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CRIMINAL LAW

CRIMINAL LAW. Ld.5, vol.2: Chapter 1 PC 832 Lecture . Constitutional Law. 1. Federal Constitution Supreme law of the land, binds all States 2. State Constitution May add rights to people but not take away any granted in the Federal 3. Federal Courts Enforce Federal laws and hear appeals

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CRIMINAL LAW

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  1. CRIMINAL LAW Ld.5, vol.2: Chapter 1PC 832 Lecture

  2. Constitutional Law • 1. Federal Constitution • Supreme law of the land, binds all States • 2. State Constitution • May add rights to people but not take away any granted in the Federal • 3. Federal Courts • Enforce Federal laws and hear appeals • 4. State Courts • Trial Courts and Appellate Courts for the State

  3. Statutory Law • 1. Written laws enacted by the Legislature. • A. All crimes are statutory in California • B If there is no statute there is no crime • If there is no punishment provides there is still no crime, • The punishments are usually listed in the same section as the crime • C. There are no ex post facto laws • D. City and County ordinances are also enforceable if they are criminal

  4. Case Law • 1. Case law is the result of Appellate Court decisions. • A. The principal in use is precedent • 1. The Court interprets the Constitution • 2. Clarifies the Statute • 2. Judicial Review • A. This limits the powers of the Legislature

  5. Nuances of Written Law • 1. Letter of the law • 2. Sprit of the Law • 3. Interpretation of the law • A. What is its relationship to other statutes • B. What was the intent of the Legislative Body • C. What is the meaning of the words.

  6. Criminal Law vs Civil Law • 1. Criminal Law deals with violations of Criminal Statutes. • A. These are crimes • B. The victim is the State of California • 2. Civil Law deals with noncriminal violations or civil wrongs. A. The purpose is redress, or to right a wrong. Under civil law, the injured party may file a lawsuit for monetary compensation or other relief, not including incarceration. These are called TORTS

  7. Tort by Omission of an act or negligence may also be a tort if it violates a legal duty omission owed to another person.

  8. Definition of a Crime • 1. A crime is a violation of a criminal statute. • A. an act committed in violation of a law forbidding it or commanding it • B. And to which is annexed upon conviction a penalty which provides the following punishments.

  9. Punishments • 1. a penalty of death, • 2. Imprisonment, fine, • 3. Removal from public office, or disqualification from public office

  10. Elements of Crime • An act or omission • In violation of a statute • For which a punishment is affixed • Basic elements Penal Code Section 20 states that "in every crime or public offense, there must be to every crime that there exists a union, or joint operation of act and intent, or criminal negligence

  11. Elements summarized • Elements of crime must be established • Act or failure to act • Required intent • Union of the two • IF THE ELEMENTS CAN’T BE PROVEN, THE CASE MUST BE DISMISSED

  12. Intent In every crime there must be a criminal act and a related intent, or criminal negligence. The key to understanding intent is to understand the way criminal act and intent are related

  13. Example A person may strike another with his fist not intending to commit great bodily injury. However, as a result of the blow, the person dies. In order to prove him guilty of murder, you must prove that he intended to kill him. Without that intent, he cannot be guilty of murder

  14. What is Intent • State of mind inferred from evidence • Type required varies with crime charged • Refers to the accused state of mind during the commission of the crime • Four types • General (Presumed) • Specific • Criminal negligence • Transferred

  15. General Intent • Accused merely intended to commit the act that the law deem illegal. When a person performs an illegal act, general intent is presumed. • Presumed intent • No showing of specific intent required • No knowledge of violating the law required • Good examples are traffic violations

  16. Specific Intent • Particular state of mind • Determination to commit the act • Cannot be presumed • Usually written into the statute • “With the intent to…”

  17. Transferred Intent • Intended act misses target and falls upon third party • When an unlawful act affects a person other than, or in addition to, the person it was intended to affect, the intent becomes transferred intent. Criminal intent in these instances is transferred from the intended victim to the unintended victim. • Intended act must be unlawful • Can be applied only if the act involved doesn’t require a different state of mind

  18. Criminal Negligence • Failure to exercise the care of a reasonable person under like situations • Becomes a substitute for intent

  19. Criminal Prosecution

  20. Crime classifications Felony P.C. 17 Theseare the most serious of crimes, punishable by death or imprisonment in a state prison or by fine or removal from office.

  21. Crime classifications Misdemeanor P.C. 19 These are less serious than felonies, and are punishable by imprisonment in a county jail, fine, or both imprisonment and fine.

  22. Crime classifications A person charged with a felony or misdemeanor is entitled to the following: • A jury or court trial • Defense by an attorney appointed at public expense.

  23. Crime classifications Infractions P.C. 19.6 Instead of a formal arrest and booking, infractions involve the issuance of a citation

  24. Crime classifications Infractions Cont. These are the least serious of crimes and are not punishable by imprisonment but by fine only. A person charged with an infraction is notentitled to the following: • A trial by jury • Defense by a public defender appointed at the public expense

  25. Crime classifications Wobbler • A wobbler is a crime that may be prosecuted in either of two crime classifications defined by statute • We treat all these as felonies

  26. Parties to a crime • Principal • P.C. 31 • Accessory • P.C. 32 • Accomplice • P.C. 1111

  27. Principals 1. All persons involved in the commission of a felony or misdemeanor. All principals are equally guilty and can be arrested and prosecuted. 2. Persons are principal parties to a crime only if there is proof that they had the required criminal intent 3. A principal need not be present during the actual commission of the crime.

  28. Principal A principal is a person who does one of the following: • Aids and abets in the commission of a crime • Advises and encourages its commission (even if not present) • Gets another drunk person to commit a crime • Gets another person to commit a crime by threats or coercion • Counseling a child under 14 to commit a crime

  29. A person aids and abets in the commission of a crime if he or she actively abetting assists, supports, promotes, encourages, strengthens, or instigates by act or advice the commission of the offense. The person who aids and abets, must have knowledge of the unlawful purpose (intent) of the actual perpetrator of the crime. While aid and abet are similar in meaning, abet implies having a guilty knowledge and felonious intent that aid does not have

  30. Accessory • After a Felony has been committed… • Knowingly harbors, conceals, or aids a principal • With intent to avoid arrest, trial, conviction, or punishment • There can only be accessories to felonies

  31. Accomplice • Co-principal who testifies against another principal • Crime partner rolls over on his buddy • An accomplice’s testimony must be supported by other known facts to be accepted by the court

  32. Feigned Accomplice • A feigned accomplice to a crime is a person who pretends to consult and accomplice with another in the planning or commission of a crime only for the purpose of discovering the perpetrator's plans and obtaining evidence. • The feigned accomplice may be acting under the direction of a law enforcement officer or on his or her own initiative. Unlike a true accomplice, the feigned accomplice has no criminal intent and is not guilty of the offense

  33. Legally incapable of committing a Crime • Certain people are presumed by the law to be legally incapable of forming the necessary intent and therefore are incapable of committing crimes.

  34. Incapable Penal Code Section 26 identifies those individuals who are presumed not persons capable of forming the designated state of mind and of committing a crime.

  35. Children under age 14 • The exception occurs if it can be shown that at the time of the crime, the juvenile knew the wrongfulness of the act. Such a finding is a legal question determined by the court, not by individual officers. Officers should record any evidence that could have a bearing on this factor • Idiots (0-24) • Acts committed under ignorance or mistaken fact • Not conscious of the act • Act committed by misfortune or accident • Life was in danger, when the crime did not involve death.

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