Unit 3Unit 3

Criminal Law and Criminal ProceduresCriminal Law and Criminal ProceduresProfessor Thomas LubyProfessor Thomas Luby

FS208 Legal Aspects of Emergency ServicesFS208 Legal Aspects of Emergency Services

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Chapter 5Chapter 5Criminal LawCriminal Law

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Objectives

• Distinguish between violations of civil and criminal law, and between felonies and misdemeanors.

• Identify three elements making up a crime.• Explain when an omission can give rise to

criminal liability.• Identify the four criminal mental states.

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Objectives

• Identify elements for the following crimes:– First-degree murder, second-degree murder,

voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, battery, assault, sexual assault, rape, and child molestation

• Identify elements for the following crimes:– Larceny, robbery, obtaining money under false

pretenses, extortion, embezzlement, burglary, false imprisonment, kidnapping, RICO

– Arson

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Criminal vs. Civil Law

Criminal Law Civil Law

Brought by Government Party who has been wronged

Burden of Proof

Beyond a reasonable doubt

More likely than not

Penalty Jail, probation, fine or restitution

Money damages or a court order

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Definition of Crime

• Criminal conduct– Common law crimes– Statutory crimes

• Violation of a law is not criminal unless the law declares that it is criminal

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Reasons for Criminal Punishment

• Deterrence• Protect society from wrong-doer through

incarceration• Vindication of victim and society– Satisfies need for justice

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Felonies and Misdemeanors

• Felonies are more serious offenses– Punishable by more than one year in jail

• Misdemeanors are less serious– Punishable by one year or less in jail

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Elements

• Defined by statutes and/or case law• Crime is made up of elements– Act– Mental state– Attendant circumstances

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Act

• The act requirement can be satisfied by either an affirmative act or an omission– Act or omission must be a voluntary act– An involuntary act cannot be basis for criminal

liability

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Mental State

• Four criminal mental states (Model Penal Code)– Purposeful– Knowing– Reckless– Negligent

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Strict Liability

• Most crimes require proof of a culpable mental state– Model Penal Code definitions

• Some relatively minor crimes do not– Referred to as strict liability crimes– Common with regard to regulatory offenses

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Attendant Circumstances

• Other fact must exist• Additional facts that must be proven• Example – Convicted of assault on a uniformed officer • Officer must be in uniform

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Homicide

• Includes two basic crimes– Murder– Manslaughter

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Murder

• Killing with malice aforethought– Act: Killing or causing death– Mental state: Malice aforethought• Purposeful• Knowing• Recklessness indicating depraved heart

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Murder

• First-degree murder– Premeditated murder – Unintended death of someone during the

commission of a felony (felony murder)

• Second-degree murder– Any murder not first degree

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Manslaughter

• Voluntary manslaughter– Intentional killing in the heat of passion as a result

of severe provocation

• Involuntary manslaughter– Unintentional killing

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Battery

• Unpermitted offensive touching of another• A person can consent to being touched– Thus consent is a defense to battery charges– Consent must be knowing and voluntary– Consent may be implied

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Battery and Emergency Responders

• Medical treatment involves touching• Consent implied from the circumstances– Person calls for rescue/EMS assistance– Person does not object to treatment

• Consent may be withdrawn or limited

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Battery and Consent

• Consent induced by fraud, deceit, or misrepresentations is not valid– Example: Person pretends to be a doctor and is

allowed to examine and treat a person

• Implied consent is limited by circumstances

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Assault

• Placing another in immediate physical harm• Some jurisdictions say it is an attempted

battery that is unsuccessful• Consent rules apply to assault

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False Imprisonment

• Unlawful restraint upon a person’s freedom and ability to come and go

• Also called false arrest– Some authorities say false arrest is one type of

false imprisonment

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Kidnapping

• Use of force (or threat of force) in taking someone from one place to another

• Modern statutes – Forcibly or secretly confining someone against

their will– Forcibly carrying or sending someone out of the

state

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Rape

• Common law – Sexual intercourse without other’s consent

• Modern trend – Expanded definition of sexual assault via degrees– First-degree sexual assault– Second-degree, etc.

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Larceny

• Common law – Taking and transporting of property with intent to

permanently deprive

• From common law crime of larceny – Now a broad range of theft crimes

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Robbery

• Larceny through use of force or threatened use of force

• Taking money or other personal property– By means of force or use of fear

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Extortion

• Obtaining money or property– Requiring someone to do something they are not

legally required to do

• Threats necessary for extortion– Bodily injury, damage to property– Revealing information about the victim

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Burglary

• Most states have statutory offenses to address loopholes in common law– Breaking and entering (B&E)• Of dwelling (to cover daytime breaks)• Of other buildings• Of dwelling while possessing instruments related to

wrongful setting of fires

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Arson

• Common law definition– Willful and malicious burning of the dwelling of

another

• Common law crime had many loopholes• All states now have comprehensive arson laws

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RICO

• Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act– Illegal for a person to engage in a racketeering

activity through the use of an organization– Both civil and criminal aspects

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Summary

• Criminal law• Three types of elements• Criminal mental states• Criminal offenses

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Chapter 6Chapter 6Criminal ProcedureCriminal Procedure

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Objectives

• Define arrest, and explain the authority of a firefighter to make an arrest.

• Explain the difference between criminal and administrative search warrants.

• Identify at least six exceptions to the search warrant requirement.

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Objectives

• Explain the constitutional limitations upon a firefighter conducting a cause and origin determination as part of an investigation after a fire.

• Explain what is required to constitute an attempted crime.

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Objectives

• Define accessory before the fact, accessory after the fact, and aider and abettor.

• Define a criminal conspiracy and explain the liability of each coconspirator.

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What Is an Arrest?

• Arrest– Lawful control of one person over another– Depriving person of his or her liberty

• Arrest involves: – Authority to make an arrest– Asserting that authority to restrain the person

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Authority to Make an Arrest

• Anyone can make an arrest– Citizen’s Arrest

• Peace Officer Status– Privilege of Immunity– Firefighters• Those who don’t

– They are making a citizen’s arrest– False arrest

Personal liability

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Peace Officer Status

• Immunity Status• Who can have this privilege– Firefighters– Fire investigators– Fire Marshals/Arson Investigators– Fire Prevention

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Liability for Mistakes

• Peace officers – Privilege when making an arrest that later turns

out to be wrong– Immune from suits for false arrest and battery

• Citizens enjoy no such privileges

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Arrest Warrants

• Probable cause requires an arrest warrant • Police must apply to a judge or magistrate for

an arrest warrant

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Arrest Warrants

• Judge or magistrate– Must be satisfied that crime has been committed

and the defendant committed it

• Arrest warrant authorizes peace officer to take defendant into custody

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Tyler Case

• What was the significance of this case?

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Clifford Case

• What was the significance of this case?

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Search and Seizure

• Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by federal government

• Fourth Amendment applies to states and municipalities through the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause

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Search and Seizure

• The Exclusionary Rule– Evidence seized by an unlawful search may not be

used in court– Limited to the person whose privacy interests

were violated by the search

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Search Warrant Requirement

• Issued by a neutral magistrate• Must describe place or person to be searched

and property to be seized• Probable cause – Belief that a crime has been committed

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Warrantless Searches

• Valid warrantless searches– Vehicles– Open fields and abandoned property– Exigent circumstances

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Criminal Procedure

Chapter 6

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Fire-Scene Exception

• Initial entry by firefighters into a building to extinguish a fire – Constitutionally justified as an exigent

circumstance exception to the warrant requirement

• Once lawfully present

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Fire-Scene Exception

• Firefighters and investigators – May remain on scene without a warrant for a

reasonable period of time after the fire has been extinguished

– To conduct their investigation

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Chain of Custody

• Required for evidence to be admissible at trial• Must be able to document an unbroken chain

of custody from the moment evidence is seized until the evidence is introduced at trial

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Custodial Interrogation and Miranda Warnings

• Miranda rights• Applies to custodial interrogation• Exclusionary rule applies to information

obtained in violation of Miranda

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Accomplice Liability

• Principal– Directly involved in crime

• Accessory – Helped in planning crime

• Newer approach– Aider and abettor

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Conspiracy

• Agreement to commit a crime• Conspiring to commit a crime • All co-conspirators can be liable for crimes

committed by any of the other co-conspirators – In furtherance of the conspiracy

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Criminal Defenses

• Self-defense• Defense of others• Defense of property• Insanity• Entrapment• Statute of limitations

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Self-Defense

• Right of reasonable force to defend oneself• Can meet level of force with same level of

force– Can meet deadly force with deadly force• Pre-emptive strike not allowed beforehand• Punitive strikes not allowed afterward

• Retreat rule

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Defense of Others

• Can use reasonable force to defend another• Same rules as for self-defense– No pre-emptive strikes– No punitive strikes

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Defense of Property

• Reasonable force to protect property• Cannot resort to deadly force merely to

protect property

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Insanity Defense

• Most states consider it a defense• In some states it is a mitigating factor– Guilty but insane

• Double-edged sword– Minimizes or eliminates criminal responsibility– Can be institutionalized for life

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Entrapment

• Affirmative defense to a crime• Law enforcement personnel induced a

normally law-abiding person to commit an offense

• Some states focus on defendant’s propensity to commit such crimes

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Statute of Limitations

• How long after a crime has been committed that someone can be charged

• Key action is charged, not tried or convicted• Murder does not have statute of limitation

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Summary

• Arrests• Criminal charging• Searches and seizures• Attempted crimes• Conspiracies• Parties to a crime• Criminal defenses

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