Chapter 6 Lessons in Criminal Law Vocabulary Absolute Exemption under no condition can the state prosecute a husband for sexual battery upon his wife Actus Rea pertains to the elements or physical acts that define a particular crime Aggravated Assault assault in the form of a weapon and results in a felony Aggravated Battery occurs when the assailant uses a weapon or an item as a weapon and results in serious bodily harm Armed Robbery occurs when the crook uses a firearm or some other weapon to carry out his stealthy deed Assault occurs when one person threatens to hurt another person two other elements must be present the person making the threat must be able to carry out his or her intentions and the assailant must place the victim in genuine fear for his or her well being Attempt the failure to finish the act three elements are involved the person must intend to perpetrate an offense the suspect must do something other than mere planning to carry out the illegal activity and the actor somehow becomes thwarted or is unable to steer the actions toward a completion Battery involves the intentional touching or striking of a person against that person s will and the offender must also intend to injure the victim Burglary it involves a trespass along with the intent to commit another crime usually that other crime is a theft Child Stealing the unauthorized removal of a minor from the custody of the child s natural parents or legally appointed guardians Conspiracy an agreement or pact between two or more persons concerning some unlawful activity the agreement may deal with the actual commission of a crime the planning behind the enactment of a crime or any other form of assistance that helps to facilitate a crime Corpus Delicti considered the body of the crime and are what all criminal acts consist of the body of a crime is two parts called the mens rea and actus rea Criminal Mischief refers to the intentional destruction of another person s property usually this offense is a misdemeanor but can be upgraded to a felony if the damage exceeds a predetermined amount Curtilage refers to the immediate living area surrounding a dwelling Deliberation means that the person has thought over the consequences and has still decided to kill the victim Elements refers to actions that constitute a particular crime Embezzlement the fraudulent conversion of someone else s property Equivocality Approach if the reasonable response is that a particular crime is about happen than an attempt to commit that crime is taking place Excusable Homicide a type of lawful homicide it refers to a death which results from an accident or sheer misfortune False Imprisonment means that the suspect forcibly detains the victim against his or her will but does not relocate the victim to another spot Felony a serious crime punishable by more than one year imprisonment Felony Murder Rule means that if a person dies during the course of a felony that is dangerous to life the suspect is responsible for that death such a death falls into the first degree category First Degree Murder involves malice aforethought deliberation and premeditation Grand Theft is the taking of property over a set figure amount of money Heat of Passion a temporary loss of control along with the desire to injure the other party the must be a state of emotional imbalance this upheaval must be so distressing that it causes the person to lose his or her self control Homicide the killing of one human being by another Involuntary Manslaughter a catchall either negligence or recklessness can produce this type of homicide Justifiable Homicide a type of lawful homicide involves the use of lethal force to prevent serious injury or death to another or to oneself Kidnapping involves the unlawful restriction of a person s ability to move about freely and relocate to another place Larceny involves taking using or depriving a person of some property either temporarily or permanently without that person s permission Malice Aforethought the intent to commit a felony or to cause death or serious harm Manslaughter an unlawful murder characterized by a lack of premeditation also view as an intermediate crime Marital Exemption common law does not recognize a husband of being capable or raping his own wife Mens Rea actually means the guilty mind and refers to the mental state of the suspect one year Misdemeanor a minor crime that carries a maximum confinement of up to Murder a criminal homicide is a murder when it is committed purposely or knowingly or it is committed recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life Negligence behavior that exposes others unnecessarily to the risk of death or serious bodily injury Partial Exemption if the two parties are in the process of a separation or a divorce a prosecution might be feasible Petty Theft involves taking property valued at less than some statutorily predetermined amount Premeditation implies that the person planned to carry out the killing Probable Cause defined as the situation where the facts and circumstances within the arresting officers knowledge and of which they had reasonably trustworthy information are sufficient in themselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that an offense has been or is being committed Probable Desistance Approach what this idea means is that the crime would be a success except for some extraordinary intervention Proximity Test means that a crime would have been successful if the suspect had completed this last essential step the distinction here is the division of preparation from perpetration Protective Custody another option for an officer instead of arresting someone they can take them into protective custody for safety reasons if they are dangerous to themselves others or property Rape the victim had to resist the attacker to her utmost ability the women would have to incur bruises and physical injuries Reaction of a Reasonable Person a reasonable person does not normally try to kill somebody else and moreover the law does not allow a reasonable person who becomes so provoked or outraged to choose homicide as a deliberate strategy Retail Theft a special category that has a relaxed rules of arrest also includes shoplifting Robbery refers to the unlawful taking of money or property from a person through force violence or fear of harm involves theft directly from a person coupled with either an assault or battery Sexual Battery
View Full Document
Unlocking...