Criminal Law
Putting the Pieces
Together
Elements of &
Parties to Crime
Crimes
• Mala in se – “Evil in
themselves”
–Intent is deemed inherent in
the offense
–Origin in common law
–Murder, Rape, Robbery,
Larceny
Crimes
• Mala Prohibita – “Prohibited
evil”
–Deemed wrong by statue
–Intent must usually be
established by facts of case
Mala Prohibita
–Tend to address social ills
• Started with Industrial Rev.
–Sale of alcohol
• Today – Traffic code,
GCSA, cigarette laws
–Not necessarily moral
wrongs
Elements of a Crime
• Actus Reus – “Wrongful Act”
• Mens Rea – “Wrongful
Thought”
• Causation – Act resulted in
harm
• Harm – Result or consequence
of act
• Concurrence – Time issue
Actus Reus
• “Outward manifestation of
voluntary conduct”
• Indirect link acceptable
–Drinking then driving
• Act of Omission - Failure to
act may be a crime
Act of Omission
• Must have legal duty to act
1.Relationship
• Parent/Child
2.Statutory Duty – by law
• Teacher/Student
3.Contract
• Doctor/Patient
Act of Omission
• Moral duty does not always
equal legal duty
– Drowning at public park
Actus Reus
Possession
• Actual Possession – Clear
Actus Reus
• Constructive Possession –
more difficult, based on
legal speculation
– Drugs in car glove box
Mens Rea
• Concept from common law
doctrine that crime must
have criminal intent
• Different from motive
(reason for crime)
Mens Rea - Intent
• General Intent – did the
act but may not have
anticipated the result
– Felony Murder
• Specific Intent – purpose
of act was to accomplish
result
– Murder, Arson
Harm
• Consequence of action
resulting in loss or damage
• “Victimless” crime usually
has argument of societal
or moral harm
– Gambling
• Could argue default harm
to children, etc
Causation
• Proximate Cause – a
cause that in a natural,
continuous sequence,
unbroken by any
intervening cause,
produces the results that
occur
Causation
• “But for” test is used for
establishing proximate cause
– But for the defendant pulling
the trigger the death would not
have occurred
– Must clear other influences
• Arrestee struggles, cop has
heart attack
Concurrence
• Links Causation to Harm
• Requires action to be
followed by harm in a
rational time frame
– State law provides a year
and a day for death in
murder case
Parties to a Crime
• Common law classified
participant
• Principal – directly
involved with committing
crime
• Accessory – not a direct
participant but provided
“aid and comfort”
Parties to a Crime
• Principal party classified
as:
– Principal in the first degree
direct participant
– Principal in the second
degree participated in
assisting in crime
• Lookout
Parties to a Crime
Principal in the second degree
(con’t)
• Aiding and abetting
– agreeing to act or lending
approval
– either by active participation in
crime or encouraging in some
manner
• Usually requires presence at
time of act
Parties to a Crime
• Accessory is usually
classified by participation
before or after the fact
– Helped in planning
– Helped hide suspect
Parties to a Crime
• Modern law has gone away
from classification of
principals and accessories
– All actors held culpable
• Delineations may be made
in sentencing
Think About It:
Las Vegas – two 21 year olds
drinking/gambling. One
(perp) takes 8 YOA girl into
bathroom. Other walks in,
peeks over stall, & sees
perp raping girl. Walks
away. Perp strangles girl
and leaves in bathroom. Is
2nd man a party to a crime?
Criminal Law
Putting the Pieces
Together
Inchoate Offenses
Inchoate Offenses
• Inchoate – Unripened
• Activity or steps directed
toward the completion of a
crime
• Hard to clarify when activity
becomes criminal
Inchoate Offenses
Three major:
1. Attempt
2. Solicitation
3. Conspiracy
Attempt
• Effort to accomplish a
particular purpose
• Criminal Attempt (Federal)
1. Intent to engage in criminal
conduct
2. Performance of a
Substantial Step toward
crime
Attempt
• Usually a specific law for
murder in most state statues
and a general attempt for
others
Criminal Attempt 16-4-1
A person commits the offense of
criminal attempt when, with
intent to commit a specific
crime, he performs any act
which constitutes a substantial
step toward the commission of
that crime.
Criminal Attempt 16-4-1
Punishment
(a) A person convicted of the offense of criminal
attempt to commit a crime punishable by death
or by life imprisonment shall be punished by
imprisonment for not less than one year nor
more than ten years.
(b) A person convicted of the offense of criminal
attempt to commit a felony shall be punished by
imprisonment for not less than one year nor
more than one-half the maximum period of time
for which he could have been sentenced if he
had been convicted of the crime attempted
(c) A person convicted of the offense of criminal
attempt to commit a misdemeanor shall be
punished as for a misdemeanor.
Solicitation
• Counseling, inciting, or
asking someone to commit
a crime
• Criminal intent is usually
required
Solicitation 16-4-7
A person commits the offense of
criminal solicitation when, with intent
that another person engage in
conduct constituting a felony, he
solicits, requests, commands,
importunes, or otherwise attempts to
cause the other person to engage in
such conduct.
Solicitation 16-4-7
Punishment:
(a) person convicted of the offense of criminal
solicitation to commit a felony shall be
punished by imprisonment for not less
than one nor more than three years.
(b) person convicted of the offense of criminal
solicitation to commit a crime punishable
by death or by life imprisonment shall be
punished by imprisonment for not less
than one nor more than five years.
Conspiracy
• Involves 2 or more people
• Used increasingly in drug
distribution investigations
• Most statutes require a
participant in the group to
make an overt act
• Criminal agreement need not
be explicit
Conspiracy
• Pinkerton Rule –
conspirators are agents of
each other and are bound to
the acts of co-conspirators
• Used in organized crime
prosecution
Conspiracy 16-4-8
A person commits the offense of
conspiracy to commit a crime when
he together with one or more
persons conspires to commit any
crime and any one or more of such
persons does any overt act to effect
the object of the conspiracy.
Conspiracy 16-4-8
Punishment:
Not less than one year nor more than one-half the
maximum period of time for which he could
have been sentenced if he had been convicted
of the crime conspired to have been committed
A person convicted of the offense of criminal
conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor shall be
punished as for a misdemeanor.
A person convicted of the offense of criminal
conspiracy to commit a crime punishable by
death or by life imprisonment shall be punished
by imprisonment for not less than one year nor
more than ten years.
Conspiracy 16-4-9
A co-conspirator may be relieved
from the effects of Code
Section 16-4-8 if he can show
that before the overt act
occurred he withdrew his
agreement to commit a crime
Criminal
Law
Criminal
Responsibility
& Defense
Responsibility & Defense
Five General Categories
1. Asserting lack of capacity - infancy, insanity
2. Asserting excuse/justification - duress,
necessity
3. Justified use of force - self-defense, defense
of others
4. Constitutional rights – double jeopardy
5. Assailing government conduct - entrapment
Responsibility & Defense
•
•
•
•
Infancy – in common law under 7, 13 in GA
Insanity plea – more later
Automatism – rare plea, few states
recognize. I was sleepwalking and hurt
someone.
Duress – common law did not allow
homicide defense with duress, but allowed
that people might be forced to do other
crimes
–
Battered Women Syndrome
Responsibility & Defense
•
Necessity – lesser of two evils
– Done to prevent significant evil
– No adequate alternative
– Harm not disproportionate to harm
avoided
•
Immunity
– Diplomatic
– Negotiated
Responsibility & Defense
•
Statutes of limitation – issue of valid
justice (loss of evidence, memory of
witnesses)
– Federal: murder – none, felony – 6 yrs,
misdemeanors – 2 yrs
– Georgia 17-3-1
•
Various others – Religious beliefs,
PMS, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,
“Junk Food” defense, and numerous
others
Legal Defenses of Georgia
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Self-defense
Involuntary intoxication
Insanity
Delusional compulsion
Entrapment
Alibi
Coercion
Mistake of fact
Self-Defense
• Can be defense of self,
others, and / or home.
• Must show justification
and must be reasonable
• Example: killing
someone for trying to
kidnap a pet dog would
not be justified.
Involuntary Intoxication
• Intoxication must
be involuntary.
• Excusable
neglect: drank
punch at a party
and didn’t know
there was alcohol
in it.
Insanity:
• Must prove
mental
incapacitation
(not capable of
knowing right
from wrong) at
the time of the
act
Delusional Compulsion
• Must be due to a mental
disease, injury, or birth
defect.
• Example: a woman
suffering from delusions
believes that the person
she killed was a larger,
ferocious animal that was
going to eat her family.
Entrapment:
• The crime would not have
been committed except
that the defendant was
tricked into it by police.
• Officer must have
generated the idea for the
criminal activity without the
help of the defendant.
Alibi:
• Defendant must
prove that he or
she was
someplace other
than the scene of
the crime when
the crime took
place
Coercion:
• Basically duress: Defendant
claims that the crime was
committed to avoid threats of
immediate death or great bodily
harm.
• Must be reasonable.
• Does not apply to murder.
Applies only when the defendant
is threatened.
• Example: holding a family
member to get another to deliver
drugs
Mistake of Fact:
• Claim is that the crime
was committed because
of mistaken view of the
situation.
• Example: Man marries
woman believing she is
divorced and later finds
she is still married may
not be responsible for
bigamy
Justification:
• (1) When the person's conduct is justified under
Code Section 16-3-21 through-16-3-26 (self
defense, assisting an officer)
• (2) When the person's conduct is in reasonable
fulfillment of his duties as a government officer or
employee;
• (3) When the person's conduct is the reasonable
discipline of a minor by his parent or a person in
loco parentis;
• (4) When the person's conduct is reasonable and is
performed in the course of making a lawful arrest;
• (5) When the person's conduct is justified for any
other reason under the laws of this state
Law Firms Assignment:
• Research:
– History of insanity
– Insanity defense in Georgia,
– Federal insanity defense
– Current cases regarding insanity
• Best research (quality) wins prizes
• Assignment due Tuesday
Criminal
Law
Criminal
Responsibility
& Defense