The document defines various crimes and defenses. It discusses different classes of crimes like felonies and misdemeanors. It outlines crimes against people such as homicide, assault, and kidnapping. Crimes against property include burglary, larceny, and arson. Defenses to criminal liability are also examined, including insanity, entrapment, and justifiable use of force.

1. Chapter 5
Criminal Law
5-1

2. Definition and Classes of Crimes
• A crime
– an offense against the public at large.
• The primary objectives of criminal law are to:
– protect the public at large
– preserve harmony and stability within society
– discourage future disruptive conduct.
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3. Prosecutions and Lawsuits
• A single act can be both a crime and a tort
• The standard of proof required in a criminal case
differs from that required in a tort case
– “Beyond a reasonable doubt” vs.
– “A preponderance of evidence”
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4. Victim’s Rights
• Victim’s rights
– include notice to the victim that an offender has
been arrested
– the name of the criminal defendant, the defendant’s
eligibility for pretrial release
– the telephone number of the law enforcement
agency responsible for the defendant
– the date, time, and place of the defendant’s release
5-6

5. Federal Criminal Law
• The federal government has no express power in
the Constitution that allows it to enact criminal
law statutes or establish a national police force
• Does so by invoking powers, creatively
interpreted, given to Congress in Article I Section
8 (commerce clause)
• FBI, attorney general
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6. Classes of Crimes
• Felony
– Punishable by death or imprisonment in a federal or
a state prison for a term exceeding one year, or
sometimes by fines
– Manslaughter, armed robbery, arson
• Misdemeanor
– Less serious crime, generally punishable by fines or a
prison sentence of not more than one year
– Traffic violations and building code violations
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7. Elements of a Crime
• A Criminal Act (actus reus)
– Omissions and Refusals to Act
– Involuntary Movement or Behavior
• The Required State of Mind (mens rea)
– Purpose
– Recklessness
– Knowledge
– Negligence
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8. Criminal acts
• People v. Decina (New York, 1956)
– Man who knew he had epilepsy drove and had a
seizure, killing people on the sidewalk
– Court convicted, saying he knew of the risk when he
decided to drive—that act was voluntary
– Rule: if there is a voluntary action that makes an
involuntary action foreseeable, then satisfies
preference for voluntary action and criminal liability
lies.
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9. Involuntary acts
• People v. Newton (CA, 1970)
– Newton in altercation with police
– Police shoot Newton in abdomen
– Newton then shoots and kills police officer, but
claims no recollection of that, saying he went
unconscious after being shot in the abdomen
– Court finds unconsciousness to be a complete
defense
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10. Omissions
• To convict someone of not acting when they
should, must prove they had a legal duty to act
• Pope v State (Maryland, 1979)
– Woman took in mother and child, then watched as
mother beat infant to death
– Court found no duty to care for child because
mother was present, cannot prosecute Good
Samaritan
– Cannot punish for failure to fulfill moral obligation
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11. The Required State of Mind
Purpose
individuals intend to
cause the result that
in fact occurs
Knowledge
people act with an
awareness that a
particular result will
probably occur
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12. The Required State of Mind
Recklessness
involves a perverse
disregard of a known
risk of negative
consequences
Negligence
people fail to see the
possible negative
consequences of their
actions
Defendant not aware of
risk, but should be
Strict liability – some crimes, no means rea required
(e.g. speeding)
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13. The Matter of Motive
• Motive
– Reason for committing a crime
– May be used to strengthen a case, but not necessary
for criminal conviction
5-15

14. The Matter of Corporate Liability
• Corporations do not have mental states, let
alone mental states that can demonstrate
criminal liability.
• Respondeat superior (vicarious liability)
– courts decided that a corporation could be declared
criminally responsible if one of its employees
committed a crime while on the job, working for the
benefit of the corporation.
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15. Purposes of Punishment
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Deterrence/Prevention
Incapacitation/Restraint
Retribution
Rehabilitation
Reparation
Social Cohesion
Education
5-17

16. The Matter of Punishment
• The use of the death penalty in criminal cases
has been subject to a series of controls designed
to limit the imposition of this punishment to
those cases in which the criminal defendant
truly deserves to be put to death.
• Safeguards come in the form of aggravating and
mitigating circumstances, which must be taken
into consideration by the court at the time of
sentencing.
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17. Crimes Against People
• Homicide
– Any killing of one human by another
– 1st degree – Murder
• premeditation, cruelty, while committing a major crime
– 2nd degree – Manslaughter
• Voluntary – heat of passion, extreme states of mind,
adequate provocation, no cooling off period
• Involuntary - reckless or gross negligence
Murder in NC defined
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18. Homocide
• Commonwealth v. Carroll (Pennsylvania, 1963,
P396)
– Plaintiff convicted of 1st degree murder for shooting
wife, while she was lying in bed, after long night of
arguing and troubled marriage. Appeals on grounds
that too short a time to form intent.
– Rule- Court says that shooting twice at point blank
falls under “intent to kill;” all you need for
deliberation and premeditation is formation of intent
to kill; no time too short
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19. Homocide
• State v. Guthrie (West Virginia, 1995)
– Plaintiff, who is mentally unstable, being teased at
restaurant by coworker
– Plaintiff suddenly pulls out knife and stabs coworker,
killing him
– Court rules must be evidence that plaintiff
considered and weighed decision to kill before
fulfilling premeditation and deliberation
requirements of 1st degree murder
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20. Crimes Against People
• Battery
– Unlawful touching of another person
• Assault
– An attempt to commit a battery
• Simple – usually misdemeanor
• Aggravated – usually felony
In NC assault loosely defined to include battery
Assaults in NC
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21. Crimes Against People
• Kidnapping
– The unlawful abduction of an individual against that
person’s will
– False imprisonment + removal of victim to another
place
• Hate speech*
– Use of certain symbols, writings, and speech
intended to provoke outrage or fear on the basis of
race, religion, color, or gender
– Difficult to legislate or enforce
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22. Crimes Against Property
• Burglary
– break-in of a dwelling or other building for the purpose of
carrying out a felony
• Larceny
– taking and carrying away the personal property of another
without the right to do so
– Petty, Grand (distinctions between the two abolished in NC)
• Robbery
– The act of taking personal property, including money, from
the possession of another against that person’s will, in that
person’s presence, and under threat to do great bodily harm
or damage
5-24

23. Crimes Against Property
• Arson
– the willful and malicious act of causing the burning
of another’s property
• Extortion
– taking another’s property with consent when such
consent is coerced by threat to injure the victim’s
person, property, or reputation
– blackmail
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24. Crimes Involving Business
• Larceny by false pretenses
– The taking of someone’s money or property by
intentionally deceiving that person
– False statements must be designed to mislead and
must induce victim to rely on them
• Embezzlement
– Wrongfully taking property entrusted to one’s care
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25. Crimes Involving Business
• Bribery
– A corrupt agreement induced by an offer of reward
– Offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of something
valuable to influence official action or discharge of
public duty
• Forgery
– The false making or changing of a writing with the
intent to defraud
• Criminal simulation
– involves the alteration or falsification of an object or
a document with intent to defraud. (art, antiques)
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26. Crimes Involving Business
• Defrauding creditors
– makes it a crime to remove, hide, destroy, give away,
or transfer any person’s property with the intent to
defraud creditors.
– also criminal to hide, misrepresent, or refuse to
disclose information about the existence, amount, or
location of a person’s property
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27. Crimes Involving Business
• Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
(RICO) Act (1970)
– Conducting a legitimate business with the funds
acquired from a “pattern of racketeering activities”
can give rise to criminal liability
– Original purpose was to destroy the mafia
– Some feel RICO has been exploited to seek civil
damages
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28. Crimes Against Justice
• Bribery
– involves offering, promising, or actually giving
something of value to a public official with the goal of
influencing that official in the discharge of his public
duties
• Theft in Office
• Dereliction of Duty
– An officer’s failure to carry out his/her lawful duties
(law enforcement officers and public servants)
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29. Crimes Against Justice
• Crime of intimidation
– outlaws threats of harm to the person or property of
a public servant, party official, or witness with the
intention of coercing that individual into some
violation of his public duty
• Obstruction of justice
– to include any activity designed to prevent the
discovery, apprehension, arrest, prosecution,
conviction, or punishment of a criminal defendant.
5-31

30. Crimes Against Justice
• Resisting arrest
– interfering in the lawful arrest of a criminal
defendant
• Perjury
– making a false statement under oath
• Tampering with evidence
5-32

31. Crimes Committed with a Computer
• Cyberextortion
– Hacker gains access to the computer records of an
institution and discovers some sort of dirt on the
company
– Threatens to expose the information unless he/she is
rewarded
• Cybertrespass
– the process of gaining access to a computer with the
intent to commit a crime
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32. Crimes Committed with a Computer
• Cyberstalking
– involves targeting individuals for exploitation using
their computer connections
• Cyberspoofing
– an electronic criminal must falsely adopt the identity
of another computer user or create a false identity
on a computer Web site to commit fraud
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33. Crimes Committed with a Computer
• Cyberassualt
– can involve using social media to threaten to inflict
immediate and severe bodily harm on the target
victim
– can also mean a direct attack on a computer system
with the intent to disrupt that system.
• Cyberbullying
– involves intentional, aggressive, upsetting activities
by a single individual or a group of individuals aimed
at destroying the mental well-being of a peer.
5-35

34. Crimes Committed with a Computer
• Phishing
– involves sending out
phony e-mails that
solicit buyers and, in
the process, obtain
credit card
information, account
numbers, PINs,
account balances,
and so on.
• Spear phishing
– When the e-mail has
been customized to
such an extent that
the recipient believes
the e-mail comes
from a co-worker, a
friend, or a relative
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35. Crimes Committed with a Computer
• Smishing
– links SMS (short
message service)
texting with phishing.
• Vishing
– connects phishing to
voice messaging
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36. Crimes that Target Computers
• Cyberterrorism
– using a computer to disrupt or destroy one of the
critical elements of the nation’s electronic
infrastructure
• Identity theft
– a perpetrator steals credit card information, financial
data, access codes, passwords, or debit card
information and then passes himself or herself off as
the victim
5-38

37. Crimes that Target Computers
• Cybervandalism
– e-vandals attack a computer system so that a Web
site is completely destroyed or paralyzed to the
extent that legitimate business can no longer be
conducted on that site
• Cyber germ warfare
– criminals use viruses to attack a computer system
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38. Federal E-Crime Legislation
• The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
• The Electronic Communications Privacy Act
• The Communications Assistance for Law
Enforcement Act
• The Economic Espionage Act
• The National Stolen Property Act
• The Identity Theft and Assumption deterrence
Act
• The CAN SPAM Act
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39. The Global Cybercrisis
• Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
– handles complaints involving cybercrimes such as
hacking, trade secret infringement, identity theft,
cyberextortion, and internet fraud.
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40. Defenses to Criminal Liability
• The Insanity Defense
– Competency to Stand Trial
• Understand the nature and purpose of
charges against them
• Capable of aiding their attorneys in their
defense
5-43

41. Defenses to Criminal Liability
• Insanity Defense
– Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI)
• M’Naughten Rule
– Didn’t know nature of crime or didn’t know it was wrong
• Irresistible impulse test
– Compelled by mental state or unable to know right from wrong
• American law institute test
– Lacks substantial capacity to understand criminality or to conform
to law
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42. Defenses to Criminal Liability
• Entrapment
– If a law enforcement officer induces a law-abiding
citizen to commit a crime
– Must show that crime would not have occurred if
not for the inducement of the officer
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43. Defenses to Criminal Liability
• Justifiable Force
– Self-defense
• Must have good reason to believe they are in
serious danger
• Must show they didn’t start the altercation
• Must not use more force than necessary
– Defense of others
• Rescuer must have good reason to believe the
victim is in danger of severe injury or death
5-46

44. NC “Castle law”
• § 14-51.1. – repealed in 2011 and updated with 14-51.2
• (f) A lawful occupant within his or her home, motor vehicle, or
workplace does not have a duty to retreat from an intruder in the
circumstances described in this section.
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45. Defenses to Criminal Liability
• Justifiable Force (cont.)
– Battered spouse syndrome
• Abused spouse believes that the only way
to escape death or severe injury is to use
force against the tormentor
• Controversial
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46. Defenses to Criminal Liability
• Mistake
– The mistake must destroy one of the elements
necessary to the particular crime
– Must be based on reasonable belief
– Must destroy criminal nature of the act in the
mind of the accused
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47. Question?
What is the unlawful abduction of an individual
against that person’s will?
A. Kidnapping
B. Burglary
C. Arson
D. Robbery
5-50

48. Question?
When people act with an awareness that a
particular result will probably occur it is known
as ___________.
A. Purpose
B. Knowledge
C. Recklessness
D. Negligence
5-51

49. Question?
What is a crime punishable by death or
imprisonment in a federal or a state prison?
A. Misdemeanor
B. Felony
C. Code violation
D. Embezzlement
5-52

50. Question?
What is the false making or changing of a writing
with the intent to defraud?
A. Larceny by false pretenses
B. Embezzlement
C. Bribery
D. Forgery
5-53

51. Question?
If a law enforcement officer induces a law-abiding
citizen to commit a crime it is called
__________.
A. Insanity
B. Mistake
C. Entrapment
D. Justifiable force
5-54

52. Question?
What is a wrongdoer’s reason for committing a
crime?
A. Negligence
B. Intention
C. Purpose
D. Motive
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