Subject outline

Criminal Law

13 core rule statements and a 523-line detailed rule bank, organized the way the California Bar tests them.

• Crime - Actus Reus and Mens Rea

  A crime generally requires a voluntary act or qualifying omission, the required mental state, causation where applicable, and concurrence.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Voluntary bodily act or omission despite legal duty and ability.
  2. 2Required mens rea: purpose, knowledge, recklessness, negligence, or statutory state.
  3. 3Concurrence between act and intent.
  4. 4Actual and proximate causation for result crimes.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Status alone cannot be punished. Possession requires control for enough time to terminate possession after awareness.

• Common-Law Murder

  Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Unlawful killing.
  2. 2Actual and proximate causation.
  3. 3Malice: intent to kill, intent to inflict serious bodily injury, reckless indifference/depraved heart, or felony murder.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Adequate provocation may reduce intentional murder to voluntary manslaughter.
  • •Justification or excuse defeats unlawfulness.

  California distinction

  • California separates first- and second-degree murder by statute and limits felony murder and natural-and-probable-consequences theories under current legislation.

• First-Degree Murder

  First-degree murder generally includes willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing and killings committed by specified means or during specified felonies.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Intent to kill.
  2. 2Premeditation: reflection before the act.
  3. 3Deliberation: cool weighing rather than rash impulse.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •No particular minimum time is required, but mere intent to kill does not alone prove deliberation.
  • •Voluntary intoxication may be relevant to actual formation of specific intent where legally permitted.

  California distinction

  • California Penal Code section 189 defines first-degree categories and enumerated felony murder.

• Voluntary Manslaughter

  Voluntary manslaughter is an intentional killing mitigated by adequate provocation or imperfect self-defense.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Intentional or otherwise malicious killing.
  2. 2Heat of passion: actual provocation, objectively adequate provocation, no adequate cooling, and no actual cooling; or
  3. 3Honest but unreasonable belief in need for deadly self-defense.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Initial aggressor and felony circumstances may limit imperfect self-defense.

  California distinction

  • California recognizes imperfect self-defense as negating malice but not unlawfulness.

• Felony Murder

  Felony murder imposes murder liability for a death caused during commission or attempted commission of a qualifying felony.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Qualifying inherently dangerous or enumerated felony.
  2. 2Felony independent of the homicide where merger applies.
  3. 3Death during the felony and before immediate flight ends.
  4. 4Actual and proximate causation.
  5. 5Required agency or proximate-cause approach of jurisdiction.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Merger excludes assaultive felonies that are integral to the homicide under applicable law.
  • •Liability of nonkillers may require additional intent or major-participant/reckless-indifference findings.

  California distinction

  • California now restricts murder liability for participants who were not the actual killer under Penal Code section 189(e).

• Attempt

  Attempt requires specific intent to commit the target crime and an overt act sufficiently close to completion.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Specific intent to bring about every result element.
  2. 2Substantial step strongly corroborative of criminal purpose under the MPC, or dangerous proximity under common law.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Factual impossibility is not a defense; true legal impossibility may be.
  • •Abandonment is generally not a common-law defense after attempt is complete; the MPC recognizes complete voluntary renunciation.

• Accomplice Liability

  An accomplice is liable for crimes the accomplice intentionally aids, solicits, encourages, or facilitates with the required intent.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Assistance or encouragement.
  2. 2Intent to aid the principal’s conduct.
  3. 3Required intent that the target offense be committed.
  4. 4Crime committed by principal.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Mere presence or knowledge is insufficient absent duty or intent.
  • •Withdrawal requires timely repudiation and neutralization or warning where possible.
  • •Scope of additional-crime liability depends on jurisdiction.

  California distinction

  • California has restricted natural-and-probable-consequences murder liability; analyze current statutory rules.

• Self-Defense

  Nondeadly force is justified when a person reasonably believes it necessary to prevent imminent unlawful force. Deadly force requires reasonable belief of imminent death or serious bodily harm.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Honest belief.
  2. 2Objective reasonableness.
  3. 3Imminence.
  4. 4Proportional force.
  5. 5Defendant not disqualified as aggressor unless rights restored.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Majority rule imposes no retreat duty before deadly force, though minority rules and home exceptions vary.
  • •An aggressor may regain defense after complete withdrawal communicated or sudden deadly escalation by the victim.

  California distinction

  • California generally imposes no duty to retreat and permits a person to stand ground if otherwise acting in lawful self-defense.

• Fourth Amendment Search

  A search occurs when government intrudes on a reasonable expectation of privacy or physically trespasses on protected property to obtain information.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Government conduct.
  2. 2Standing: defendant’s own reasonable privacy interest or protected property.
  3. 3Search or seizure.
  4. 4Warrant or valid exception.
  5. 5Reasonableness of scope and execution.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Private searches are excluded unless the private person acts as government agent.
  • •Open fields lack protected privacy; curtilage receives home protection.
  • •Third-party and technology doctrines require careful application.

  California distinction

  • California generally follows federal exclusionary standards in criminal cases because of Proposition 8, subject to independent state statutory protections.

• Search Warrant

  A valid warrant requires probable cause, particularity, issuance by a neutral magistrate, and reasonable execution.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Fair probability evidence or person will be found.
  2. 2Sworn facts supporting probable cause.
  3. 3Particular description of place and items/persons.
  4. 4Neutral and detached magistrate.
  5. 5Execution within scope and applicable notice rules.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Good-faith reliance may save evidence despite a defective warrant unless affidavit is knowingly/recklessly false, magistrate abandons neutrality, probable cause is entirely lacking, or warrant is facially deficient.

• Warrant Exceptions

  A warrantless search is valid only if it falls within a recognized exception.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Search incident to lawful arrest.
  2. 2Automobile exception.
  3. 3Consent.
  4. 4Exigent circumstances or emergency aid.
  5. 5Plain view.
  6. 6Stop and frisk.
  7. 7Special needs or administrative search.
  8. 8Inventory search.
  9. 9Border search.
  10. 10Other narrowly defined doctrine.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Each exception has its own predicate and scope; naming an exception without applying every requirement is insufficient.

• Miranda

  Before custodial interrogation, police must warn a suspect of silence, use of statements, counsel, and appointed counsel rights.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Custody: formal arrest or restraint comparable to arrest under objective circumstances.
  2. 2Interrogation: express questioning or functional equivalent reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response.
  3. 3Government law-enforcement questioning.
  4. 4No valid waiver or applicable exception.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •Volunteered statements are admissible.
  • •Public-safety questioning may precede warnings.
  • •Invocation of silence must be honored; unambiguous invocation of counsel triggers stronger protection against police reinitiation during custody.

  California distinction

  • California applies federal Miranda doctrine; Proposition
  • does not eliminate federal constitutional exclusion.

• Sixth Amendment Counsel

  After adversarial judicial proceedings begin, government may not deliberately elicit statements about the charged offense without counsel or valid waiver.

  Elements / Factors

  1. 1Formal charge, indictment, information, arraignment, or comparable initiation.
  2. 2Deliberate elicitation by government agent.
  3. 3Offense-specific questioning.
  4. 4No waiver.

  Exceptions / Limitations

  • •The right is offense specific under the Blockburger test.
  • •Undercover elicitation after attachment can violate the Sixth Amendment even without Miranda custody.