CONTENTS Preface xiii Acknowledgments About the Author xv xvii I. CHAPTER 1 The Sources of and Limits on Criminal Law 1 A. Introduction 1 1. The Purpose of Criminal Law 1 a) Morality and Blame 2 b) The Principle of Legality and the Rule of Law 3 c) Punishment 5 1) Retribution 5 2) Deterrence 5 3) Incapacitation 6 4) Rehabilitation 6 2. The Distinctions between Crimes and Torts 6 3. Law as Constant Change 7 B. Legal Analysis 8 1. Facts 8 2. Issue 8 3. Rule 8 4. Analysis 9 5. Conclusion 9 C. The General Principles of Criminal Liability Elements of Crime 9 1. Elements as Necessary Ingredients to Crimes 9 2. Elements as Fundamental Aspects of Crime 10 v
vi Contents D. Sources of Criminal Law 10 1. Common Law Origins 10 a) Common Law s Contribution to Our Law s Substance: Common Law Crimes 11 b) Common Law s Contribution to Our Law s Structure: Stare Decisis 11 2. Statutes 12 3. Case Law 12 4. Regulations 13 5. Constitutions 14 6. The Model Penal Code 14 7. Legal Commentary 15 8. Jury Instructions 15 E. Limits on Criminal Law 16 1. Criminal Cases Must Be Proved Beyond a Reasonable Doubt 16 2. Vagueness 18 3. Ex Post Facto Laws 22 4. Bills of Attainder 23 5. Double Jeopardy 28 II. CHAPTER 2 Actus Reus or Criminal Act: The Mandatory Element for All Crime 33 A. What Is Meant by Criminal Act or Actus Reus? 33 1. Definition of Actus Reus 33 2. A Mandated Element for All Crime 34 3. Volitional Act Requirement 34 a) Involuntariness Due to Medical Condition 37 b) Involuntariness Due to Physical Injury 41 4. Failure to Act: Omission 48 a) Duty Based on Relationship 48 b) Duty Arising from Creation of Peril 53 5. Possession as an Act 59 6. Act as Status or Condition 61 III. CHAPTER 3 Mens Rea or Criminal Intent: The Necessary Element for Most Crimes 69 A. What Is Meant by Criminal Intent or Mens Rea? 69 1. Definition of Mens Rea 69 2. Concurrence with Actus Reus 71 3. Distinguishing Mens Rea from Motive 74
Contents vii 4. Transferred Intent 75 5. General and Specific Intent 77 6. Proof of Mens Rea: Direct Versus Indirect (Circumstantial) Evidence 83 7. Strict Liability Crimes 84 IV. CHAPTER 4 Causation: The Element Required for Crimes Having a Forbidden Result 93 A. What Is Meant by Causation? 93 1. Causation Definition 93 2. Requirement for Crimes Having a Forbidden Result 94 3. The Two Kinds of Cause 94 a) Factual Cause, Cause-in-Fact, or But For Cause 94 b) Proximate Cause or Legal Cause 97 V. CHAPTER 5 Crimes Against the Person and Against Life: Homicide 103 A. Murder 103 1. Unlawful Killing 104 a) Causing Death: The Timing Issue 104 1) Common Law 104 2) Today s Law 107 b) Determining What Is Death 107 1) Common Law 107 2) Today s Law 107 c) The Right to Die and Assisted Suicide 110 2. Human Being 114 a) Common Law 114 b) Modern Law 115 3. Malice Aforethought 118 a) Express Malice: Intent to Kill 119 b) Intent to Commit Serious Bodily Injury 120 c) Implied Malice: Depraved Heart Murder 121 d) The Felony Murder Rule 129 B. Degrees of Murder 131 1. List of Means or Actions 131 2. Willful, Deliberate, Premeditated 131 3. Felony Murder in First Degree 136 C. Capital Murder: Killing Meriting the Death Penalty 137
viii Contents D. Manslaughter 140 1. Voluntary 142 2. Involuntary 146 3. Vehicular 151 VI. CHAPTER 6 Crimes Against the Person: Assaultive Conduct 155 A. Battery 155 B. Assault 160 1. Common Law 160 2. Current Law 163 C. Mayhem 172 1. Common Law 172 2. Current Law 173 D. Torture 176 E. False Imprisonment 179 F. Kidnapping 182 1. Common Law 182 2. Current Law 182 G. Stalking 187 H. Criminal or Terrorist Threats 192 I. Hate Crimes 195 J. Child Abuse 203 K. Elder Abuse 206 VII. CHAPTER 7 Crimes Against Person: Sex Crimes 215 A. Rape 215 1. Common Law 215 2. Current Law 216 B. Spousal Rape 237 C. Statutory Rape or Unlawful Sexual Intercourse 240 D. Sodomy 244 1. Common Law 244 2. Current Law 245
Contents ix VIII. CHAPTER 8 Crimes Against Property 253 A. Larceny 253 1. Common Law 253 2. Current Law 254 a) Crime of Larceny 255 b) Crimes of Theft by False Pretenses and Embezzlement 257 c) Elements of Robbery, Larceny, and Theft by False Pretenses and Their Application Here 257 B. Embezzlement 260 C. Theft by False Pretences 264 D. Modern Trend to Consolidate Theft Crimes into One Offense 265 E. Robbery 266 1. Common Law 266 2. Current Law 266 3. Extortion 278 a) Common Law 278 b) Current Law 278 4. Carjacking 286 IX. CHAPTER 9 Crimes Against Habitation 297 A. Burglary 297 1. Common Law 298 2. Current Law 299 B. Arson 313 1. Common Law 313 2. Current Law 314 X. CHAPTER 10 White-Collar Crime 327 A. What Is White-Collar Crime? 327 B. Mail Fraud 329 C. Securities Violations and Insider Trading 331 D. Money Laundering 334 E. Antitrust 339 F. Identity Fraud 343 G. Environmental Crimes 346 H. Occupational Safety Crimes 348
x Contents XI. CHAPTER 11 Gang Crime 351 A. What Is a Gang? Legal Definitions 351 B. Gang Membership Defined 353 C. California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention (STEP) Act 353 D. Prosecuting Gang Crime Under the STEP Act 357 E. The Challenge of Prosecuting Gangs without Violating the Constitution 359 XII. CHAPTER 12 Controlled Substance Crimes 365 A. What Are Controlled Substances and Who Controls Them? 365 B. Possession of a Controlled Substance 370 1. Actual 370 2. Constructive 370 3. Joint 370 C. Possession for Sale 380 D. Sales, Manufacture, Distribution 382 XIII. CHAPTER 13 Crimes against the State 385 A. Treason 385 1. Common Law 385 2. Treason Law in the United States 385 B. Crimes Under the Espionage Act 394 C. Terrorism 400 XIV. CHAPTER 14 Inchoate (Incomplete) Crimes and Parties to Crimes 407 A. Attempt 407 1. Common Law 407 2. Current Law 408 a) Factual Impossibility 414 b) Legal Impossibility 414 c) Inherent Impossibility 414 3. Abandonment or Withdrawal 416 B. Conspiracy 417 1. Common Law 417 2. Current Law 417
Contents xi C. Vicarious Liability: When Is a Conspirator Criminally Liable for the Acts of His or Her Coconspirators? 430 D. Solicitation 434 E. Parties to Crime 437 1. Common Law 437 a) Principal in the First Degree 437 b) Principal in the Second Degree 437 c) Accessory before the Fact 438 d) Accessory after the Fact 438 2. Modern Analysis of Accomplice Liability 438 F. Vicarious Liability 444 XV. CHAPTER 15 Defenses: Justification 451 A. Self-Defense 452 1. Actual and Reasonable Belief in Need to Defend 453 2. Imminence of Threat 457 3. Use of Reasonable Force 460 4. To Counter an Unlawful Harm 463 5. Retreat Requirement 465 B. Defense of Others 467 C. Defense of Property 472 D. Necessity 477 E. Consent 486 XVI. CHAPTER 16 Defenses: Excuse 491 A. Insanity 491 1. Common Law M Naghten, Queen Victoria, and the Founder of England s Bobbies, Sir Robert Peel 492 2. The Modern M Naghten Rule: California s Insanity Test Under Penal Code 25(b) 494 3. The Different Definitions of Insanity 499 a) The Irresistible Impulse Test and Volition 499 b) The Federal Test 501 c) The Model Penal Code Test 501 4. Present Sanity 503 5. Post-Judgment Insanity or Mental Competence for Punishment 504 B. Diminished Capacity 506
xii Contents C. Duress 510 1. Common Law 510 2. Current Law 510 D. Intoxication 518 1. Voluntary Intoxication 518 2. Involuntary Intoxication 521 E. Infancy 528 F. Mistake 536 1. Mistake of Fact 537 a) Common Law 537 1) General Intent Crimes 537 2) Specific Intent Crimes 541 b) Model Penal Code 541 2. Mistake of Law 542 G. Accident 542 1. Common Law 542 2. Current Law 543 H. Entrapment 544 1. The Subjective Approach 544 2. The Objective Approach 548 APPENDIX I: The United States Constitution 553