Chapter 4 worksheet PDF

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Chapter 4 Worksheet...

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Introduction to Criminal Justice Module 4 Worksheet Marisa Clifton Ms. Hodge CJC-111-80 14 September 2016 Key terms: 1. Actus reus 

Specific act required to convict a person for specific crime

2. American law Institute Rule 

Standard for insanity that asks whether the defendant lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of the act or conform to the law

3. Case law 

Decisions judges have made in previous court cases

4. Civil law 

System of laws sometimes known as the Roman system used in many countries that do not use the common law system



Noncriminal law or law that concerns disputes between individual parties

5. Common law 

Legal system created in England after the Norman Conquest and still used in the United States today

6. Consent 

Defense against criminal liability because the victim actually gave the defendant permission to engage in the prohibited acts

7. Constitution 

Document that specifies the components of a government, the duties of each component, and the limits of their power

8. Corpus delicti 

“Body of the Crime”/ the specific elements that must be provided to convict someone of a specific offense

9. Criminal intent



Degree to which a defendant must have intended his or her actions or the consequences of those actions

10. Criminal law 

Body of laws in which people are punished by the government for specific prohibited actions

11. Damages 

Payments that a defendant must make to a winning plaintiff in a civil lawsuit to compensate a plaintiff for the injuries or costs that the defendants actions have caused

12. Defendant 

Person against whom criminal charges or a civil lawsuit are filed

13. Double jeopardy 

Fifth amendment right that protects anyone from being tried twice for the same offense

14. Duress 

Defense in which the defendant claims that he or she was forced or coerced into committing a crime

15. Durham Rule 

Standard for insanity that asks whether the defendant’s conduct was the product of a mental disease or defect

16. Entrapment 

Situation in which law enforcement officers or agents trap or trick a person into committing a crime that the person would not have otherwise committed

17. Felony 

Serious criminal offense that brings a potential punishment of a year or more in state or federal prison

18. Guilty but mentally ill 

Verdict for a person recognized to be mentally ill but still considered criminally responsible for the crime

19. Hammurabi’s Code 

Earliest known written laws which were set down by Babylonian King Hammurabi. The core of the code was the principles that violators should suffer punishment equal to their offense.

20. Inchoate crimes



Crimes that have been begun but not yet completed

21. Infancy 

Defense that sometimes protects very young offenders from criminal liability because they do not understand the consequences of their actions

22. Infraction 

Minor violation of a local ordinance or state law that brings a potential punishment of fines

23. Insanity 

Defense in which defendant admits committing the criminal act but claims not to be culpable due to mental illness

24. Irresistible impulse test 

Standard for insanity that asks whether the defendant had a mental disease or defect as result of which the defendant was unable to control his or her behavior

25. Laws 

Formal rules of conduct sanctioned by the state

26. MnNaughtan Rule 

Standard for insanity that asks whether the defendant was unable to know what he or she was doing or to distinguish right from wrong

27. Mens rea 

Level of criminal intent or the mental state usually required to convict a person of a criminal act

28. Misdemeanor 

Criminal offense that is punished by fines or a maximum of a year in county/city jail

29. Model Penal Code 

Suggested code of criminal law drafted by the American Law Institute and used to guide the states in modernizing their laws

30. Necessity 

Defense in which the defendant must demonstrate that he or she had to commit the crime to avoid more severe consequences

31. Not guilty by reason of insanity 

Verdict in which the jury determines that the defendant is not criminally culpable due to mental illness

32. Ordinances 

Laws enacted by local governments such as cities and counties

33. Plaintiff 

Party who initiates the lawsuits in a civil case

34. Precedent 

Previous court decisions that have binding authority on subsequent cases

35. Restitution 

In a criminal case, the money a defendant must pay a victim to compensate the victim for damages

36. Rule of law 

Guiding principle of the U.S. legal system which states that no single person is more powerful than the law

37. Statutes 

Laws enacted by state legislatures or by Congress

38. Strict liability offenses 

Crimes that have no mens rea requirement; person who commits the requisite actus reus may be convicted of the offense regardless of intent

39. Torts 

Civil disputes in which one party sues another for the damages that the defendant’s actions have caused

Review Questions: 1. Explain the rule of law. 

Rule of law is where the only way a person can be punished is if there is a written law created by an official that prohibits a certain act. The rule of law as states that no one is over the law including government officials. This protects from people getting punished without breaking the law just because an official wants them to be punished.

2. List and explain the modern sources of where we get our laws. 

Constitution- The U.S. Constitution is where the federal laws that American citizens have to live by come from. This tells the components of the government, what their duties are, and how their power is limited.



Statutes- Statutes are laws that are written by the inhabitants or legislatures of the state that the state’s citizens must follow.



Ordinances- Ordinances are the written laws of a county or a city that its inhabitants have to follow.



Model Penal Code- This is a code put together by the American Law Institute that helps guide the states into setting up and modernizing their laws.

3. Compare and contrast civil and criminal law and give an example of in individual involved in a criminal matter and a civil matter. 

Civil law is the law that concerns disputes between two individuals. This is where a plaintiff can bring a lawsuit against another person which is called the defendant. The plaintiff could be awarded damages, which are payments the defendant pays the plaintiff. An example of civil law is when a person who owns a house that rents it out takes the renters to court hoping for compensation after they have destroyed the house. This is not a criminal matter, instead it is a case strictly between the two parties and one is hoping to be paid damages. Criminal law is different. Criminal law is where the government prosecutes defendants that have committed specified prohibited actions. This law is different from civil court because even though sometimes you might have to pay someone back for your actions, usually your punishment is probation, jail time, or even death. An example of criminal law is where a man plans out the murder of another person and follows through with the plan. The police then arrest him and put him on trial. The verdict is guilty and he is awarded the sentence of death. This whole scenario is how criminal law plays out.

4. Compare and contrast felonies and misdemeanors. 

Felonies are very serious acts like murder and rape. These crimes carry more severe punishments than other crimes. On the other hand, misdemeanors are less serious crimes that carry mild punishments like fines or less than a year in county jail.

5. What is the corpus delicti of a crime? List and explain the three specific elements? 

The corpus delicti of a crime is the elements that a prosecutor needs to be able to prove to show the suspect committed the crime. The three specific elements are actus reus, mens rea, and the harm or injury to the victim. A prosecutor has to prove that the suspect had a criminal intent (mens rea), and that because of the criminal intent he committed the criminal action (actus reus). The last thing the prosecutor has to prove is that the victim was harmed or injured in the criminal act.

6. Give an example of an inchoate offense. 

An example of a inchoate offense is when a person has bought all the items he needs to commit a premeditated murder, but someone he is associated with knows what he is about to do and tips the police off about the crime, and the police stop the suspect before he can kill the victim.

7. Explain the following criminal defenses: a. Mistake o

A mistake is where a person assumes they know the law, and then does a certain illegal action they thought was not against the law. This could happen very easily because the laws are constantly changing. This could also happen when you move to a different state and do something that was legal in your old state, but is not legal in the new state. All in all, these are very rare cases.

b. Intoxication o

Intoxication is a defense where a person says he was so out of his mind because of intoxication that he did not know what he was doing. This defense sometimes works in lowering the degree of punishment a person is looking at. Also this defense helps people who were drugged without their permission and then committed a crime.

8. Explain the following justification defenses: a. Duress

o

Duress is a defense where a defendant says that he had to commit the crime so that a more serious offense did not happen. With this defense, the defendant says that he was forced into committing the crime so a bigger one did not happen.

b. Necessity o

Necessity is a defense where a person says he could not avoid committing a crime to get out of the situation he was in. Usually to use this defense, the defendant has to prove that there was no other option to get out of the situation other than committing that crime.

c. Self-defense o

Self-defense is a defense where a person uses force to protect others or himself from being violated or hurt. To use this defense, the defendant must meet three requirements. One is that the use of force must have been the only way to subdue the situation. No other option could have been present for self-defense case to be admissible. The second is that the force the defendant used must be equal to the force that he was protecting himself from. The third requirement is that the threat the defendant is defending himself from must be happening right there and the force must have been applied right at that moment to protect himself.

d. Entrapment o

Entrapment is a defense where the defendant claims that they were trick by law enforcement officers into doing something that they would not usually do under normal circumstances. This defense is hard on prosecutors because they have to prove that entrapment did not happen for the defendant to be prosecuted.

9. What is insanity? 

Insanity is a defense where the defendant says that he has a mental disease or defect, and he could not culpable of committing the crime because of this.

10. Explain each of the following specific definitions of insanity. a. The McNaughtan Rule o

The McNaughtan Rule is a standard for insanity where the defendant might not have been unable to tell what he was doing was wrong or that he was not able to tell the difference between right and wrong.

b. The Durham Rule o

The Durham Rule is a standard for insanity where the defendant’s behavior is a product of their mental disease, not their own free will.

c. The Substantial Capacity Test o

The Substantial Capacity Test is also called the American Law Institute Rule. This is a standard of insanity that says that the defendant could not conform himself to the law or understand the criminality of the act he had committed.

d. Guilty but Mentally Ill o

Guilty but mentally ill is where the defendant has a mental disease but he is still responsible for the crime he committed. This allows the defendant to have psychiatric help while in prison....