Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

Criminal Law

Terms in this set (92)

Actus Reus
Actus reus refers to the overt act.
Mens Rea
Mens rea refers to a guilty mind or wrongful intent.
Malum in Se
Malum in se refers to a wrong in itself, in other words, something naturally evil.
Malum Prohibitum
Malum prohibitum refers to something made wrong by legislation.
Felony
A felony, in most jurisdictions, is a crime that is punishable by death or by a sentence of more than one year even though the sentence actually imposed is one yearor less. However, in some states, a crime is a felony if the sentence is to be served in a
state prison, as opposed to a county or city jail.
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is any crime that is not felony.
The Corpus Delicti
The corpus delicti is the body of the crime, meaning the prima facie case or elements of the crime. Generally, the term embodies both the obvious evidence of a crime and the logical conclusion based upon that evidence that the elements of a crime have been committed.
Intended Results Doctrine
The doctrine holds that if a person causes events to come about which obtain his or her desired result, then that person's actions are still the proximate cause of the result even if an intervening act was independent and unforeseeable. This doctrine therefore states an exception to the otherwise applied rule of proximate cause.
Doctrine of Contributory Causes
The Doctrine holds that when more than one cause brings about the result, then both are equally responsible.
1. More than one cause
2. Both are equally responsible
Homicide
Homicide is the killing of one human being by another human being.
Murder
Murder is a homicide committed with malice aforethought.
First Degree Murder
First degree murder is murder committed by poison; torture; lying in wait; or other willful, deliberate and premeditated means; or murder that results from application of the Felony Murder Rule.
Second Degree Murder
Second degree murder is all murders which are not first degree murder, in other words, those homicides committed with malice aforethought but which do not meet the requirements for murder in the first degree.
Manslaughter
The unjustifiable, inexcusable, and intentional killing of a human being without deliberation, premeditation, and malice. The unlawful killing of a human being without any deliberation, which may be involuntary, in the commission of a lawful act without due caution and circumspection.
Voluntary Manslaughter
A killing that would otherwise be murder but that was committed in response to adequate provocation is voluntary manslaughter.

The elements of voluntary manslaughter are:
a) Reasonable provocation
b) The defendant was actually provoked
c) Absence of adequate cooling period
d) No actual cooling off
Sets with similar terms