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. All crimes are statutory in California• B 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. There are no ex post facto laws• D. 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. What is its relationship to other statutes– B. What was the intent of the Legislative

Body– C. What is the meaning of the words.

Criminal Law vs Civil Law

• 1. Criminal Law deals with violations of Criminal Statutes.– A. These are crimes– B. 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. an act committed in violation of a law

forbidding it or commanding it– B. 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. 19These 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. 19.6Instead 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.