Criminal Law Outline
I.Jurisdiction
a.A state acquires jurisdiction to adjudicate a crime if that state is the legal situs
i.The criminal conduct happened there;
ii.The result happened there; or
defendant
iii.For crimes involving omission, jurisdiction lies where the act should have been performed
b.Merger
i.There is no merger of crimes
1.Exceptions:
a.One who solicits another to commit a crime may not be convicted of both solicitation and the completed crime (if the solicited person does complete it) (solicitation merges into the sub
stantive offense)
b.A person who completes a crime after attempting it may not be convicted of both the attempt and the completed crime (a complete defense to attempt is that you actually carried out the crime) (attempt merges into the substantive offense)
ii.Almost all jurisdictions forbid the conviction (or at least punishment) of a criminal defendant for both a crime and its lesser-included offense, where a single criminal act is at issue (jury can chose one crime or the other to convict on).
iii.Conspiracy does not merge with the substance offense (you can be convicted of conspiring to do something and actually doing it)
iv.Never merge any crimes that have different victims
II.Elements of a Crime
a.Physical Act (any voluntary bodily movement or failure to act under circumstances imposing a legal duty to act)
i.An act performed while being pushed, while in a reflexive or convulsive state, or while unconscious or asleep is not voluntary (does not include falling asleep while driving)
ii.Omission (failure to act when a legal duty imposes action)
1.Duty by statute (e.g., requirement you file tax returns)
2.Duty by contract (e.g., a life guard or nurse; employment contract)
3.Duty brought on by the relationship between the parties (e.g., parents have a duty to protect their children, spouses have a duty to protect each other)
4.Duty brought on by voluntarily assuming a duty of care towards someone and then failing to adequately perform it (e.g., saying you will save a person who is drowning in a pool, but then changing your mind when you discover who the victim is)
5.Duty brought on by the fact that your conduct created the peril (e.g., you push someone into a swimming pool and they cannot swim)
b.Mental State
i.Specific Intent Crimes (qualify for additional defenses not available for other kinds of crimes)
1.Solicitation (intent to have the person solicited commit the crime)
a.Crime is complete when you ask someone to commit a crime
i.If the person agrees to commit the crime, it becomes conspiracy and the two crimes merge so only conspiracy is left.
b.It is not solicitation to request one person to commit a crime where the request is communicated in such a way that another, unintended person receives the message and decides to act upon it and commit the same crime (since the solicitor did not intend for the other, unintended person to receive the message and carry out the crime, there can be no liability for solicitation as to that unintended person)
i.Some courts hold that where the defendant’s message never reaches the target recipient, there has only been an attempted solicitation.  Other courts have held, however, that the solicitation is complete when the defendant dispatches the message, even if it never reaches its intended recipient
2.Conspiracy (intent to have the target crime completed)
a.Elements:
i.An intent to agree by at least “two guilty minds”;
ii.An agreement;
1.Does not have to be express or in writing
2.Various people can be in a conspiracy even if they don’t know each other or interact with each other (but they have to at least be aware of the other’s participation)
iii.To achieve an unlawful objective   
1.It is not unlawful to sneak into your own home and take something
2.The conspirators must have the same criminal intent as is necessary for conviction of the target offense
a.If one party did not intend to steal because he believed he was trying to help another party retrieve his rightfully owned property, he is not guilty of conspiracy to steal
b.A feigned conspirator (one who merely pretends to go along with the illegal objective, but actually alerts the police to thwart the conspiracy) lacks the specific intent required for a conspirator
iv.An overt act in furtherance of the agreement (under the majority rule; not required in minority rule or common law rule)
1.Any little act will do (even just showing up)
b.Each conspirator is liable for all of the crimes of co-conspirators if those crimes were committed in furtherance of the conspiracy and were foreseeable
c.Impossibility is no defense
d.Withdrawal from the conspiracy, even if adequate, cannot release a defendant from the conspiracy charge (but it can release him from liability for the other co-conspirators’ subsequent crimes)

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