Criminal Law

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Criminal Law

• Chapter 4
• The General Principles of Criminal
  LiabilityMens Rea, Concurrence, and Causation
• Joel Samaha, 9th Ed.

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The Principle of Mens Rea

• The mental element, mental attitude or state
  of mind
• He who killswithout intent to kill should be
  acquitted, because a crime is not committed
  unless the intent to injure intervene and the
  desire and purpose distinguish evildoing
• (Bracton, 1256, quoted in Sayre, 1932, 985).
• Western civilized nations have long looked to
  the wrongdoers mind to determine both the
  propriety and the grading of punishment
• (U.s. v. Cordoba-Hincapie, 2001, 489).

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The Complexity of Mens Rea

• Mens rea must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt
• Mens rea is difficult to discover and prove in
  part due to vague and incomplete legislative
  definitions of the mental element.
• Confessions are the only direct evidence of
  mental attitude, however, indirect circumstantial
  evidence is the norm most often used.
• Culpability blameworthiness
• Intent in criminal law is more complex than the
  dictionary definition.
• There is a problem with the relationship between
  mental attitude and motive.
• Different mental attitudes might apply to each of
  the elements of a crime.

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Types of Intent

• General
• Used commonly in cases to mean the intent to
  commit any criminal act defined as the actus reus
  in a criminal statute
• Specific
• Specific Intent Crimes are characterized by these
  adjectives
• deliberate, intended, planned
• Transferred
• or Constructive
• Criminal Negligence

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General Intent

• When prohibited or commanded by law
• Often, by doing something intentionally
• Some courts define general intent such that it is
  synonymous with mens rea, and includes both
  subjective and objective faults
• Inferred from your actions or failure to act
• In Commonwealth v. Gagne, the court defined
  general intent as an unconscious action or a
  reflex

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Specific Intent

• A designated state of mind required to commit the
  particular crime
• Usually outlined in the law or statute
• For example
• With the intent to disfigure
• Mayhem
• With the intent to defraud
• Embezzlement or forgery
• With the intent to kill
• Murder
• Usually limited to attitudes with subjective
  fault (fault that requires a bad mind in the
  actor)

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Transferred Intent

• Also referred to as constructive intent
• Assumes a liability to the perpetrator for
  unintended consequences of the act
• Like what?
• A criminal justice student gets an F on his
  final, and is enraged by this. He decides to take
  out his anger on his professor by shooting him
  with a shotgun but, in the process of shooting
  his professor, he misses and hits one of his
  fellow classmates, causing his death.
• Explain the facts and opinion in People v.
  Dismone, (650 N.W.2d 436 (2002 Mich.App.).

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Criminal Negligence

• Such as failure to ensure proper care or control
  while performing an act
• Or in a culpable (wrongful) failure to perform
  a duty
• Usually with wantonness, flagrant or reckless
  disregard for the safety of others
• Examples
• Criminally negligent homicide
• Negligent endangerment of a child

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The Model Penal CodesFour Mental States

• Purpose State v. Stark, 832 P.2d 109 (Wash.App.
  1992)
• and, Commonwealth v. Barnette, 699 N.E.2d 1230
  (Mass.App. 1998)
• Knowledge State v. Jantzi, 641 P.2d 62 (Or.App.
  1982)
• Recklessness Koppersmith v. State, 742 So.2d
  206 (Ala.App. 1999)
• Negligence Koppersmith v. State

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Strict Liability

• U.S. Supreme Court upheld power of legislatures
  to create strict liability offenses to protect
  the public health and safety, e.g., unsafe
  workplaces and adulterated foods
• Must make clear imposing liability without mens
  rea
• Penalties are usually mild for strict liability
  offenses, e.g., fines not jail times

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The Principle of Concurrence

• The principle of concurrence applies to both
  crimes
• Criminal conduct crimes, and
• Bad result crimes
• So all crimes, except strict liability offenses,
  are subject to the concurrence requirement

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Concurrence

• Principle of concurrence requires
• Trigger a criminal act (actus reus)
• Criminal intent (mens rea)
• Angela hates her roommate Katie and plans to kill
  her by running her over with her Hummer but, as
  Angela is heading to run over Katie, a complete
  stranger runs Katie over with his Jeep. Angela
  runs over to Katies body is dancing around it
  gleefully.
• Concurrence here means that the criminal conduct
  has to produce the criminal harm , it cannot be a
  coincidence.

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The Principle of Causation

• Principle of causation is about attribution (also
  called imputation)
• This is when the law holds an actor accountable
  for the results of his/her conducts.
• Causation applies to bad-result crimes

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Elements of Causation

• Factual cause
• Also called but for cause of death or other
  bodily harm. But for cause means, if it were
  not for an actors conduct, the result would not
  have occurred.
• Legal cause
• Also called proximate cause of death or other
  bodily harm. Is it fair to blame the defendant
  for this harm?
• What is an intervening cause?
• What are the facts and opinion in Commonwealth v.
  McCloskey, 835 A.2d 801 (Pa.Super 2003)?

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Ignorance and Mistake of Fact

• Ignorance of the law is no defense, but mistake
  of fact is a defense
• Ignorance of the law is an absence of knowledge
  about facts or law, while mistake of the law is
  when you are wrong about them, i.e. you believe
  they are one thing, when they are really another.

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The Principle of Legality

• 3 Elements
• Rules of law express objective meanings
• Only authorized competent officials can declare
  what is objective
• Only official interpretations are legal
• Criminal laws cannot be ignored or contradicted
  by allowing defendants to plead that their
  ignorance or mistake of law negated the mental
  element of a crime.
• In other words, final interpretation is
  determined by the court.