CRIMINAL LAW
Constitutional Law
• 1. Federal Constitution
– Supreme law of the land, binds all States
• 2. State Constitution
– May add rights to people but not take away
any granted in the Federal
• 3. Federal Courts
– Enforce Federal laws and hear appeals
• 4. State Courts
– Trial Courts and Appellate Courts for the
State
Statutory Law
• 1. Written laws enacted by the
Legislature.
• A.
•B
All crimes are statutory in California
If there is no statute there is no crime
» If there is no punishment provides there is still no
crime,
» The punishments are usually listed in the same
section as the crime
• C.
• D.
There are no ex post facto laws
City and County ordinances are also
enforceable if they are criminal (prescribed
penalties.)
Case Law
• 1. Case law is the result of Appellate
Court decisions.
– A.
The principal in use is “precedent”
– 1.The Court interprets the Constitution
– 2.Clarifies the Statute
• 2. Judicial Review
– A.
This limits the powers of the
Legislature
Nuances of Written Law
• 1. Letter of the law
• 2. Sprit of the Law
• 3. Interpretation of the law
– A.
– B.
– C.
What is its relationship to other statutes
What was the intent of the Legislative
Body
What is the meaning of the words.
Criminal Law vs Civil Law
• 1. Criminal Law deals with violations of
Criminal Statutes.
– A.
– B.
These are crimes
The victim is the State of California
• 2. Civil Law deals with noncriminal violations or
Civil Wrongs.
A.
The purpose is redress, or to right a
wrong. Under civil law, the injured
party may file a lawsuit for monetary
compensation or other relief, not
including incarceration. These are called TORTS
Civil Wrong
• Act or negligence may be a “tort” if it
violates a legal duty owed to another
person.
• Tort actions may also be criminal acts.
Definition of a Crime
• 1. A crime is a violation of a criminal
statute.
– A.
– B.
an act committed in violation of a law
forbidding it or commanding it
And to which is annexed upon
conviction a penalty which provides the
following punishments.
Punishments
• 1. a penalty of death,
• 2. Imprisonment, fine,
• 3. Removal from public office, or
disqualification from holding public
office.
Elements of Crime
•
•
•
•
An act or omission (failure to act)
In violation of a statute
For which a punishment is affixed
Basic elements Penal Code Section 20
states that "in every crime or public
offense, there must be to every crime that
there exists a union, or joint operation of
act and intent, or criminal negligence
Elements summarized
• Elements of crime must be established:
– Act or failure to act
– Required intent
– Union of the two
– IF THE ELEMENTS CAN’T BE PROVEN,
THE CASE MUST BE DISMISSED
Intent
In every crime there must be a criminal act
and a related intent, or criminal
negligence.
The key to understanding intent is to
understand the way criminal act and intent
are related.
Example
A person may strike another with his fist
not intending to commit great bodily injury.
However, as a result of the blow, the
person dies. In order to prove him guilty of
murder, you must prove that he intended
to kill him. Without that intent, he cannot
be guilty of murder.
What is Intent
• State of mind inferred from evidence.
• Type required varies with crime charged.
• Refers to the accused state of mind during
the commission of the crime.
• Four types
– General (Presumed)
– Specific
– Criminal negligence
– Transferred
General Intent
• Accused merely intended to commit the
act that the law deem illegal. When a
person performs an illegal act, general
intent is presumed.
– Presumed intent.
– No showing of specific intent required.
– No knowledge of violating the law required.
– Good examples are traffic violations.
Specific Intent
•
•
•
•
Particular state of mind.
Determination to commit the act.
Cannot be presumed.
Usually written into the statute…
– “With the intent to…”
Transferred Intent
• Intended act misses target and falls upon third
party.
• When an unlawful act affects a person other
than, or in addition to, the person it was intended
to affect, the intent becomes transferred intent.
Criminal intent in these instances is transferred
from the intended victim to the unintended
victim.
– Intended act must be unlawful.
Criminal Negligence
• Failure to exercise the care of a
reasonable person under like situations.
• Becomes a legal substitute for intent.
• Criminal Prosecution
Crime Classifications
Felony P.C. 17
These are the most serious of crimes,
punishable by death or imprisonment in a
state prison or by fine or removal from
office.
Crime Classifications
Misdemeanor P.C. 19
These are less serious than felonies, and
are punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail, fine, or both imprisonment and
fine.
Crime Classifications
A person charged with a felony or
misdemeanor is entitled to the following:
• A jury or court trial.
• Defense by an attorney appointed at
public expense (if the defendant cannot
afford one).
Crime Classifications
Infractions P.C. 19.6
Instead of a formal arrest and booking,
infractions involve the issuance of a
citation… “Notice to Appear”
Crime Classifications
Infractions Cont.
These are the least serious of crimes and
are not punishable by imprisonment but by
fine only. A person charged with an
infraction is not entitled to the following:
• A trial by jury.
• Defense by a public defender appointed at the
public expense.
Crime Classifications
“Wobbler”
1. A wobbler is a crime that may be prosecuted
in either of two crime classifications defined
by statute.
2. Law Enforcement typically treat all these as
felonies. Prosecutors will decide which to
charge.
Parties to a crime
• Principal
– P.C. 31
• Accessory
– P.C. 32
• Accomplice
– P.C. 1111
Principals
1. All persons involved in the commission of a
felony or misdemeanor. All principals are
equally guilty and can be arrested and
prosecuted.
2. Persons are principal parties to a crime only
if there is proof that they had the required
criminal intent
3. A principal need not be present during the
actual commission of the crime.
Principal
A principal is a person who does one
of the following:
• Aids and abets in the commission of a crime
• Advises and encourages its commission (even if
not present).
• Gets another “drunk” person to commit a crime.
• Gets another person to commit a crime by
threats or coercion.
• Counseling a child under 14 to commit a crime.
• A person aids and abets in the
commission of a crime if he or she actively
abetting assists, supports, promotes,
encourages, strengthens, or instigates by
act or advice the commission of the
offense. The person who aids and abets,
must have knowledge of the unlawful
purpose (intent) of the actual perpetrator
of the crime. While aid and abet are similar
in meaning, abet implies having a guilty
knowledge and felonious intent that aid
does not have
Accessory
• After a Felony has been committed…
– Knowingly harbors, conceals, or aids a
principal
– With intent to avoid arrest, trial, conviction, or
punishment
– There can only be accessories to felonies
Accomplice
• Co-principal who testifies against another
principal.
– Crime partner “rolls over” on his buddy
• An accomplice’s testimony must be
supported by other known facts to be
accepted by the court.
Feigned Accomplice
• A feigned accomplice to a crime is a person who
pretends to consult and accomplice with another
in the planning or commission of a crime only for
the purpose of discovering the perpetrator's
plans and obtaining evidence. (U.C. or C.I.)
• The feigned accomplice may be acting under the
direction of a law enforcement officer or on his or
her own initiative. Unlike a true accomplice, the
feigned accomplice has no criminal intent and is
not guilty of the offense.
Legally Incapable of Committing a
Crime
• Certain people are presumed by the
law to be legally incapable of forming
the necessary intent and therefore
are incapable of committing crimes.
• Penal Code Section 26 identifies
those individuals who are presumed
as persons not capable of forming the
designated state of mind and of
committing a crime.
• Children under age 14:
– The exception occurs if it can be shown that at the
time of the crime, the juvenile knew the wrongfulness
of the act. Such a finding is a legal question
determined by the court, not by individual officers.
Officers should record any evidence that could have a
bearing on this factor.
• Idiots (0-24)
• Acts committed under ignorance or mistaken
fact.
• Not conscious of the act.
• Act committed by misfortune or accident.
• Life was in danger, when the crime did not
involve death.