Crimes and Punishments

• A crime is an act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it.
• Crime punishments include death, imprisonment, fine, and removal of office.
• Disqualification to hold and enjoy any office honors is also a punishment for crime.

Levels of Crime

• Felonies are punishable by more than one year in state prison, county jail, or by death.
• Misdemeanors are punishable by up to a year in county jail.
• Infractions are punishable by fine only.

Ex Post Facto Laws

• An ex post facto law unfairly changes the legal consequences of past actions.
• Examples include increasing punishment after the crime, punishing something that wasn't a crime when it happened, removing a legal defense available at the time of the crime, and changing evidence rules to make conviction easier.
• A bill of attainder specifies and punishes a person/group without a judicial trial.

Constitutional Vagueness

• Constitutional vagueness occurs when a law doesn't clearly define prohibited conduct or encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement.
• A law cannot impose excessive bail or fines, or inflict cruel and unusual punishment.
• Criminal law must apply equally to all people.

Vindictive Prosecution

• Vindictive prosecution involves increasing charges or beginning another prosecution in retaliation for a defendant's exercising a constitutional right.
• Overcharging is a tactic to pressure defendants into pleading guilty by overwhelming them with too many charges.

People v. Valli Case Brief

• Kacey Valli appealed his conviction involving charges related to criminal conduct, contesting legal rulings made during the trial.
• The primary issue was whether the trial court made errors impacting Valli's conviction and whether his rights were violated.
• The California Court of Appeal upheld the conviction, but the decision was certified for partial publication.
• The case is significant for discussing procedural fairness and handling appeal issues within criminal law.

Charging Documents

• An indictment is used for felonies, not misdemeanors, in some counties and in federal cases.
• A complaint is used in misdemeanor and felony cases where an indictment is not used, replaced with an information if probable cause is found at the preliminary hearing.
• Information is used only in felony cases, replacing a felony complaint after a preliminary hearing.
• A citation is typically used for infractions and misdemeanors.

Arraignment and Bail

• An arraignment is a defendant's first court appearance, occurring within 48 hours of arrest if the defendant is in jail.
• It serves as a probable cause hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to hold the accused.
• Bail is for community safety and ensures defendants return to court, usually arranged during arraignment.

Preliminary Hearings and Grand Juries

• Preliminary hearings are evidentiary hearings involving the introduction of evidence.
• Prosecutors present evidence to show there's enough reason to believe the crime happened.
• Defense attorneys can challenge the prosecution's evidence.
• A grand jury is a group of individuals who gather to determine whether probable cause exists to file charges.

Joinder/Severance

• Multiple defendants charged together are usually tried together, especially if accused of the same crime from the same incident.
• A judge can order separate trials if needed for fairness.

Necessarily Included Offenses

• A defendant committing one crime necessarily commits another crime included within the first, often less serious.
• The Elements Test determines if all parts of a simple assault are included in the charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
• The Accusatory Pleading Test determines whether the facts alleged include the elements of a lesser offense.

One Act, Multiple Convictions

• If elements are part of a greater charge or if facts of the complaint can support a lesser charge, a crime is a "necessarily included offense".
• A person's single action can break more than one law, allowing multiple convictions but they can't be punished more than once for the same action.
• If crimes are "necessarily included offenses", the person cannot be convicted separately.

Discovery in Criminal Cases

• There are Dimensions both Statutory and Constitutional
• The prosecution must turn over names and addresses of witnesses intended to be called in trial, witness statements, real evidence, felony convictions of prosecution witnesses, and exculpatory evidence.
• Discovery cannot infringe upon the defendant's right against self-incrimination

Plea Bargaining and Trial by Jury

• Plea bargaining is an agreement where the defendant pleads guilty (or no contest) in exchange for the prosecution agreeing to drop/reduce charges or give a reduced sentence.
• Both defendant and prosecution have the right to a trial by jury and must agree to waive it.
• The 6th Amendment states the accused shall enjoy the right to be an impartial Jury

Trial by Jury: Voir Dire Process

• Random selection from voter registration lists, DMV records, and other public sources.
• Attorneys and judge ask jurors questions to identify biases or conflicts of interest.
• Attorneys can request removal of jurors who show clear bias.
• Each side can remove a limited number of jurors without stating a reason, however no discrimination is allowed.
• Remaining jurors are then sworn.

Speedy Trial

• A defendant has the right to have their trial happen within a set time after being charged in order to ensure justice is delivered without delay.
• The 6th amendment has been applied to the states through the Due Process portion of the 14th amendment.
• Important Questions include: Was the delay uncommonly long? was the government or the defendant more to blame for the delay? Did the defendant assert their speedy trial right? Did the defendant suffer prejudice because of the delay?

Standard of Proof

• Beyond a reasonable doubt means there is evidence beyond any doubt based on reason.
• Clear and convincing is the amount of evidence necessary to take a child away from their parents.
• Preponderance is the amount of evidence necessary to win in an automobile collision case.
• Probable cause is the amount of evidence that an officer needs to arrest someone.
• Reasonable suspicion is the amount of evidence an officer needs to frisk someone.

Actus Reus

• Most crimes consist of the "actus reus" (or bad act), the "mens rea" (or mental state), causation, and concurrence.
• Concurrence is when the bad act and culpable mental state occur at the same time, compelling the voluntary act.
• Actus Reus is either a voluntary act (or omission when there is a legal duty to act) which caused the social harm.
• An involuntary act is one the actor had no control over.
• Voluntary intoxication does not excuse one for their actions, however involuntary intoxication may be considered when determining responsibility.
• Actus Reus is the physical part of the crime consisting of a voluntary act that causes social harm.

Defining Actus Reus

• The actus reus is physical or external and consists of both the conduct and the harmful result.
• Reus is conduct that results in a certain proscribed harm, meaning that it causes an injury to the legal interest protected in that crime.
• The Failure to do something legally required is considered a culpable act.

Legal Duty to Act

• Special relationships, such as parent-child, spouse-spouse, imposes a duty to act.
• Contract relationship imposes duty to act, can be express or implied-by-law
• Creation of risk that threatens another must thereafter act to prevent subsequent harm
• Voluntary assumption of care requires one to continue assisting
• "One cannot be charged with a crime purely on the basis of having criminal thoughts"

Corpus Delicti

• The body of the crime must be shown independent of the defendant's statement.
• The point of this is to make sure the defendant is not convicted based on his words alone, and they are convicted of an actual crime.

Mens Rea

• Mens Rea means a defendant is guilty if the social harm of the offense committed with ANY blameworthy state of mind.
• Included are "general intent" where "no" mental state is defined, and specific intent.
• For crimes with no mental state defined, the prosecutor must prove a social harm was performed with a morally blameworthy state of mind.
• A special case that is reserved for crimes that permit conviction on the basis of a less culpable state of mind such as knowledge, recklessness, or negligence.
• General intent means a defendant intentionally committed the actus reus, with no other intent required.

Specific Intent

• Specific intent is a crime where the mental state is expressly set out in the definition of the crime, contains "intent", and a special mental element is held above and beyond any mental state required with respect to the actus reus of the crime.
• Definition of a crime requires the defendant had a goal of achieving in addition to the actus reus.
• Definition of the crime provides that the defendant must commit the actus reus with a particular motive or desire such as with intent to achieve or for the purpose of achieving some additional results.

Effects of Charging

• Intoxication is not a defense for general intent crimes
• for specific intent crimes, intoxication can argue a lack of intent, potentially reducing the charge.

Mental Terms

• Purposely
• Knowingly
• Recklessly
• Negligently

Criminal Negligence

• Criminal negligence features aggravated culpable or reckless conduct.
• Is such a departure from what the conduct of an ordinary prudent or careful person would be, under the same circumstances as to be incompatible with a proper regard for human life.

Recklessness

• A jury must consider how substantial and unjustifiable the risk that the actor took was, and whether the actors disregard of the risk involving a gross deviation from the standards of conduct that a law-abiding person would have observed in the actor's situation.

Proving Intent

• Intent can be inferred from the surrounding circumstances, the offenders' words, the weapon used and the force of the blow
• Revenge, protection, assisted suicide, intent is the same, motive is different.

Strict Liability

• Strict liability means no mental elements, only forbidden acts, and the guilty act alone makes out the crime.
• Includes Regulatory crimes and public welfare offenses like selling alcohol to a minor, or statutory rape

Transferred Intent and Causation

• Transferred Intent means when a defendant intends to harm one victim, but then unintentionally harms a second victim instead.
• this is only used for completed crimes
• The plaintiff must prove that there is a link between the voluntary act and the social harm.

Causation

• a person is not guilty of an offense unless she is an actual cause of the ensuing harm.
• Defendant's conduct is the actual cause-in-fact of a particular result if NOT happened BUT FOR defendant's conduct.
• Proximate Cause- Determines who or what events among those that satisfy the but-for-standard should be held accountable for the resulting harm.
• looks at whether the defendant's actions were closely enough connected to the harm to hold them legally responsible or liable.
• One is not liable if an unforeseeable event occurs in between, breaking the chain of causation

Homicide

• Homicide is the killing of a human being by another human with Malice Aforethought, however not all homicide is criminal

Types of Malice

• Intent to kill
• Intent to cause grievous bodily injury
• Depraved heart (abandoned & malignant heart)
• Felony Murder
• Provocative act murder

Penal Codes for Manslaughter

• DUI Manslaughter (Penal Code 191.5) is when a driver runs a red light while intoxicated and hits a pedestrian who dies, and the driver's intoxication and reckless driving are the actual cause of death because the accident would not have occurred without their actions
• Proximate Cause– In involuntary manslaughter, when a drunk driver speeds a boat, causing a passenger to fall into the water and drown while trying to swim, the court can rule that the driver was still the proximate cause because the drowning was a foreseeable result of the reckless boating.

Degrees of Murder

• Intent to kill murder = express malice murder
• A Depraved heart is when defendants do not intend to kill or hurt anyone but act in an extremely dangerous way that risks human life knowingly, it is implied malice.

First-Degree Murder

• § 189 creates first-degree felony murder by providing that a killing "which is committed in the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate" certain felonies is murder. FM occurs when a death happens during the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate certain felonies.
• A list of enumerated felonies include Arson, Rape, Carjacking, Robbery, Burglary, Mayhem, Kidnapping, and Train wrecking

Express Malice

• express malice is when there is manifested a deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a fellow creature
• Ex. A person plans to kill their rival and writes a note stating their intent. In this case, the deliberate intention to take a life is clearly manifested.

Implied Malice

• implied malice is when no considerable provocation appears, or when the circumstances attending the killing show an abandoned or malignant heart
• Ex. A person fires a gun into a crowded street without aiming at anyone in particular, and a bystander is killed or injured.

Manslaughter

• common law definition refers to the unlawful killing of a human being by another human being without malice, divided into Voluntary, Involuntary, and Vehicular
• A person can be guilty of involuntary manslaughter if they cause someone's death by something illegal (but not a felony), or something legal in a dangerous or careless way.

Homicide Statute

• 194 Time of Death– Common law- victim had to die within one year and one day of the wound/crime- has a rebuttable presumption that a death is non-criminal if it occurs more than three years
• if the felony is Inherently Dangerous to Human Life, does the felony merge into the homicide?
• A felony that serves as the predicate for the FMR must be independent of the homicide
• Requires that a survining perpetrator be held liable for a death

Assault and Battery

• Assault is an attempt to commit a battery, or intentionally causing a reasonable apprehension of immediate harmful or offensive contact.
• Battery is an intentional harmful or offensive contact with another.
• If an assault results in a touching, it merges into battery

Aggravated

• If a deadly weapon is used, serious bodily injury is caused, or The victim is a child, woman, or police officer

Kidnapping

• Kidnapping happens when someone uses force or fear to take, hold, or move a person against their will to another place, whether it's a different county, state, or just another part of the same county.
• There must be movement, that is a substantial distance, more than slight/trivial

Elements of Rape

• Force, violence, duress, or menace,
• Fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the person or another

Accomplice Liability

• Common Law says principals in the first degree are those who actually engage in the act that constitutes a crime, principals in the second degree are those who aid the principal while present at the crime, accessories before the fact are those who aid the principals but are not present at the crime, and accessories after the fact assisted the principal after the crime.
• A person may be guilty of a crime either directly or as one who aided and abetted the perpetrator who directly
• All persons concerned in the commission of a crime are principals.

CA Penal Code Liability

• PC §31: "All persons concerned in the commission of a crime, whether it be felony or misdemeanor, and whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, OR aid and abet in its commission, or, not being present, have advised and encouraged its commission are principals in any crime so committed."