HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Responsibility for
criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
and
criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
is shared between the states and the
federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
.


Parties to a crime

The parties or participants in a crime include the principal and accessory. A principal is a person directly involved in a crime. There are two types of principals: * Principal in the first degree, the person that commits the crime. * Principal in the second degree (
accomplice Under the English common law, an accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even if they take no part in the actual criminal offense. For example, in a bank robbery, the person who points the gun at the teller ...
), someone that aids, counsels, assists or encourages the first degree principal. Presence is required for a party to be considered 2nd degree, with constructive presence being sufficient. Both principals are punished equally and are equally liable for the crime the other commits. An accessory is a person who helps commit the crime without being present. Accessories are generally punished less severely than the principal. There are two types of accessory: * An accessory before the fact is a person who encourages or helps another commit a crime. Statues group principals with these accessories and punish them together. * An accessory after the fact is a person who learns of a crime and helps to conceal the crime or criminal by providing aid, comfort or shelter to help the principal avoid arrest or prosecution after the crime. An accessory after the fact must be aware of the criminal’s status and intend to hinder the arrest.


Sources of law

The federal government and all the states rely on the following.


Common law

Common law is
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
developed by judges through legal opinions, as opposed to
statutes A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
adopted through the legislative process or
regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
issued by the
executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...
. A
common law crime Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law, the related criminal law of some Commonwealth countries, and under some U.S. State laws. They are offences under the common law, developed entirely by the law courts, having no specific ...
is thus a crime which was originally defined by judges. Common law crimes no longer exist at the federal level, because of the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
's decision in ''
United States v. Hudson and Goodwin ''United States v. Hudson and Goodwin'', 11 U.S. (7 Cranch) 32 (1812), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that Congress must first enact a constitutional law criminalizing an activity, attach a penalty, and give the federal co ...
'', 11 U.S. 32 (1812). The validity of common law crimes varies at the state level. Although most states have abolished common law crimes, some have enacted "reception" statutes recognizing common law crimes when no similar statutory crime exists.


Statutes

All 50 states have their own penal codes. Therefore, for any particular crime somewhere, it would be necessary to look it up in that jurisdiction. However, statutes derive from the common law. For example, if a state's murder statute does not define "human being," that state's courts will rely on the common-law definition.


State vs. federal

The states, since they possess the police power, have the most general power to pass criminal laws in the United States. The federal government, since it can only exercise those powers granted to it by the Constitution, can only pass criminal laws which are related to the powers granted to Congress. For example, drug crimes, which comprise a large percentage of federal criminal cases, are subject to federal control because drugs are a commodity for which there is an interstate market, thus making controlled substances subject to regulation by Congress in the
Controlled Substances Act The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is the statute establishing federal government of the United States, federal drug policy of the United States, U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of ...
which was passed under the authority of the
Commerce Clause The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...
. '' Gonzales v. Raich'' affirmed Congress's power to regulate drug possession under the Controlled Substances Act under the powers granted to it by the Commerce Clause.


Model Penal Code

The
Model Penal Code The Model Penal Code (MPC) is a model act designed to stimulate and assist U.S. state legislatures to update and standardize the penal law of the United States.MPC (Foreword). The MPC was a project of the American Law Institute (ALI), and was pu ...
("MPC") was created by the
American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. ...
("ALI") in 1962. In other areas of law, the ALI created Restatements of Law, usually referred to just as Restatements. For example, there is a Restatement of Contracts and a
Restatement of Torts In American jurisprudence, the ''Restatements of the Law'' are a set of treatises on legal subjects that seek to inform judges and lawyers about general principles of common law. There are now four series of ''Restatements'', all published by the ...
. The MPC is their equivalent for criminal law. Many states have wholly or largely adopted the MPC. Others have implemented it in part, and still others have not adopted any portion of it. However, even in jurisdictions where it has not been adopted, the MPC is often cited as persuasive authority in the same way that Restatements are in other areas of law.


Theories of punishment


Principle of legality

An overarching concept in American criminal law is that people may not be punished for committing merely immoral or unethical acts. They can only be punished if that act has been announced beforehand as a crime.


Burden of proof

In the United States, the
adversarial system The adversarial system or adversary system is a legal system used in the common law countries where two advocates represent their parties' case or position before an impartial person or group of people, usually a judge or jury, who attempt to det ...
is used. The prosecution must prove each element of the alleged crime beyond a reasonable doubt for conviction.
Corpus delicti (Latin for "body of the crime"; plural: ), in Western law, is the principle that a crime must be proved to have occurred before a person can be convicted of committing that crime. For example, a person cannot be tried for larceny unless it can ...
is also required, where the principle that a crime must be proved to have occurred before a person can be convicted of committing that crime. Confession is not enough to prove that a crime has occurred.


Elements

Crimes can generally be reduced to ''actus reus'' elements and ''mens rea'' elements. ''Actus reus'' elements are elements which describe conduct. ''Mens rea'' elements are elements which identify a particular mental state.


Actus reus

The phrase "actus reus" is typically translated as "guilty act."


Voluntary act

Ordinarily, a voluntary act refers to commission. However, as discussed below, some crimes do punish failure to act. A status is not a voluntary act. For example, no law will be constitutional that makes it a crime to be ''addicted'' to illegal drugs, as opposed to ''using'' them, as happened in ''
Robinson v. California ''Robinson v. California'', 370 U.S. 660 (1962), is the first landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution was interpreted to prohibit criminalization of particular acts or conduct, as cont ...
''.370 U.S. 660 (1962)


=Omission

= Failure to do something can occasionally be criminal. For example, not paying one's taxes is criminal. Typically, the criminality of failing to act will be codified. Certain relationships create a duty to act at common law, such as spouse to spouse, parent to child, or employer to employee, for example. A person may contract to act, such as a babysitter to render aid in the event of the child in their care hurting himself. A person typically has a duty to act when he is responsible for putting the other in peril in the first place, such as through accidental injury.


Creation of reliance

A person may have a duty to act when he begins to act but then stops. This situation typically arises in the hypothetical where a person is drowning. One bystander among many starts swimming out to rescue him but simply changes his mind halfway and decides to turn around and go back to shore alone. The rationale for holding the bystander culpable is that the other bystanders did nothing because of his act. If the bystander had been the only person around, he would not be causing others not to assist, so he would not be culpable.


Social harm

Criminal law is distinguishable from tort law or contract law, for example, in that society as a whole is theoretically damaged. Obviously, there are particular victims, but society as a whole is the party responsible for the case against and, in the event of a conviction, punishment of the criminal. Social harm is that part of the crime that is sought to be avoided.


Mens rea

The phrase mens rea is typically translated as "guilty mind" and focuses on the mental state of the accused. General intent is an awareness of factors constituting the crime; including
attendant circumstances In law, attendant circumstances (sometimes external circumstances) are the facts surrounding an event. In criminal law in the United States, the definition of a given offense generally includes up to three kinds of "elements": the , or guilty co ...
. The person must be aware that he is acting in a proscribed way and be aware of a high likelihood that
attendant circumstances In law, attendant circumstances (sometimes external circumstances) are the facts surrounding an event. In criminal law in the United States, the definition of a given offense generally includes up to three kinds of "elements": the , or guilty co ...
will occur. The requisite intent may be inferred from the doing of the act. A
specific intent In criminal law, intent is a subjective state of mind () that must accompany the acts of certain crimes to constitute a violation. A more formal, generally synonymous legal term is : intent or knowledge of wrongdoing. Definitions Intent is def ...
crime requires the doing of an act coupled with specific intent or objective. Specific intent cannot be inferred from the doing of the act. The major specific intent crimes are:
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
(intent to have crime completed),
attempt An attempt to commit a crime occurs if a criminal has an intent to commit a crime and takes a substantial step toward completing the crime, but for reasons not intended by the criminal, the final resulting crime does not occur.''Criminal Law - ...
(intent to complete a crime - whether specific or not, but falling short in completing the crime),
solicitation Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, r ...
(intent to have another person commit a crime),
embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
(intent to defraud), first degree premeditated murder (premeditation), false pretenses (intent to defraud), forgery (intent to defraud),
larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engla ...
&
robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
(intent to permanently deprive other of interest in property taken),
assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
(intent to commit battery) and
burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
(intent to commit felony in dwelling). A
strict liability In criminal and civil law, strict liability is a standard of liability under which a person is legally responsible for the consequences flowing from an activity even in the absence of fault or criminal intent on the part of the defendant. ...
crime, however, does not require that a mens rea be found. Common strict liability crimes include statutory rape and sale of alcohol to minors. The MPC also addresses intent. One of its major innovations is the use of standardized
mens rea In criminal law, (; Law Latin for "guilty mind") is the mental element of a person's intention to commit a crime; or knowledge that one's action (or lack of action) would cause a crime to be committed. It is considered a necessary element ...
terms (in MPC terms, culpability) to determine levels of mental states, just as homicide is considered more severe if done intentionally rather than accidentally. These terms are (in descending order) " purposely", "knowingly," " recklessly", "
negligently Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...
", and "
strict liability In criminal and civil law, strict liability is a standard of liability under which a person is legally responsible for the consequences flowing from an activity even in the absence of fault or criminal intent on the part of the defendant. ...
". Each material element of every crime has an associated culpability state that the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt.


Causation


Actual cause

Actual cause (also called "cause-in-fact") holds that the defendant cannot be criminally liable unless it can be shown that he was the cause-in-fact of the prohibited result. In order to find a defendant guilty, a court must be able to affirmatively answer the question, "But for the defendant's conduct, would the prohibited result have occurred when it did?" There are some exceptions to the but-for test, however. For example, in a case where multiple wrongdoers "overdetermine" the harm that a victim would have experienced.


Proximate cause

The requirement of proximate cause (also called "legal" cause) restricts criminal liability to those cases where the harmful result which ensued was a foreseeable result of defendant's conduct. It is often phrased that the harmful result must be the "natural or probable" consequence of defendant's conduct.


Concurrence of actus reus and mens rea

Concurrence means the ''mens rea'' (mental state or guilty mind) coincides with the ''actus reus'' elements. X hates Y and knows that she plays soccer every July 4 at a certain park. July 4, 2010, X goes on a high hill overlooking the field that Y is playing on, and then intentionally dislodges a large boulder, and directs it towards Y intending to kill her. If it kills her, concurrence is complete. Same situation, only the boulder rolls halfway down the hill, then gets lodged on a tree. X does everything he can to dislodge the boulder, but cannot do so. He gives up. July 4, 2011, the boulder becomes dislodged in a storm (or otherwise becomes dislodged in any way other than X dislodging it with the intention of killing Y). The boulder kills Y, just as X intended one year ago. There is no concurrence, and X committed no crime.


Affirmative defenses

There are two categories of affirmative defenses: justification and excuse. Justifications differ from excuses in that a successful justification will show the defendant's conduct was not wrong, whereas a successful excuse does not show the defendant's conduct was wrong. A successful excuse shows that, while the defendant's conduct was regrettable, this particular defendant will not be subject to punishment.


Justification

Justification defenses are full defenses. Society essentially tells the actor that he did nothing wrong under the circumstances.


Self-defense or Defense of others

An accused will typically raise this
defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...
when he is defending a crime of battery or homicide. Under common law, a person may use non-deadly force to defend himself from a non-deadly attack under certain circumstances. For one, he may not be the aggressor. Moreover, he must believe his force is necessary. Furthermore, that belief must be reasonable, it cannot be a defense if defendant unreasonably but honestly believed in the necessity of his actions. In addition, the person must be facing imminent and unlawful force. Notably, the force the person uses need not be actually necessary. It need only appear so to a reasonable person. Under common law, a person may use deadly force to defend himself from a deadly attack under the same circumstances as for a non-deadly attack except that a person may not use deadly force if non-deadly force would suffice. In some jurisdictions there is a
duty to retreat In law, the duty to retreat, or requirement of safe retreat,''Criminal Law - Cases and Materials'', 7th ed. 2012, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business; John Kaplan, Robert Weisberg, Guyora Binder, /ref> is a legal requirement in some jurisdictions t ...
before using deadly force. In counties where the duty to retreat exist, a non-aggressor has the duty to retreat from a threatening situation if he can do so with complete safety.


Other justifications

Other justifications include
defense of others The right of self-defense (also called, when it applies to the defense of another, alter ego defense, defense of others, defense of a third person) is the right for people to use reasonable or defensive force, for the purpose of defending one' ...
,
defense of property The defence of property is a common method of justification used by defendants who argue that they should not be held liable for any loss and injury that they have caused because they were acting to protect their property. English law Gener ...
, law enforcement, fear of imminent harm, and
necessity Necessary or necessity may refer to: * Need ** An action somebody may feel they must do ** An important task or essential thing to do at a particular time or by a particular moment * Necessary and sufficient condition, in logic, something that is ...
. Abandonment is used as a defense where a defendant voluntarily abandons the attempt before committing the act.
Impossibility defense An impossibility defense is a criminal defense occasionally used when a defendant is accused of a criminal attempt that failed only because the crime was factually or legally impossible to commit. Factual impossibility is rarely an adequat ...
where a crime's attempt fails because it is impossible to commit. There are two types of impossibility defenses: * Factual impossibility where there is a factual error preventing commission of the crime. * Legal impossibility where the defendant completed all of his intended acts, but his acts fail to fulfill all the required in elements for the crime.


Excuse

Excuse defenses are also full defenses. However, society is not saying the actor did nothing wrong, only that it will not punish him under the circumstances. Intoxication can serve as a defense, with the law distinguishing between how voluntary and involuntary intoxication can serve as defenses. Other excuses include
duress Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...
and
insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...
.
Infancy An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
is a defense where the defendant is a minor and too young to form criminal intent.


Intoxication

Voluntary intoxication can be a defense for specific crimes (attempt, solicitation, conspiracy and so on), but not for general intent crimes (assault, battery, rape etc.). Involuntary intoxication can be a defense if you don't know you're ingesting the intoxicant like taking a prescription drug that causes unexpected intoxication and so on. However, intoxication due to peer pressure or addiction is not enough defense.


Mistake

Mistake is another defense and can be a
mistake of fact A mistake of fact may sometimes mean that, while a person has committed the physical element of an offence, because they were labouring under a mistake of fact, they never formed the mental element. This is unlike a mistake of law, which is not ...
or a
mistake of law Mistake of law is a legal principle referring to one or more errors that were made by a person in understanding how the applicable law applied to their past activity that is under analysis by a court. In jurisdictions that use the term, it is dif ...
. Mistake of Fact occurs when the defendant misunderstands a fact that negates an element of the crime. Mistake of law is the misunderstanding, incorrect application, or ignorance of the law's existence at the time. These mistakes must be honest, made in good faith, and reasonable to an ordinary person. Using mistake as a defense does not work in strict liability cases where the defendant's intent is irrelevant.


Duress

Duress is an excuse where a crime is committed because of immediate threat to life posed by another. The person using the defense must establish that a reasonable person in the same position would have also committed the crime and they had no alternative to committing the crime. Duress cannot be used as a defense in murder or if the party was responsible for getting into the situation that resulted in the threat.


Insanity defense

Insanity defense The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic psychiatric disease at the time of the cr ...
is the defense where a crime is excused due to an episodic or persistent psychiatric disease that effect legal responsibility at the time of the criminal act. There are four tests for insanity: * M'Naghten test shows that the defendant (1) did not know the nature and quality of the act or (2) the wrongfulness of the act. * Irresistible-impulse test shows that the defendant lacks the capacity for self-control and free choice because mental disease or defect. *
Durham rule A Durham rule, product test, or product defect rule is a rule in a criminal case by which a jury may determine a defendant is not guilty by reason of insanity because a criminal act was the product of a mental disease. Examples in which such rul ...
is a but-for test where the defendant is not if the unlawful act is the cause of a mental disease or defect and the defendant would not have committed the act if it was not for the disease or defect. * Model Penal Code as a result of mental disease or defect, didn't have substantial capacity to recognize the wrongfulness of the act or conform to legal conduct. *
ALI rule The ALI rule, or American Law Institute Model Penal Code rule, is a recommended rule for instructing juries how to find a defendant in a criminal trial is not guilty by reason of insanity.''Criminal Law - Cases and Materials'', 7th ed. 2012, Wol ...
shows that a person is not guilty as a result of mental disease of defect, he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. Currently the US uses the
ALI rule The ALI rule, or American Law Institute Model Penal Code rule, is a recommended rule for instructing juries how to find a defendant in a criminal trial is not guilty by reason of insanity.''Criminal Law - Cases and Materials'', 7th ed. 2012, Wol ...
to determine if for the insanity defense.


Crimes

Crimes may be merged when they are deemed to result from a single criminal act. A merger occurs when a defendant commits a single act that simultaneously fulfills the definition of two separate offenses. The
lesser Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician * Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic * Anton Lesser (born 1952), Bri ...
of the two offenses will drop out, and the defendant will only be charged with the greater offense. For example if someone commits robbery, the crime of larceny would be merged and the defendant would be charged with robbery, the greater of the two offenses.


Crimes against persons


Homicide

Only a human being can commit a homicide (as opposed to other legal persons, such as corporations). Homicide is the unlawful killing of another human being. The two types of homicide are murder and manslaughter. A person who accidentally causes a fatal car accident by losing control of an automobile on black ice and kills a child is still considered to have committed "homicide," but this is not punishable as long as it is proven that it was a truly accidental car wreck. While homicide carries a criminal connotation to the layperson, from a legal standpoint it is merely the "unlawful killing of another human being" and may not be punishable.


=Murder

= A murder is a homicide with malice aforethought, an "endangering state of mind." There are four ways to satisfy the element of malice. One is an intent to kill and is the only form of express malice. The remaining ways are implied malice. One is an intent to inflict great bodily harm. A third is a reckless disregard for the value of human life, sometimes called depraved heart. The last only applies when someone dies during the commission or attempted commission of a felony. It is often called the
felony murder rule The rule of felony murder is a legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions that broadens the crime of murder: when someone is killed (regardless of intent to kill) in the commission of a dangerous or enumerated crime (called a felony in s ...
and only requires the person to intend to commit the underlying felony. Degrees of murder did not exist under
common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
. Most states have statutorily created at least two degrees of murder. Usually, a person only commits first-degree murder when he has express malice. If he has any other type of malice, he usually commits second-degree murder. American law reformed old world, common law practices during the ages of
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
where even petty thieves were executed. American law generally categorizes the level of punishment and created lesser sentences, as opposed to the common law "one size fits all," hence the first, second, third and fourth degree murder with different level of punishment. (See voluntary manslaughter) First degree murder is proven when malice aforethought accompanies "willful, deliberate and premediation" of the criminal homicide. Since it is the harshest degree of murder in terms of sentencing and societal punishment, a first degree murder must be especially premediated. Premeditation is the time and capacity to appreciate the enormity of the evil imposed. It involves weighing the pros and cons of one's own actions, and allowing one to think calmly, rationally and thoughtfully. A planned event, with a design to maliciously murder another human being, such as a gang member planning a contract murder or a serial killer outlining the steps to kidnapping his next victim, are committing premeditated acts when, if caught and charged, usually are proven to have committed murder in the first degree. Second degree murder, however, initiated by any other crime which satisfies the general malice aforethought whereas "malice is merely implied." Second degree murder includes intention to kill the victim, but no plans to act. This include depraved heart, where an act of high risk conduct or acting in extreme recklessness is knowingly done to put the victim in danger. The Model Penal Code does not categorize murder by degrees.


=Manslaughter

=
Voluntary manslaughter Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender acted during ''the heat of passion'', under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they cannot ...
is the lesser charge of homicide, lesser than murder, for a reason that has come down by American law taken from the felony murder rule doctrine of the common law. American society has come to understand how a loss of self-control, brought about through emotional states, can push a person toward murder when it is not rationally intended. Since Henry the Eighth, common law practices were harsh whereas petty thieves were executed, as well as criminals whose motives were understood as emotionally challenging to maintain self-control. Voluntary manslaughter, although punishable, is an intentional, malicious form of homicide that involves certain elements to justify this lesser charge. The "Heat of Passion" and "Cooling off Period" are subjective justifications that are argued in court, by attorneys, based on circumstantial evidence and establishment of motives where proof of a crime may not be fully ascertained. The ideas that a person, whom upon walking into his bedroom, observes his wife having sex with another male (his lifelong rival), reacts harshly, grabs a nearby gun, and within a matter of minutes, kills both of them, is less punishable than other forms of deliberate, premeditated and willful acts of calculated murder. A person is still "hot," the heat of passion is so great that reason is dismissed and primal aggression takes over, but it was never the natural intention of the person ever—with no evidence of ever having marital problems or the like. Because he or she walked in on his partner's infidelity and kills both of them within minutes, he or she has no chance to cool off. However, the heat of passion and cooling are subjective factors. According to the law, a murder charge can become a voluntary manslaughter charge if there is proof of "legally adequate provocation," the objective test. This truly objective standard combines heat of passion and cooling off to determine them from the facts of a case. The question is, "Does the defendant have legally adequate provocation to have lost control?" In situations of infidelity described above, he does, according to America's general interpretation. (Facts of a particular case may override some of that matter, however). Insulting words alone cannot justify legally adequate provocation. Think about reasonably adequate provocation in terms of a stressful trigger to a loss of self-control. The law says insulting words, or words alone, cannot justify a trigger of criminal homicide. Your lover cannot call you a name, thereby making you justified in killing them. The legally adequate provocation must go beyond insulting words to events, situations and circumstances that surprise the defendant and trigger them to lose any sort of reasonableness without time to think through the consequences nor weigh the pros and cons. In this way, a court may establish a defendant, originally charged with second degree murder, to have been legally adequately provoked to commit the unlawful act of killing of another human being making his crime less punishable, but still punishable. Voluntary manslaughter results in a lesser charge than murder, but more than involuntary manslaughter.
Involuntary manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th c ...
is unintentional killing of a person, the law requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt of some form of malfeasance or misfeasance. Malfeasance is considered to be any dangerous, unlawful act (felony), misfeasance includes any act, even lawful, that is criminally negligent (misdemeanor).


Assault & Battery

Assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
is the act of intentional putting another person endangered of an imminent threat. This can be in the form of attempted battery or verbal threats. An assault charge is aggravated when there is the intention to murder or rape a person.
Mayhem Mayhem most commonly refers to: * Mayhem (crime), a type of crime Mayhem may also refer to: People * Monica Mayhem (born 1978), Australian pornographic actress * Jason "Mayhem" Miller, American mixed martial arts fighter * Mayhem Miller (dra ...
or malicious assault is the intentional dismemberment or disfiguring of a person. Stalking is the repeated following, threaten or harassing in ways leading to fear of harm.
Battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
is the unconsented bodily contact with another or the intentional use of force or violence against another. Battery is aggravated when using a weapon or dangerous object, when it results in disfigurement or serious physical injury. Both assault and battery classified as aggravated when directed towards a person with special status such as a law enforcement officer or elderly person.


Kidnapping & False Imprisonment

False imprisonment is the prevention of a person from leaving an area by interferes with liberty by force without authority. Kidnapping is the taking away and holding a person against their will where a person is confinement of a person unlawfully, asportation or moved of another person by force, threat, or deception. Parental kidnapping is the kidnapping of a child, violating a court order.


Sexual Crimes


=Rape

=
Rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
is the act of sexual intercourse with a person, without their consent, by force where resistance results in bodily harm or death. Rape is generally a second degree felony, except when there is bodily injury or when the person is not the companion of rapist. American rape law has transitioned common law practices which grew out of a male centric legal interpretation to the feministic view it has today. A woman once had to prove absolute resistance against her aggressor, and rape reformation laws in America did away with the Hale Warning, corroborating evidence, and the early outcry doctrine and instead focused rape law reform onto the aggressive, coercive nature of the "rapist." Marital rape law once required "forcible, unlawful and carnal knowledge," and common law once believed husbands cannot rape their wives, so these incidents, if reported at all, were never charged. Women in America have reported more rape with these times, however, only 12% of rapes are currently reported nationally out of the thousands of offenses that occur.
Rape shield law A rape shield law is a law that limits the ability to introduce evidence or cross-examine rape complainants about their past sexual behaviour. The term also refers to a law that prohibits the publication of the identity of an alleged rape vict ...
s were adopted in the 1970 and 1980s, which do not permit any evidence relating to the past sexual behavior of the victim and protects the victims character and identity. A federal rape shield law was adopted in 1994 under the
Violence Against Women Act The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law (Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, ) signed by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investig ...
. Rape can also be non-forcible where the victim in incapable of consenting in cases where the victim has a mental or emotional disability, or in statuary cases where the victim is under age, despite their consent. Non-forcible rape are strict liability crimes, where the act alone is sufficient for proof.


Crimes Against Property


Arson

Arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
is the malicious or reckless burning of property. The charge is aggravated when burning a dwelling, where the victim resides. Second degree arson is the burning of property that is uninhabited. Third degree arson is the burning of personal property.


Burglary

Burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
is the unlawful entry of a property for the purpose of committing a felony inside.


Theft

Theft in the United States is the take property at the detriment of another. The property can be constructively possessed, where property entrusted to a person and is under their control, but still retained by owner. Definitions of theft is codified in
Title 18 of the United States Code Title 18 of the United States Code is the main criminal code of the federal government of the United States. The Title deals with federal crimes and criminal procedure. In its coverage, Title 18 is similar to most U.S. state criminal codes, w ...
Chapter 31.
Larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engla ...
is the trespassory taking without consent and
asportation Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engla ...
of personal property of another intent to permanently deprive the person of possession of that property. The term property of another means a person cannot steal from himself, joint accounts, spouses, or partnerships. Larceny by trick is a crime which involves the obtainment of another's property through fraud. Robbery at common law was the trespassory taking of the property of another with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property by means of force or fear.
Robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
charges result in substantial sentences which may be up to ten years with parole. Robbery with a deadly weapon increases this sentence and depends on the present ability of the defendant during the commission of the ''res gestae'', or "the thing that happened". The precise language of this charge must be carefully reasoned to a jury panel by a trial court judge. In order for a taking to be "felonious", proof must exist beyond the defendant's ''animus firandi'', or "evil in the heart". In other words, robbery is a charge reliant on the notion of possession of property of another and the force or fear used to accomplish the transfer of possession. According to the legal standard, a sleeping man cannot be aware that his property is being stolen. Therefore, a thief cannot be charged with robbery based on the force or fear prior to the incident requirement. The transfer of property cannot be a voluntary transaction. In looking at property holding, three major distinctions are made in cases where a charge of robbery is not inexplicably obvious. "Mere custody," entitlement, and possession are the three levels of property holding and are specifically important to the precise language of the legal interpretation of what constitutes a robbery. If a person has mere custody of an object belonging to another, he or she is borrowing the object in question. If a citizen loans his vehicle to an associate to go to the grocery store, the associate must return the vehicle. If one purchases a new CD, the purchaser is entitled to the property because it becomes your own under your ownership. Possession, however, is acquiring an object of another without being entitled to it or allowed to possess it. A person charged with a robbery may have reasonably believed he or she owned the iPod, although they may have been incorrect. Possession, in terms of the legal interpretation of robbery, is 9/10 of the law. Possession, to charge robbery, must be a transfer of property acquired through force or fear. That is, a defendant must create fear through force in order to achieve the possession of the object or property in question, otherwise they may have committed another crime. A person who threatens another with future violence cannot be charged with robbery, because they did not use "force or fear", and insulting words alone cannot allow somebody to be entitled to self-defense. Therefore, a person who holds up victim with a deadly weapon, with or without present ability (bullets in the weapon that is charged and fails to meet its target-assault), and takes possession of a book the victim is holding, is committing robbery according to the law. The force or fear established by the defendant must precede the transfer of possession of the object in question. This can be said, also, as the transfer of possession must be acquired through the use of force or fear as the tool of attaining such goods in order to achieve all aspects of the legal doctrine imposed, "the felonious taking." Embezzlement is where a person entrusted with possession of the property, converted the property, deprive without permission or substantially interferes with owners rights, by one who acquired lawful possession with the intent to defraud. Embezzlement differs from larceny where the taking of property must not be trespassory. False pretenses are crimes where a false representation of material or past fact is made with the knowledge that the fact is false, with the intent to defraud to pass property title to the actor. The false representation can be made orally,in writing, or implied by action. The information that is falsely represented must be material or relate to present or past facts, they cannot be opinions or predictions. It must be proven that the defendant knew the statements made were false or reckless.


Crimes Against the State


Public morality & order


Administration


Sovereignty and Security


Inchoate crimes

An
inchoate crime An inchoate offense, preliminary crime, inchoate crime or incomplete crime is a crime of preparing for or seeking to commit another crime. The most common example of an inchoate offense is " attempt". "Inchoate offense" has been defined as the fo ...
is the crime of preparing for or seeking to commit another crime. Inchoate crimes include
attempt An attempt to commit a crime occurs if a criminal has an intent to commit a crime and takes a substantial step toward completing the crime, but for reasons not intended by the criminal, the final resulting crime does not occur.''Criminal Law - ...
,
solicitation Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, r ...
and
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
. Except for conspiracy, inchoate offenses merge into the completed offense and attempt.


Attempt

Attempt is the effort to commit a crime that goes beyond preparation and proceeds enough that a crime can be charged. To prove attempt, the person must: * intend to commit crime, must act further with intent, crime is not completed. * must take a specific action that is criminal. This include asking an individual to join in on the crime, purchasing a weapon, or planning a crime and executing the steps to complete the plan. Usually thoughts alone or mere preparation is insufficient. Several test are used to prove intent including: *
Res ipsa loquitur ''Res ipsa loquitur'' (Latin: ''"the thing speaks for itself"'') is a doctrine in the common law and Roman-Dutch law jurisdictions under which a court can infer negligence from the very nature of an accident or injury in the absence of direct evid ...
looks at crime individually and finds an act indicating the defendant has no other purpose than to commit the specific crime. * Proximity Test where the acts that are taken and the remaining acts are examined. The completed acts must be a dangerous proximity to success. * Model Penal Substantial Step where steps taken towards the commission of a crime. Conduct must only corroborate.


Solicitation

Solicitation is encourage, request, entice, or command another to commit a crime. The defendant must intend to convince another to commit the crime and the crime is completed when defendant communicate the request to another party. The other party does not need to agree with defendant's request.


Conspiracy

Conspiracy is the agreement between two or more persons and intend to commit an unlawful act. Wharton's Rule prevents the prosecution of two people for conspiracy when the offense in question can only be committed by at least two persons in crimes such as prostitution and gambling. In cases where Wharton's Rule applies, then more than two people are require for conspiracy.


See also

*
United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines The United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines are rules published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission that set out a uniform policy for Sentence (law), sentencing individuals and organizations convicted of Classes of offenses under United States f ...


References


Further reading

* {{Law of the United States