CJ
Chapter 4
Inside Criminal
Law
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcomes
LO1: List the four written sources of
American criminal law.
LO2: Explain the two basic functions of
criminal law.
LO3: List and briefly define the most
important excuse defenses for crimes.
LO4: Describe the four most important
justification criminal defenses.
LO5: Distinguish between substantive and
procedural criminal law.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
LO 1
List the four written sources
of American criminal law.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• American criminal law was originally
uncodified.
– Difficult for people to know what was
illegal.
– Difficult for people to know how guilt or
innocence is established.
• American criminal law now has
several written sources (substantive
criminal law)
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 1
• Constitutional Law The U.S. Constitution
and the various state
constitutions
• Administrative Law –
rules, orders, and
decisions of regulatory
agencies.
• Statutory Law - Laws
and ordinances passed
by Congress and state
legislatures
• Case Law – rules of law
announced in court
decisions (precedents)
© 2011 Cengage Learning
LO 2
Explain the two basic
functions of criminal law.
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Learning Outcome 2
Protect and Punish: the legal function of
the law
• Maintain social order by protecting citizens
from criminal harm
• Includes harms to both individuals and
society in general
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 2
Maintain and Teach: the social function of
the law
• Expressing public morality
• Teaching societal boundaries
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 2
Criminal law normally requires that
the corpus delicti (the body of the
crime) be proved before a person can
be convicted of wrongdoing
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 2
Corpus delicti consists of:
• Criminal Act - Actus reus
– Crimes may be acts of commission, or acts of
omission, or even planned/attempted acts.
• Mental State - Mens rea
– Intent is required to establish guilt of a crime.
Intent includes elements of purpose,
knowledge, negligence, and recklessness.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 2
Corpus delicti consists of:
• Criminal Liability
– Strict Liability – for some crimes, the
defendant is found guilty regardless of intent.
Helps protect the public and minors
– Accomplice Liability – a person can be
charged for helping another person commit a
crime.
– Felony-Murder – a person can be charged as
an accomplice if the crime was a “natural and
probable consequence” of his actions.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 2
Corpus delicti consists of:
• Concurrence
– The guilty act and guilt intent must occur
together.
• Causation
– The criminal act must cause the harm
suffered.
• Attendant Circumstances
– Many states differentiate between assault
with a gun or a knife.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 2
Corpus delicti consists of:
• Hate Crime Laws
– Make the suspect’s motive an important
attendant circumstance.
• Harm
– Some crimes are categorized by the harm
done to the victim regardless of intent.
– Inchoate offense – acts that are deemed
criminal if they could do harm that laws try to
prevent.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
CAREERPREP
Environmental Protection Agency Criminal
Investigation Division Special Agent
Job Description:
• Enforce the nation’s environmental laws protecting air, water, and land
resources.
• Investigate cases that involve negligent, knowing, or willful violations of
federal environmental laws.
What kind of training is required?
• Eight weeks of basic federal law enforcement and criminal investigation
training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco,
Georgia.
• An additional eight weeks of training in conducting investigations of the
criminal provisions of federal environmental laws.
Annual salary range?
$43,000–$128,000
For additional information, visit:
www.epa.gov/Compliance/criminal/investigations/ agents.html.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
LO 3
List and briefly define the
most important excuse
defenses for crimes.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 3
Criminal Responsibility and the Law
In some cases, the law “excuses” a
person for his or her behavior
because of responsibility.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 3
Excuse Defenses
• Infancy - youthful offenders cannot
understand the consequences of
their actions.
• Insanity- defendant’s state of mind is
such that he or she cannot claim
responsibility for actions.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 3
Insanity is determined by…
• M’Naughten Rule
– A person is insane if they can’t distinguish right
from wrong
• ALI/MPC Test
– Also known as the substantial capacity test, the
defendant must lack the capacity to appreciate
the wrongfulness of his/her conduct.
• Irresistible Impulse Test
– A person is insane if some “irresistible impulse”
resulting from a mental deficiency drove him or
her to commit the crime
© 2011 Cengage Learning
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 3
Excuse Defenses:
• Intoxication
– Voluntary
– Involuntary
•
Mistake
– Mistake of Law – claim that defendant
did not know the law.
– Mistake of Fact – claim that defendant
did not know actions were criminal.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
LO 4
Describe the four most
important justification
defenses.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 4
Justification Defenses
• Duress
– Four conditions
• The threat must be of serious bodily harm or
death.
• The harm threatened must be greater than the
harm caused by the crime.
• The threat must be immediate and
inescapable.
• The defendant must have become involved in
the situation through no fault.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 4
Justification Defenses
• Self-Defense
– There must be reasonable belief of
death or harm.
– Duty to retreat.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 4
Justification Defenses
• Necessity
– Circumstances required the defendant
to commit the act.
• Entrapment
– The defendant claims (s)he was
induced by police to commit the act.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
© 2011 Cengage Learning
CAREERPREP
Criminal Court Judge
Job Description:
• Preside over trials and hearings in federal, state, and local courts.
Ensure that all proceedings are fair and protect the legal rights of
everyone involved.
• Rule on admissibility of evidence, monitor the testimony of
witnesses, and settle disputes between prosecutors and defense
attorneys.
What kind of training is required?
• A law degree and several years of legal experience.
• Depending on the jurisdiction, judges are either appointed or
elected.
Annual salary range?
$93,000–$162,000
For additional information, visit: education-portal.com/become-ajudge.html.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
LO 5
Distinguish between
substantive and procedural
criminal law.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 5
Substantive Criminal Law:
Procedural Criminal Law:
Laws that define the acts
that the government will
punish.
Procedures, drawn from the
Bill of Rights, that are
designed to protect the
constitutional rights of
individuals.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 5
The Bill of Rights:
– The first ten amendments to the U.S.
Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.
– The Bill of Rights was adopted by the states in
1791. Since then, seventeen more
amendments have been added
– The Bill of Rights has served as the basis for
procedural safeguards of the accused in the
U.S.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 5
Procedural safeguards in the U.S.
Constitution:
• Fourth Amendment
• provides protection from unreasonable searches and
seizures
• Fifth Amendment
• requires that no one can be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without “due process of the law,” including
protections against double jeopardy and individuals
being required to be a witness against himself or
herself
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 5
• Sixth Amendment
• guarantees a speedy trial, a trial by jury, a
public trial, the right to confront witnesses,
and the right to a lawyer at various stages of
criminal proceedings
• Eighth Amendment
• prohibits excessive bails, fines, and cruel and
unusual punishments
• Fourteenth Amendment
• provides due process and equal protection
of the laws
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 5
• Due process clause
– Requires that the government not act
unfairly or arbitrarily.
– The government cannot rely on individual
judgment or impulse when making
decisions.
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 5
• Procedural due process is a provision in
the Constitution that states that the law
must be carried out in a fair and orderly
manner
© 2011 Cengage Learning
Learning Outcome 5
• Substantive due process is a
Constitutional requirement that laws
used in accusing and convicting
persons of crimes must be fair
© 2011 Cengage Learning