Tsvety LL.M.

Infancy and Age of Criminal Responsibility Criminal law generally assumes that a person must possess a sufficient level of understanding and capacity before the state can hold that person criminally responsible. That assumption becomes especially important when the accused is a child. A young child may physically perform an act Read more

Consent as a Criminal Defense Consent occupies an unusual position in criminal law. In everyday life, consent is one of the most basic ways people exercise personal autonomy. People ordinarily have the freedom to decide what happens to their bodies, property, privacy, and personal interests. But criminal law does not Read more

Mistake of Law as a Criminal Defense Criminal law generally operates on a simple but powerful assumption: people are expected to obey the law even when they do not know every rule contained in it. This produces one of the oldest principles in criminal law: Ignorance of the law is Read more

Mistake of Fact as a Criminal Defense Criminal law generally requires more than proof that a person performed a prohibited act. For many offenses, the prosecution must also establish a required mental state, such as knowledge, intent, purpose, or recklessness. This creates an important question: What happens when a person Read more

Intoxication as a Criminal Defense Intoxication occupies an unusual position in criminal law. In many criminal cases, the defendant argues that the prosecution has failed to prove the required mental state. Intoxication can sometimes be relevant to that question because alcohol or drugs may affect a person’s ability to form Read more

Necessity as a Criminal Defense Criminal law generally tells people what they must not do. Do not steal. Do not trespass. Do not damage property. Do not drive recklessly. Do not enter certain places without authorization. But what happens when obeying the law would expose someone to a much greater Read more

Defense of Property Property is protected by law, but the right to protect property with force is much more limited than the right to protect human life or physical safety. Criminal law generally recognizes that a person may take reasonable measures to protect property from theft, trespass, destruction, or other Read more

Defense of Others When a person uses force to protect someone else from an unlawful attack, criminal law may recognize that conduct as justified. This defense is known as defense of others. The basic idea is straightforward: the law does not necessarily require a person to stand by while another Read more

Criminal Defenses: An Overview Criminal law defines prohibited conduct and establishes when a person may be held criminally responsible. But criminal law also recognizes that not every person who appears to have committed a prohibited act should necessarily be convicted. A person may have acted in self-defense. A person may Read more