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Our Criminal Law

Our Criminal Law. Chapter 5. Criminal Law. Lesson 5-1. Goals. Define the elements present in all crimes Describe crimes that commonly occur in the business environment. What are crimes?. Punishable offense against society Defined by statutes (laws enacted by state or federal legislatures)

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Our Criminal Law

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Our Criminal Law Chapter 5

  2. Criminal Law Lesson 5-1

  3. Goals • Define the elements present in all crimes • Describe crimes that commonly occur in the business environment

  4. What are crimes? • Punishable offense against society • Defined by statutes (laws enacted by state or federal legislatures) • Society (through police/prosecutors) attempt to identify, arrest, prosecute, and punish the criminal • Criminal and civil offenses are not the same • Civil - against just the victim (not society)

  5. Elements of a Crime • Before anyone can be convicted of a crime, 3 elements must be proved at trial • a duty to do or not to do a certain thing • an act or omission in violation of that duty • criminal intent

  6. Duty • State statutes usually describe duty • Less frequent - federal statutes or city ordinances • To establish duty in trial, the prosecutor cites a statute to the judge

  7. Violation of the Duty • The specific conduct that violates the statute is the criminal act • All states have statutes that makes battery a crime • “the intentional causing of bodily harm to another person” • Prove? • Testimony of a witness

  8. Criminal Intent • Means the defendant: • intended to commit the act and • intended to do evil • Deliberately punch someone • Accidentally fall and hit someone

  9. Criminal Intent (cont) • Can Corporations form criminal intent like humans can? • YES • If the criminal act benefits the organization, most courts will find criminal intent • When a corporate employee commits a crime, can officers be held criminally responsible? • YES • Liable under the doctrine of vicarious criminal liability

  10. Criminal Intent (cont) • Vicarious Criminal Liability • Substituted criminal liability • The criminal intent of the employee is used as a substitute for the requirements of criminal intent for an officer • The president knows of dangerous working conditions but does not report them • Homicide

  11. Criminal Intent (cont) • Related to age (early common law) • Under 10 – below the age of reason • Incapable of having the criminal intent necessary • Over 14 – know the difference between right and wrong • Accountable as adults • Ages 7-14 criminal intent has to be proved • Today, most states fix the age to 18 (range from 16-19)

  12. Criminal Intent (cont) • One must have sufficient mental capacity to know the difference between right and wrong • Insane person • Not held responsible • Voluntary intoxication or use of drugs does not relieve a person

  13. Criminal Intent (cont) • Not all crimes require criminal intent • Less serious crimes where being sentenced to jail is unlikely • Traffic offenses • Exception – extreme carelessness • 80mph through a neighborhood drunk and kill someone • You may not have intended to speed or do evil • So careless it could be treated as criminal intent • Vehicular homicide

  14. Criminal Intent (cont) • Embezzlement • Taking of another person’s property or money by a person to whom it has been entrusted

  15. Criminal Conduct Crimes against: • A person (assault and battery, kidnapping, rape, murder) • Property (theft, robbery embezzlement) • The government and administration of justice (treason, tax invasion, perjury) • Public peace and order (rioting, disorderly conduct, illegal speeding) • Realty (burglary, arson, criminal trespass) • Consumers (fraudulent sale of securities, violation of pure food and drug laws) • Decency (bigamy, obscenity, prostitution)

  16. Classification of Crimes • Felonies • Crime punishable by confinement for more than a year in a state prison or by a fine or more than $1,000, or both – or even death • Murder, kidnapping, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, embezzlement, forgery, theft of large sums, and perjury • Perjury • Crime of lying under oath

  17. Classification of Crimes (cont) • Misdemeanor • Less serious crime • Punishable by confinement in a county or city jail for less than one year, by fine, or both • Disorderly conduct and speeding • Infractions • Minor misdemeanor • Can only be fined (no risk of jail) • Parking violations and littering

  18. Business-Related Crimes • White-collar crimes • Offenses committed in the business world • No not involve force or violence • Do not cause injury to people or cause physical damage to property • Examples • Evading income taxes, defrauding consumers, cheating with false weighing machines, conspiring to fix prices, false insurance claims, false advertising, committing bribery, engaging in political corruption, and embezzling • Fines and short prison sentences because no physical violence

  19. Business-Related Crimes (cont) • Antitrust Laws • Laws that prohibit competing companies from price fixing or dividing up sales regions

  20. Business-Related Crimes (cont) • Larceny (theft) • The wrongful taking of money or personal property belonging to someone else, with the intent to deprive the owner of possession • Shoplifting, pickpocketing, and purse snatching • Felony or Misdemeanor (determined by value of property) • Robbery (variation of larceny) • The taking of property from another’s person or immediate presence, against the victim’s will, by force or by causing fear • Burglary (variation of larceny) • Entering a building without permission when intending to commit a crime FELONIES

  21. Business-Related Crimes (cont) • Receiving stolen property • the one who receives stolen property is known as a fence • False Pretense – One who obtains money or other property by lying about a past or existing fact (type of fraud) • Forgery – falsely making or materially altering a writing to defraud another (felony) • Bribery – unlawfully offering or giving anything of value to influence performance of an official (accepting a bribe is also criminal activity)

  22. Business-Related Crimes (cont) • Computer crime • Extortion (blackmail) – obtaining money or other property from a person by wrongful use of force, fear, or the power of office • Conspiracy – an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime • The conspiracy is a separate crime from the crime that the parties plan to commit • Arson – The willful and illegal burning of a building

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