Chapter 3
SECTION OPENER / CLOSER:
INSERT BOOK COVER ART
What Is a Crime?

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
What You’ll Learn
How to tell the difference between serious and less serious crimes
How to explain the difference between state and federal law
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
What You’ll Learn
How to explain the elements of a crime
How to define the various defenses to criminal liability
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Legal Terms crime plaintiff prosecutor defendant felony misdemeanor
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Crime is considered an act against the public good.
The defendant is the person accused of a crime.
The prosecutor is the government attorney who presents the case in court against the defendant.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
The plaintiff is the party that accuses a person of a crime.
In criminal proceedings, the state or federal government, representing the public at large, is the plaintiff.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
A felony is a major crime punishable by imprisonment or death. These include:
Murder
Manslaughter
Burglary
Robbery
Arson
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
A less serious crime with less sever penalty is a misdemeanor . These include:
Driving without a license
Lying about one’s age to purchase alcohol
Leaving the scene of an automobile accident
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
The American legal system consists of two systems:
The state system, and
The federal system.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Each state has inherent police power allowing it to make statutes to protect public:
Health
Safety
Welfare
Morals
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
The federal government has no police power.
It can create criminal statutes only in areas over which it has jurisdiction, such as counterfeiting, because it has the power to coin money.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Because of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the federal government has the power to regulate commerce among the states.
As a result, federal criminal law must involve some sort of interstate activity.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Today, the federal government does have a criminal code and several police agencies, including:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI)
The Drug Enforcement Agency
(DEA)
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
A crime is defined by two elements:
The criminal act, and
The required state of mind.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Most criminal statutes specifically explain conduct that is forbidden.
A criminal act must also involve voluntary conduct.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
The definition of a crime can be changed based on the criminal’s state of mind.
Murder is the intentional taking of a person’s life.
Involuntary manslaughter outlaws the accidental taking of a person’s life.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Motive plays no part in proving criminal liability.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Defense attorneys try to show that the prosecution failed to prove the required elements for the crime charged to their client.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Common defenses are:
Insanity
Entrapment
Self-defense
Defense of family members
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
American law recognizes that people cannot be held responsible for their actions if they do not know what they are doing.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
About twofifths of the U.S. use the M’Naghten
Rule and the other three-fifths use the American
Law Institute (ALI) test to determine insanity.
•
M’Naghten Rule—England 1843—defendant suffers from a mental disease so they did not know the nature of the illegal act committed.
• American Law Institute Test —as a result of a mental disease, defendant lacks capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the law.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
If a law enforcement officer induces a law-abiding citizen to commit a crime, the person can use a defense known as entrapment.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
When people have good reason to believe they are in danger of serious injury or death, they can use force to protect themselves.
This is defense is known as selfdefense.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Using force to rescue a family member from attack is another defense.
As with self-defense, the rescuer must have good reason to believe the victim was in danger of severe bodily harm or death.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
What part does motive play in proving criminal liability?
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
ANSWER
None.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Section 2.1
Assessment
Reviewing What You Learned
1.
What determines the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor?
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Section 2.1
Assessment
Reviewing What You Learned
Answer
Felonies are more serious than misdemeanors and are distinguished by longer, more severe penalties.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Section 2.1
Assessment
Reviewing What You Learned
2.
How do state and federal criminal law differ?
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Section 2.1
Assessment
Reviewing What You Learned
Answer
State governments have inherent police power.
It can make statutes to protect the public.
The federal government has no police power and can create criminal statutes only in those areas over which it has jurisdiction.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Section 2.1
Assessment
Reviewing What You Learned
3.
What are the elements of a crime?
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Section 2.1
Assessment
Reviewing What You Learned
Answer
The criminal act and the required state of mind.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Section 2.1
Assessment
Reviewing What You Learned
4.
What are the major criminal defenses?
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Section 2.1
Assessment
Reviewing What You Learned
Answer
Insanity, entrapment, self-defense, and defense of family members.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Section 2.1
Assessment
Legal Skills in Action
The Insanity Defense
Many people have misconceptions about the insanity defense in the American legal system. They often see it as a way for criminals to go free without serving time for their offenses.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Chapter 3
SECTION OPENER / CLOSER:
INSERT BOOK COVER ART
End of Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
What You’ll Learn
How to define major crimes against people
How to define major crimes against property
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
What You’ll Learn
How to define major crimes that involve controlled substances
How to define major crimes that involve computers
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Some crimes can be specifically categorized as crimes against people.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another human being without malice aforethought.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Battery is the unlawful touching of another person.
Assault is an attempt to commit battery.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Kidnapping is the unlawful removal or restraint of a person against his or her will.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Sex offenses include statutory rape and sexual assault.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Domestic violence is any reckless form of physical or mental abuse within a family or household.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Actions using certain symbols, writings, pictures, or spoken words to cause fear or anger in people because of their race, religion, color, or gender are known as hate crimes.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
What is the difference between murder and manslaughter?
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
ANSWER
Murder indicates malice aforethought and manslaughter does not.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Burglary is the breaking and entering of homes and other places with the intent to commit a misdemeanor or a felony.
Larceny is the unlawful taking and carrying away of the personal property of another with the intent to deprive the owner of the property.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Embezzlement is the wrongful taking of another’s property by a person who has been entrusted with that property.
Robbery is the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal property of another through violence or threats.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Arson is the willful and malicious burning of homes and other buildings.
Vandalism is the willful or malicious damage to property.
Shoplifting is the act of stealing goods from a store.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
During the time Joe Banks worked at the Stop and Go gas station, he put nearly 600 gallons of gasoline into his own car without paying for it. What crime is he probably guilty of?
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Embezzlement
ANSWER
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Computers and network devices have introduced new ways to commit crimes.
Both federal and state statutes address this new legal problem.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is aimed at computer hackers.
The National Information
Infrastructure Act outlaws the extortion of money or other favors in exchange for not causing a computer system to crash.
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law

Section 2.1
What Is a Crime?
Computer trespass outlaws using a computer for any crime.
Computer fraud statutes make it an offense to use a computer to acquire property, services, or money by fraud.
Theft of computer services
Destruction of equipment
Misuse of computer information
Understanding Business and Personal Law Criminal Law