime
 Duty – the duty to do or not do a certain
thing.
 Breach of duty – an act or omission in
violation of that duty (criminal act)
 Criminal Intent


Intended to commit the act
Intended to do evil
Criminal Intent
Creates two issues for corporations.
1. If employees have criminal intent, their
employer may be judged to have criminal
intent.
2. If duties assigned benefit corporations,
courts may find criminal intent.
a. Corporate officers can be held liable –
vicarious criminal liability
Criminal Intent
 Related to age – usually under 7 years
considered below the age of reason.
 Must have sufficient mental capacity to know
difference between right and wrong.
 Some crimes do not require intent –
speeding, minor traffic offenses
Criminal Conduct Classifications
Crimes against a person (assault, battery,
kidnapping, rape, murder)
2. Crimes against property (theft, robbery,
embezzlement)
3. Crimes against government administration
of justice (treason, tax evasion, perjury)
4. Crimes against public peace and order
(rioting, disorderly conduct, illegal speeding)
1.
Criminal Conduct Classifications
Crimes against realty (burglary, arson,
criminal trespassing)
6. Crimes against consumers (fraudulent sale
of securities, violation of drugs and food
laws)
7. Crimes against decency (bigamy, obscenity,
prostitution)
5.
Classification of Crimes
 Felony – Major crime, punishable by
imprisonment, fine of $1,000 or more or death

Murder, kidnapping, arson, rape, robbery
 Misdemeanor – less serious crime with a less
serious punishment


Fine or imprisonment in a state or local jail
Disorderly conduct, speeding, driving w/o a
license, leaving scene of accident

Some states classify misdemeanors as
Infractions – illegal parking, littering
Business-Related Crimes
 White – collar crimes – offenses committed in
the business world

Usually some sort of fraud, deceit, and are
nonviolent


Examples: evading income taxes, defrauding
consumers, false insurance claims, false
advertising, bribery, political corruption,
embezzlement
Punishment – fines or short prison sentences
Antitrust Laws
 State that competing companies may not
cooperate in fixing prices or in dividing sales
regions.

require that business firms compete with one
another
Business-Related Crimes
 Larceny (theft) -- wrongful taking of money or
personal property belonging to someone else,
with intent to deprive the owner of
possession.
 Felony or Misdemeanor – depends on value
of property stolen and other circumstances


Petty -- $300 or less
Grand – more than $300
Business-Related Crimes
 2 Types of Larceny
 Robbery – taking of property from another’s person or
immediate presence, against
 the victim’s will, by force or by causing fear
 Burglary – entering a building without permission
when intending to commit a crime.
 False Pretenses – obtaining money or other property
by lying about a past or existing fact

Type of fraud – victim parts with property voluntarily
 Forgery – falsely making or materially altering a
writing to defraud another

Form must have legal effect
Business-Related Crimes
 Bribery – act of paying or giving anything of value to
public officials in order to influence their official
activity
 Extortion – (blackmail) the unjust taking of money or
thing of value by a public official.

Victim gives up money or property, but does so out of
fear
 Computer Crimes – many states have created new
laws for computer-related crimes
 Conspiracy – an agreement between 2 or more
persons to commit a crime

A crime separate from the crime
 Arson – the willful and illegal burning of a building
Chapter 5 – Section 2
Criminal Procedure
Rights When Arrested
Right to DUE PROCESS requires fundamental
fairness in governmental actions.
Fair procedure during an investigation and in court.
 Some examples:





Defendants do not have to testify against themselves.
Defendants have the right to cross-examine witnesses.
The accused has a right to be represented by a lawyer.
To convict, evidence must establish guilt with proof
beyond a reasonable doubt (vast majority of evidence
supports the guilty verdict.
Defendants have a right to trial by jury.
Criminal Procedure
 Responsibility for the Criminal Conduct of
Others
When you aid another in committing a crime,
you may also be found guilty
EX: If someone is killed during a felony, all
accomplices can be found guilty of the
homicide.
Defenses to Criminal Charges

Defense – a legal position that allows the defendant
to escape criminal liability

2 types of Defense
1. Procedural 2. Substantive
Procedural – based on the problems with the way
evidence is obtained or the way the accused person
is arrested, questioned, tried, or punished.
Substantive – disprove, justify or excuse the alleged
crime – discredit the facts that the state sought to
establish.
EX: you are placed at the scene of a crime as the
suspect, but you can prove you were in the hospital
at the time the crime was being committed.
Examples of Substantive defense: self-defense,
criminal insanity and immunity
Substantive Defenses
 Self-Defense – the use of force that appears
to be reasonably necessary to the victim to
prevent death, serious bodily harm, rape or
kidnapping.


Also extends to one’s family and household
and to others whom one has a legal duty to
protect.
May not use deadly force if non-deadly force
appears reasonably sufficient.
Substantive Defenses
 Criminal insanity – exists when the accused
does not know the difference between right
and wrong.

Defendant must prove the criminal insanity.
 Immunity – freedom from prosecution even
when one has committed the crime.


In exchange for an agreement
Government grants immunity – testimony may
incriminate witness
Ignorance of law is not a defense
 Contempt of court – action that hinders the
administration of justice – refuse to testify in court.
 Punishments for Crime
 Punishment – any penalty provide by law and
imposed by a court
 Plea bargaining – an agreement by which the
accused agrees to plead guilty to a less serious crime
in exchange for having a more serious charge
dropped.

Gives up right to a public trial to avoid the risk of a
greater penalty if convicted.