chapter 3 expanding the concept of crime. criminal law today, 4/e frank schmalleger, danielle e....

Chapter 3Expanding the Concept of Crime

Criminal Law Today, 4/eFrank Schmalleger, Danielle E. Hall, John Dolatowski

© 2010, 2006, 2002, 1999 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.2

OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, you should be able to• Explain the concept of corpus delicti, and describe

the corpus delicti of murder.• Distinguish between causation in fact and proximate

cause.• Describe victimless crimes, and explain why they

are sometimes called social-order crimes.• Explain the concept of felony murder, and describe

how it differs from other forms of murder.• Illustrate the nature of an ex post facto law, and

explain why our legal system does not permit the creation of ex post facto criminal laws.



CORPUS DELICTI

• The term corpus delicti literally means “body of crime.” – The term is often confused with the statutory elements of

a crime or taken literally to mean the body of a murder victim or some other physical results of criminal activity.

• The concept actually means something quite different. – One way to understand the concept of corpus delicti is to

realize that a person cannot be tried for a crime unless it can first be shown that the offense has occurred.



CORPUS DELICTI

• In other words, to establish the corpus delicti of a crime, the state has to demonstrate that a criminal law has been violated and that someone violated it.

• Hence there are only two components of the corpus delicti of a crime: – That a certain result has been produced– That a person is criminally responsible for it



CORPUS DELICTI

FIGURE 3–1 The Corpus Delicti of Crime.



ADDITIONAL PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINALITY

• Many scholars contend that the three features of crime—actus reus, mens rea, and concurrence—are sufficient to describe the essence of the legal concept of crime.

• Other scholars, however, see modern Western law as more complex.

• They argue that four additional principles are necessary to fully appreciate contemporary understandings of crime.



ADDITIONAL PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINALITY

• These principles include:– Causation– Resulting Harm – The Principle of Legality

• Ex Post Facto Laws• Bills of Attainder• Double Jeopardy• Void-for-Vagueness Principle

– Necessary Attendant Circumstances



ADDITIONAL PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINALITYCausation

FIGURE 3–2 Cause in Fact.



ADDITIONAL PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINALITYCausation

FIGURE 3–3 Proximate Cause. Although the death of the boarder was not the woman’s intended result, there is a clear chain of events leading directly to that outcome.



ADDITIONAL PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINALITYThe Principle of Legality

TABLE 3–1 Chapter Three Overview



ADDITIONAL PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINALITYNecessary Attendant Circumstances

FIGURE 3–4 Attendant Circumstances.



SUMMARY

• The term corpus delicti literally means “body of crime.” To prove the corpus delicti of a crime is to show that a crime has in fact occurred. Doing so requires the state to demonstrate that a criminal law has been violated and that someone violated it.

• The corpus delicti rule holds that a criminal conviction cannot be based solely on the uncorroborated confession or admission of an accused, that is, a confession, uncorroborated by other facts, is insufficient to show the corpus delicti of a crime and cannot support a conviction.



SUMMARY

• In addition to the three fundamental elements of crime (actus reus, mens rea, and concurrence) discussed in the last chapter, four additional principles are necessary to fully appreciate contemporary understandings of crime: (1) causation, (2) a resulting harm, (3) the principle of legality, and (4) necessary attendant circumstances.

• Causation refers to the fact that the concurrence of a guilty mind and a criminal act may produce, or cause, harm. While some statutes criminalize only conduct, others subsume the notion of concurrence under causation and specify that a causal relationship is a necessary element of a given crime.



SUMMARY

• If there is an actual link between the actor’s conduct and the resulting harm, causation in fact is said to exist. The “but for” rule is another way of determining causation. It looks to see whether some injury would not have happened but for the conduct of the accused.

• A proximate cause is a primary or moving cause that plays a substantial part in bringing about injury or damage. It may be a first cause that sets in motion a string of events whose ultimate outcome is reasonably foreseeable. A legal cause, on the other hand, is simply one that is legally significant.



SUMMARY

• While all crimes can be said to result in harm, some crimes, such as victimless crimes or public-order offenses, denote a type of criminal law violation in which the parties to the offense willfully participate. Even so, most such crimes still produce identifiable harms, although they may be more of a public than a private sort.

• The principle of legality mirrors the fact that behavior cannot be criminal if no law exists that both defines it as such and prescribes punishment for it.



SUMMARY

• The principle of legality also includes the notion that a law cannot be created tomorrow that will hold a person legally responsible for something he or she does today. Such laws are called ex post facto laws, their primary feature being that they are retroactive. Ex post facto laws are illegal under the U.S. Constitution.

• Statutes defining some crimes specify that additional elements, called attendant circumstances, must be present for a conviction to be obtained. Attendant circumstances refer to the “facts surrounding an event” and include such things as time and place. Sometimes attendant circumstances increase the degree, or level of seriousness, of an offense.

chapter 3 expanding the concept of crime. criminal law today, 4/e frank schmalleger, danielle e....

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