Criminal Law Chapter 3: Terms
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20 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Elements of a crime | The parts of a crime that the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt, such as actus reus, mens rea, concurrence, causation, and bad result. |
| Actus Reus | The criminal act or the physical element in criminal liability. |
| Mens Rea | The "state of mind" the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt; criminal intent from an evil mind; the mental element in crime, including purpose, knowledge, recklessness, and negligence. |
| Attendant Circumstances | A "circumstance" connected to an act, an intent, and/or a result required to make an act criminal. |
| Concurrance | The requirement that actus reus must join with mens rea to produce criminal conduct or that conduct must cause a harmful result. |
| Conduct Crimes | Crimes requiring a criminal act triggered by criminal intent. |
| Bad Result Crimes | Serious crimes that include causing criminal harm in addition to the conduct itself. |
| Manifest Criminality | The requirement in law that intentions have to turn into criminal deeds to be punishable. |
| Status | Who we are as opposed to what we do; a condition that's not an action can't substitute for action as an element in crime. |
| Criminal Omissions | Two forms: (1) mere failure to act or (2) failure to intervene in order to prevent serious harm. |
| Failure to Report | One type of omission actus reus. |
| Failure to Intervene | One type of omission actus reus. |
| Legal Duty | Liability only for duties imposed by contract, statue, or "special relationships." |
| "Good Samaritan" doctrine | Doctrine that imposes a legal duty to summon aid for imperiled strangers. |
| American bystander rule | There's no legal duty to rescue or call for help to aid someone who's in danger even if helping poses no risk whatsoever to the potential rescuer. |
| Legal Fiction | Treating as a fact something that's not a fact if there's a good reason for doing so. |
| Actual Possession | Physical possessions; on the possessor's person. |
| Constructive Possession | Legal possessions or custody of an item or substance. |
| Knowing Possession | Awareness of physical possession. |
| Mere Possession | Physical possession. |
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