WhatisaCrimePPT-1.pptx

DO NOW • 1. What is a crime? • 2. Should you be charged with a crime if you see someone being robbed and you fail to do anything about it? Why or why not? W H AT I S A CRIME? C R I M I N A L M R . J U S T I C E L E M M O N S I OBJECTIVE • I will demonstrate my understanding of what constitute...

DO NOW • 1. What is a crime? • 2. Should you be charged with a crime if you see someone being robbed and you fail to do anything about it? Why or why not? W H AT I S A CRIME? C R I M I N A L M R . J U S T I C E L E M M O N S I OBJECTIVE • I will demonstrate my understanding of what constitutes a crime by researching and identifying the elements of an actual crime by the end of class. AGENDA • Opening • What is a Crime? • Elements of a Crime • Activity • Closing W H AT I S A C R I M E ? • A crime is an illegal action or activity for which a person can be punished by law. W H AT I S A C R I M E ? • Several conditions must be present before someone’s behavior is considered criminal. Those conditions are: • Must violate a law • Actus Reus (the guilty act) • Causation (the behavior must cause harm) • Mens Rea (the guilty mind) • Concurrence (actus reus and mens rea must occur together) W H O D E C I D E S W H AT I S A CRIME? • Each state decides which behaviors are criminal. Because of this, each state has their own criminal code. In Tennessee, we have the Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA). Congress also has their own U.S. Code for federal crimes. Therefore, there are crimes on both the state and federal level. AGENDA • Opening • What is a Crime? • Elements of a Crime • Activity • Closing ACTUS REUS • Actus Reus = the guilty act • Means the physical act of committing a crime. • In most cases, the person must take the action of committing the crime before they can be charged with a crime. • Actus reus can also be proven by someone omitting (not doing) an action. For example, not paying your taxes is a crime. • This action must be voluntary – it cannot be forced by another person or circumstance. C A U S AT I O N • Was the crime a direct result of the actions of the person? • For example, if I hit someone in a fight and they have a heart attack and die, did my actions of the fight cause them to have the heart attack and die? Or is there some other factor? C A U S AT I O N • There are two types of causation. Factual causation and Legal causation. • Factual Causation – a suspect shoots and kills their victim. The victim dies directly because the person shot them. • This is called the “but for” causation. The victim would not have died but for the actions of the suspect. C A U S AT I O N • Legal Causation – a person’s actions were an operating and substantial cause of the harm to the victim. They have started the chain of events that leads to harm. For example, if a person shoots a victim and they do not die right away, but they die at the hospital after being operated on, the person can still be charged with their murder. Because they started the chain of events that lead to the victim being operated on, which led to their death. MENS REA • Mens Rea = the guilty mind • This occurs when the person intended to commit the crime. • The person also must know that committing the crime was wrong. • Being negligent and/or reckless also proves mens rea in some crimes. CONCURRENCE • Actus Reus and Mens Rea must both occur at the same time for a person to commit a crime. • There must be the guilty act along with the guilty mind. • In other words, a person must act with intent (or negligence or recklessness) to commit a crime. G O O D S A M A R I TA N L A W EXAMPLE • Should a person be charged with a crime for not acting to help someone in need? Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPnK0NCn_MQ AGENDA • Opening • What is a Crime? • Elements of a Crime • Activity • Closing ACTIVITY • Individually complete the following (we will share these out today): • 1. Select a specific crime. • 2. Look that crime up in the TCA (identify the website you used). • 3. Identify the TCA Code. • 4. Identify the elements of that crime (most crimes have multiple parts that must be proven before a person can be convicted of that crime). • 5. Identify the level of that crime (misdemeanor or felony). AGENDA • Opening • What is a Crime? • Elements of a Crime • Activity • Closing OBJECTIVE • I have demonstrated my understanding of what constitutes a crime by researching and identifying the elements of an actual crime by the end of class. EXIT TICKET • 1. In your own words, define and describe actus reus. • 2. In your own words, define and describe mens rea. • 3. Why does the prosecutor have to prove all elements of a crime?