I. Three kinds of crimes against persons (in this chapter):
A. Sexual offenses
B. Bodily injury crimes
C. Personal restraint crimes
II. Sex offenses
A. The history of rape law
1. Originally, only narrowly defined rape and sodomy
a. Rape—forced heterosexual vaginal penetration of women not married to the rapist
b. Sodomy—anal intercourse between males
2. The elements of common-law rape
a. Intentional vaginal intercourse
b. Between a man with a woman not his wife
c. Achieved by force or threat of serious bodily harm
d. Without the woman’s consent
3. Victims could testify against rapists, but the woman’s credibility depended on three conditions that were difficult (if not impossible) to prove:
a. Her chastity
b. Whether she reported the rape promptly
c. Whether the rape was corroborated by other testimony
4. Force and resistance standard—focused on the woman’s consent
a. Utmost resistance standard (1600s–1950s)—victims had to prove by resistance to the utmost they didn’t consent
b. Reasonable resistance standard (1950s–1970s)—amount of required resistance depended on the circumstances of each case
5. Rape and related sex offense law reforms (1970s–1980s)
a. Changes in prosecution procedures
(1) Abolished the corroboration rule
(2) Relaxed the prompt reporting rule
(3) Banned introduction of evidence of the victim’s past sexual conduct through rape shield laws
b. Changes in the definition of rape and related sex offenses
(1) Marital rape exception (husbands can’t rape wives)
abolished in some states
(2) Consolidated criminal sexual conduct statutes
(a) All nonconsensual sexual penetrations and contacts
included
(b) Sex offenses made gender-neutral
(c) Seriousness of offense divided into several degrees, graded by
i. Penetration (more serious) and contact (less serious)
ii. Use of force (more serious)
iii. Physical injury aggravates crime
B. The elements of modern rape law
1. Rape actus reus, two parts
a. Sexual penetration, however slight
b. By force or threat of force
(1) “Intrinsic” in some jurisdictions—only the amount of physical exertion to achieve penetration in nonconsensual sex needed
(2) “Extrinsic” in some jurisdictions—some force in addition to the amount of exertion to achieve nonconsensual penetration needed
c. No force or threat required if victim is insane or tricked
2. Rape mens rea
a. English rule—specific intent to penetrate with force
b. Maine rule—strict liability with respect to intent to use force
c. Middle rule—recklessness or negligence regarding penetration by force
3. Circumstance—nonconsent by the victim
a. Formal law—state has to prove nonconsent beyond a reasonable doubt
b. Informal practice—defendants raise consent by the victim as a defense
c. Consent doesn’t have to be in writing
C. Statutory rape
1. Victim’s immaturity substitutes for the element of consent
2. Strict liability as to age in most states
3. A few states allow a defense of reasonable mistake of age
III. Bodily injury crimes
A. Battery is unwanted and unjustified offensive touching; assault is either an attempted or threatened battery
B. The elements of battery
1. Actus reus
a. Unlawful touching
b. Only unauthorized offensive touching (parents and law enforcement officers are authorized)
2. Mens rea varies as to whether it requires purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently offensive touching
C. Grading the seriousness depends on
1. The degree of injury—mere touching, minor injury, or serious injury
2. The circumstances of the touching—like injuries caused by loose dogs or drug abuse
D. The elements of assault
1. Assault requires no touching
2. Kinds:
a. Attempted battery elements—having the specific intent to commit battery and taking steps to complete it
b. Threatened battery elements—intentionally scaring the victim
3. Victim awareness
a. Not important in attempted battery because the offense focuses on the physical injury
b. Indispensable
in threatened battery because the offense focuses on fear of the victim
E. The Model assault and battery statute
1. Part of the Model Penal Code
2. Integrates, rationalizes, and grades assault and battery
3. Takes into account actus reus, mens rea, circumstance elements, and criminal harm
IV. Personal restraint crimes
A. Laws protect the fundamental right of locomotion—the right to come and go as we please
B. Kidnapping
1. Elements of common-law kidnapping:
a. Seizing, carrying away (asportation of), and confining another person
b. By force or threat of force, fraud, or deception
c. With the intent to deprive the other person of her or his liberty
2. Elements of modern kidnapping law
a. Actus reus—asportation requirement recognizes even practically no movement of the victim
b. Mens rea—the specific intent to confine, significantly restrain, or hold victims in secret without the victim’s consent
c. Aggravating circumstances include kidnapping for the purpose of
(1) Sexual invasion
(2) Obtaining a hostage
(3) Obtaining ransom
(4) Robbing the victim
(5) Murdering the victim
(6) Blackmail
(7) Terrorizing the victim
(8) Achieving political aims
3. Grading the seriousness of kidnapping
a. Simple
b. Aggravated
C. False imprisonment
1. Actus reus—keeping another person from moving freely (no asportation requirement)
2. Mens rea—having the specific intent to confine or restrain another person without his consent
I. The history of criminal homicide law
A. Since the eighteenth century, the law has recognized three kinds of homicide: justifiable, excusable, and criminal
B. Criminal homicide is the most serious of all felonies known to our law
C. Criminal homicide is divided into two categories: murder and manslaughter
II. The elements of criminal homicide
A. Actus reus—taking the life of or causing the death of another person (live human being)
1. Depends on how the law defines
a. When life begins
b. When life ends
2. Defining the beginning and end of life is controversial and differs among jurisdictions
B. Mens rea—causing the death of another
1. Purposely
2. Knowingly
3. Recklessly
4. Negligently
C. Causation—acts that set in motion a chain of events that amount to cause in fact or legal cause of the death of another
D. Criminal harm resulting in the death of another
III. Murder
A. Murder is the unlawful killing of another with malice aforethought
B. Historically, “malice aforethought” consisted of five mental states—the specific intent to do one of the following:
1. Kill another person
2. Seriously injure another person
3. Commit specified dangerous felonies
4. Forcibly resist a lawful arrest
5. Create a higher than criminally reckless risk of death or serious bodily injury (depraved-heart murder)
C. The law defines four types of murder
1. First-degree murder
a. Premeditated, deliberate killings
b. Atrocious, brutal, or cruel murders (in capital cases)
2. Second-degree murder
a. Intentional killing without premeditation
b. Killings resulting from the intent to do serious bodily injury
c. Killings resulting from the resisting of lawful arrest
d. Killings that occur during the commission of felonies
3. Felony murders—unintentional deaths that occur while committing dangerous felonies
a. Intent to commit the underlying crime satisfies the mens rea of felony murder
b. Felony murder has three goals
(1) Deter offenders
(2) Reduce violence
(3) Punish wrongdoers
c. Four states have abolished it
d. When someone besides the defendant caused the death
(1) Third-party exception prevents felony murder conviction
(2) Resisting victim exception allows felony murder conviction
4. Corporation murder
a. Corporations can legally commit murder
b. Practically, prosecutions of corporations for criminal homicide don’t exceed involuntary manslaughter charges
IV. Manslaughter
A. Can be either voluntary or involuntary
B. Elements of voluntary manslaughter
1. Actus reus—taking the life or causing the death of another person
2. Mens rea—intent to kill or cause serious bodily harm
3. Adequate provocation
a. Is a circumstance element
b. Occurs in the sudden heat of passion before there was a reasonable time for the passion to cool off
c. Caused both the passion and the killing
d. Is specified by law
(1) Fighting (mutual combat)
(2) Assault and battery
(3) Trespass
(4) Adultery (paramour rule)
e. Response
must be reasonable to ordinary people
f. Never consists of words
4. Causation—the
acts that triggered the chain of events that led to the death
5. Result—the death of another
C. Involuntary manslaughter is the killing of another person unintentionally
1. Requires the mens rea of either criminal recklessness or criminal negligence
2. Occurs during the commission of unlawful acts (like reckless or negligent driving)