cj © 2011 cengage learning chapter 4 inside criminal law

CJ

© 2011 Cengage Learning

Chapter 4Chapter 4

Inside Criminal Inside Criminal LawLaw


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.

1LO


List the four written sources of American

criminal law.


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)


Learning Outcome 1• Constitutional Law -

The U.S. Constitution and the various state constitutions

• Statutory Law - Laws and ordinances passed by Congress and state legislatures

• Administrative Law – rules, orders, and decisions of regulatory agencies.

• Case Law – rules of law announced in court decisions (precedents)

2LO


Explain the two basic functions of criminal law.


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


Learning Outcome 2

Maintain and Teach: the social function of the law• Expressing public morality• Teaching societal boundaries


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


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.


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.


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.


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.


CAREERPREPEnvironmental 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.

3LO


List and briefly define the most important excuse defenses for

crimes.


Learning Outcome 3

Criminal Responsibility and the Law

In some cases, the law “excuses” a person for his or her behavior

because of responsibility.


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.


Learning Outcome 3Insanity 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


ABC Video: Killer Free Insanity


Learning Outcome 3Excuse 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.

4LO


Describe the four most important justification

defenses.


Learning Outcome 4Justification 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.


Learning Outcome 4

Justification Defenses• Self-Defense

– There must be reasonable belief of death or harm.

– Duty to retreat.


Learning Outcome 4Justification Defenses• Necessity

– Circumstances required the defendant to commit the act.

• Entrapment– The defendant claims (s)he was

induced by police to commit the act.


CAREERPREPCriminal 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-a-judge.html.

5LO


Distinguish between substantive and

procedural criminal law.


Learning Outcome 5

Substantive Criminal Law:

Laws that define the acts that the government will

punish.

Procedural Criminal Law:

Procedures, drawn from the Bill of Rights, that are designed to protect the constitutional rights of

individuals.


Learning Outcome 5The 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.


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


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


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.


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


Learning Outcome 5• Substantive due process is a

Constitutional requirement that laws used in accusing and convicting persons of crimes must be fair

cj © 2011 cengage learning chapter 4 inside criminal law

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