CJ Substantive criminal law

elements of crime

1) the basic components of crime 2) in a specific crime the essential features of that crime, as specified by law or statute

misdemeanor

A minor crime an offense punishable by incarceration usually in a local confinement facility, for a period of which the upper limit is prescribed by statute in a given jurisdiction typically one year or less

A preponderance of the evidence is a stand for determining legal liability, which requires a probability of just over ninety percent that the defendant did what is claimed.

False

General intent is a thoughtful, conscious intention to perform a specific act in order to achieve a particular result.

False

Natural Law is a construct that says that the law is enforced by the government.

False

That form of law that governs relationships between parties is known as criminal law.

False

Judicial review

The authority of a court to review the actions of the executive and legislative branches and to declare as void those not consonant with the constitution

Jurisdiction

The geographic district or subject matter over which the authority of a government body especially a court, extends. the authority of a court to hear and decide an action or lawsuit

A crime is any act or omission in violation of penal law, committed without defense or justification, and made punishable by the state in a judicial proceeding.

True

Constructive possession means that, at a given time, an individual may not have actual physical custody of the material in question, but he or she is still able to control or influence it.

True

Due process of law are those procedures that effectively guarantee individual rights in the face of criminal prosecution.

True

Stare decisis, Latin for "let the decision stand" embodies the idea that cases with similar facts should have the same law applied

True

Substantive criminal law that defines crimes and specific punishments.

True

The Hammurabi Code, specified a number of property rights, crimes and associated punishments

True

Under America's federalist system, the central government coexists with various state and local systems.

True

When a case is distinguished, a court finds that prior cases are sufficiently dissimilar to the one under review that previous precedents do not apply.

True

void-of-vagueness principle

a constitutional principle that refers to a stature defining a crime that is so unclear that a reasonable person of at least average intelligence could not determine what the law purports to command or prohibit

personal crime

a crime committed against a person including murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery also called violent crime

property crime

a crime committed against property, including burglary, larceny. motor vehicle theft and arson

legal guilt

a decision, reaches by a court of law after appropriate due-process proceedings that defendant did what he or she is accused of doing. legal guilt is different than factual guilt

damages (actual)

a financial award in a civil suit in-tended to compensate for injuries to person or property

Punitive damages

a financial award in a civil suit that is intended to punish the defendant and/or to deter similar future misconduct. Punitive damages are monies beyond the actual damages suffered by the plaintiff

omission to act

a intentional or unintentional failure to act, which may impose criminal liability if a duty to act under the circumstances is specified by law

transferred intent

a legal construction by which an unintended act that results from intentional action undertaken in the commission of a crime may also be illegal

legal cause

a legally recognizable cause; the type of cause that is required to be demonstrated in court in order to hold an individual criminally liable for causing harm

"but for" rule

a method for determining causality that holds that "without this, that would not be" or "but for the conduct of the accused, the harm in question would not have occurred"

Model Penal Code (MPC)

a model code of criminal laws intended to standardize general provisions of criminal liability sentencing, defenses and the definitions of specific crimes between and among the states. The MPC was developed by the american law institute

motive

a persons reason for committing a crime

Tort

a private or civil wrong or injury; "the unlawful violation of private legal right other than a mere breach of contract, express or implied"

deadly weapon doctrine

a rule that empowers jury to infer a defendant's specific intent to take the life of the victim when the defendant used an item in such a manner that it is known to be capable of causing death or serious bodily injury

canon of construction

a rule that guides courts in interpreting constitution, statutes and other law

double jeopardy

a second prosecution or a second punishment or the same offense. Double jeopardy is prohibited by the 5th Amendment to the U.S. constitution

felony

a serious crime generally one punishable by death or by incarceration in a state or federal prison facility as opposed to jail

preponderance of the evidence

a standard for determining legal liability, which requires a probability of just over 50 percent that the defendant did what is claimed

specific intent

a thoughtful, conscious intention to perform a specific act in order to achieve particular result

infraction

a violation of a state statute or local ordinance punishable by a fine or other penalty, but not by incarceration. also called summary offense

strict liability crime

a violation of law for which one may incur criminal liability without fault or intention. strict liability offenses do not require mens rea

knowing behavior

action undertaken with awareness

mala prohibita

acts that are considered "wrongs" only because there is a law against them

mala in se

acts that are regarded by tradition and convention as wrong in themselves

public-order offense

an act that is willfully committed and that disturbs public peace or tranquility include are offenses such as fighting, breach of peace, disorderly conduct, vagrancy, loitering, unlawful assembly, public intoxication, obstruction public passage, and illegally carrying a weapon

actus reus

an act violation of the law; a guilty act

reckless behavior

an activity that increases the rick of harm

causation in fact

an actual link between an actors conduct and a result

principle of legality

an axiom that holds that behavior cannot be criminal if now law exists that defines it as such. Today, the principle of legality is commonly analyzed as a due-process principle

Tortfeasor

an individual business or other legally recognized entity that commits a tort

morals offense

an offense that was originally defined to protect the family related social institutions. include lewdness, indecency, sodomy, and other sex related offenses, including seduction, fornication, adultery, bigamy, pornography, obscenity, cohabitation, and prostitution

A violation of law for which one may incur criminal liability without fault or intention is known as real liability.

false

According common law, criminal attempt occurs when one person requests or encourage another to perform a criminal act.

false

An accomplice to a crime is not as criminally liable as the principal.

false

An omission to act cannot ever be criminal.

false

In some states, a person can be arrested for mere thoughts.

false

Mere preparation to commit a crime is generally sufficient to constitute the crime of attempt.

false

Ray earns his living buying drugs from Bob and then selling the drugs on the street. Ray meets with Bob for the purpose of buying some cocaine. When Ray inspects the cocaine, he decides it has been cut with too much flour and decides not to buy it. Under the dangerous proximity test, Ray cannot be found guilty of attempted possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell

false

The Latin term for motive is mens rea.

false

When a conspiracy unfolds, the ultimate act that it aims to bring about must occur for the parties to the conspiracy to be arrested.

false

ex post facto

formulated, enacted, or operating retrospectively. Literally "after the fact" as prohibited by the constitution. no punitive law may be applied to acts committed before the law was enacted and effective

reasonable doubt

in legal proceedings, an actual and substantial doubt arsing from the evidence, from the facts or circumstances shown by the evidence or from the lack of evidence. Also, that state of the case, which after the entire comparison and consideration of all the evidence, leaves the minds of the jurors in such a condition that they cannot say they feel an abiding conviction of the truth of the charge

conduct

in the criminal law, behavior and its accompany mental state

statutory law

law in the form of statutes or formal written codes made by a legislature or governing body with the power to make law

Common law

law originating from use and custom rather than from written statutes. The term refers to non-statutory customs, traditions, and precedents that help guide judicial decision making

Positive law

law that is legitimately created and enforced by governments

actual possession

possession in which one has direct physical control over the object or objects in question

mere possession

possession in which one may or may not be aware of what he or she possesses

knowing possession

possession with awareness of what one possesses

constructive possession

the ability to exercise control over property or objects, even though they are not in ones physical custody

case law

the body of previous decisions, or precedents, that has accumulated over time and to which attorneys refer when arguing cases and that judges use in deciding the merits of new cases

criminal law

the body of rules and regulations that defines and specifies punishments for offenses of a public. Nature or for wrongs committed against the state or society. Also called penal law

corpus delicti rule

the body or essence of a criminal offense that proves that the alleged crime has been committed, but not who committed the crime. in practice a principle of law that says that an out-of-court confession, unsupported by other facts, is insufficient to support a criminal conviction

adversarial system

the court system that pits the prosecution against the defense in the belief that truth can best be realized through effective debate over the merits of the opposing side

criminal liability

the degree of blameworthiness assigned to a defendant by a criminal court and the concomitant extent to which the defendant is subject to penalties prescribed by the criminal law

attendant circumstances

the facts surrounding an event

corpus delicti

the facts that show that a crime has occurred. literally, "the body of crime"

general intent

the form of intent that can be assumed from the defendants behavior. general intent refers to an actors physical conduct

Civil law

the form of the law that governs relationships between parties

Stare decisis

the legal principle that requires that courts be bound by their own earlier decisions and by those of higher courts having jurisdiction over them regarding subsequent cases on similar issues of aw and fact. the term literally means standing by decided matters

clear and convincing evidence

the level of factual proof used in civil cases involving issues of personal liberty. The standard requires greater certainty than "more probable than not" but is not as demanding as "no reasonable doubt"

degree

the level of seriousness of an offense

burden of proof

the mandate, operative in american criminal courts, that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty and that the prosecution must prove the defendants guilt beyond a reasonable doubt

Rule of law

the maxim that an orderly society must be governed by established principles and known codes that are applied uniformly and fairly to all if its members. also called supremacy of law

proximate cause

the primary or moving cause that plays a substantial part in bringing about injury or damage. it may be a first cause that sets in motion a string of event whose ultimate outcome is reasonable foreseeable

due process of law

the procedures that effectively guarantee individuals rights in the face of criminal prosecution; the due course of legal proceedings according to the rule and forms that have been established for the protection of private rights; formal adherence to fundamental rules for fair and orderly legal proceedings due process of law is constitutional guarantee

Natural law

the rules of conduct inherent in human nature and in the natural order, which are thought to be knowable through intuition, inspiration, and the exercise of reason without the need to refer to man-made laws

mens rea

the specific mental state of the defendant at the time of the crime a guilty mind

reasonable doubt standard

the standard of proof necessary for conviction in criminal trials

distinguish

to argue or to find that a rule established by an earlier appellate court decision does not apply to a case currently under consideration even though an apparent similarity exists between the cases

criminalize

to make criminal to declare an act or omission to be criminal or in violation of law making it so

A motive refers to an individual's reason for committing crime.

true

Bob goes into a bank with a loaded gun to rob it. All Ray does is wait outside to drive the getaway car. Bob and Ray share the criminal liability for the actual robbery.

true

Bob hides his heroin in the basement of his home and goes to work. While Bob is at work, he is considered in possession of the heroin.

true

In wheel conspiracies, the conspirators deal only with a ringleader and not each other.

true

The But For Rule is used in determining cause.

true

The last act test is no longer in use because it makes it practically impossible for the police to prevent a substantive crime by arresting the offender for attempt.

true

The rationale behind the Wharton rule is that where the crime requires more than one person to commit a crime the legislature presumably factored into the prescribed punishment for the offense.

true

The two basic elements of all crimes are the criminal mind (mens rea) and criminal act (actus reus).

true

Under the laws of most states, any crime defined by statute has a corresponding crime of attempt.

true