INGREDIENTS OF A CRIME

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INGREDIENTS OF A CRIME

• Unit 1

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Focus Question

• Consider the following acts and in each case,
  decide whether the act should be treated as a
  crime.
• Rank the acts from most serious to least serious.
  Give reasons for your decision

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Focus Question Contd

• Robert sells crack cocaine and uses the proceeds
  to support his mother, who is on welfare
• Liz pickpockets an individuals wallet containing
  50.
• Donald is a used car dealer who turns back the
  odometer on cars he sells.
• Ted robs a liquor store at gunpoint.
• Ellen leaves a store with change for a 10 bill
  after she realizes that she gave the cashier a 5
  bill.

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Focus Question Contd

1. Lilly approaches a man for the purpose of
   prostitution
2. Ming refuses to wear a helmet while riding a
   motorcycle
3. A company pollutes a river with waste from its
   auto factory
4. Marge gets drunk then hits a child while speeding
   through a school zone.
5. Burt observes his best friend shoplifting but
   does not turn him in.

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A Prohibited act.

• -in murder, the act is killing someone
• - failing to act is also a crime

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Examples

• A Prohibited Act
• If a parent lets a child die of a long illness
  without seeking medical help it can be a crime

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Criminal Intent

• You have to have a guilty mind (mens rea)
• Toughest thing to prove
• Specific Intent
• The person intended the result that happened
• General Intent
• The person knew the result would happen

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Criminal Intent

• You have to have a guilty mind
• Criminal Negligence
• An act committed unintentionally but with extreme
  lack of care
• Strict Liability
• Absolute legal responsibility for an injury
  without proof of carelessness or fault.

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Examples

• Specific Intent
• To convict John of theft, the prosecution must
  prove not only that John took Marys car, but
  also that he did not intend to return it.

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Examples

• General Intent
• John picks up a gun on New Years Eve and shoots
  it toward a crowd of people. A bullet hits Mary
  and kills her. He didnt kill her on purpose,
  but he must have known he would will someone.

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Examples

• Criminal Negligence
• John is racing down a city street when Mary, a
  pedestrian, walks out in front of his car. Mary
  is killed

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Examples

• Strict Liability
• Storing explosives in quantity will create an
  unusual and unacceptable risk in the midst of a
  large city but not in a remote rural area.

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Concurrence and Causation

• Concurrence Intent

• Causation

• The person has to intend the act at the same time
  he or she commits it.

• The act has to cause the harmful result

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Class Activity

• Break into groups of 4-5
• Read the case at your area
• Refer to the four basic elements of a crime act,
  intent, concurrence of act and intent, and
  causation
• Assign one element of a crime to each person in
  the group. Have that person say whether that
  element is present in each case, then discuss
  whether or not it is.
• When the discussion in complete, assign one case
  to each student for reporting back to the class.
  Be prepared to discuss and explain them.