Criminal law defines conduct prohibited by the state because it threatens, harms, or endangers public safety and welfare. It establishes the legal framework for establishing criminal liability, prosecuting offenses, and applying statutory penalties while safeguarding constitutional rights to due process and defense.
Intent & Culpability (Mens Rea): Differentiating levels of criminal responsibility—from degrees of homicide to statutory infractions—based on premeditation, reckless disregard, and mental state.
Statutory Offenses & Prosecution: The legal criteria defining major felonies, statutory drug offenses, and the procedural standards required to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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View the condensed outline →Withdrawal from a Criminal Conspiracy Joining a criminal conspiracy does not necessarily mean that a person must remain involved forever. A conspirator may change their mind, leave the group, refuse to participate further, or attempt to prevent the planned crime from occurring. But criminal law draws an important distinction between Read more
Overt Acts and Criminal Conspiracy Criminal conspiracy is generally understood as an agreement between two or more people to pursue an unlawful objective, accompanied by the required criminal intent. But in many conspiracy prosecutions, the law asks for something more than an agreement made in private: an overt act in Read more
Criminal Conspiracy: Elements and Liability Crimes are not always committed by individuals acting alone. Some criminal conduct begins with a plan shared by two or more people. Two people may agree to rob a bank. Several people may organize a fraud scheme. A group may agree to distribute illegal drugs. Read more
Abandonment and Renunciation of Criminal Attempts A person may begin to commit a crime and then change their mind. Someone may break into a house intending to steal but leave before taking anything. A person may prepare to kill someone, approach the intended victim, and then decide not to continue. Read more
Impossibility in Criminal Attempts One of the most interesting questions in criminal law arises when a person tries to commit a crime that, unknown to the person, cannot actually be completed. Imagine someone intends to steal a wallet from another person’s pocket and reaches into the pocket—but the pocket is Read more
Preparation vs. Attempt in Criminal Law Criminal law often has to draw a difficult line: when does planning to commit a crime become an actual criminal attempt? Buying equipment, watching a target, researching a location, or making a plan may all be suspicious. But suspicion alone does not normally make Read more
Attempt in Criminal Law: Elements, Liability, and Defenses Introduction Criminal law does not punish only completed crimes. In some circumstances, a person can be held criminally responsible even when the intended crime was never completed. A person may attempt to rob a bank but flee before obtaining any money. A Read more
Medical Negligence and Causation in Criminal Homicide Introduction Few causation questions in criminal law are more difficult than this: If a defendant injures a victim, and the victim later dies because medical treatment was negligent, is the original defendant guilty of homicide? At first glance, the answer might appear obvious. Read more
Victim Conduct and Causation in Criminal Cases Criminal cases sometimes involve an uncomfortable question: What happens when the victim’s own conduct contributes to the harm? Suppose a defendant seriously injures a victim. The victim refuses medical treatment, attempts to escape, acts recklessly, or makes another decision that contributes to the Read more
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