Ch10. Criminal Law Review — Key Concepts and Common Exam Pitfalls

Offense-by-Offense Penalty Summary

┌──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Offense                  │ Federal / Typical State Penalty       │
├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────┤
│ First-degree murder      │ Death / life without parole          │
│ Second-degree murder     │ 15 years – life                      │
│ Rape / sexual assault    │ Federal: up to life (agg.)           │
│ Robbery (federal)        │ Up to 20 years                       │
│ Arson (occupied bldg.)   │ 7–40 years; life if death            │
│ Wire / mail fraud        │ Up to 20 years per count             │
│ Embezzlement (§ 666)     │ Up to 10 years                       │
│ Larceny (grand theft)    │ 1–10 years (state; value-dependent)  │
│ Simple assault/battery   │ Up to 1 year (misdemeanor)           │
│ Aggravated assault       │ 1–10 years (felony)                  │
└──────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────┘

Inchoate Offenses and Complicity Summary

Attempt:
Substantial step (MPC) / dangerous proximity (CL).
Factual impossibility = not a defense.
Voluntary abandonment = complete defense under MPC.
Punishment: one grade lower than completed offense (MPC).

Solicitation / Conspiracy:
Solicitation: complete upon communication to another.
Conspiracy: agreement + overt act (most jurisdictions).
Pinkerton: co-conspirators vicariously liable for
  foreseeable substantive crimes of co-conspirators.

Complicity:
Accomplice = assists before/during crime = same penalty
  as principal (18 U.S.C. § 2).
Accessory after the fact = post-crime assistance =
  lesser offense.
Wharton Rule: no conspiracy charge if the offense
  inherently requires two parties.

Key: MPC abandonment defense; accomplice = same punishment;
  accessory-after = lesser.

Defenses Summary

Justifications (conduct is not wrongful):
Self-defense: reasonable belief of imminent unlawful
  force + proportional response.
Defense of others: same as self-defense standard.
Necessity: lesser harm to avoid greater harm
  (MPC § 3.02).
Consent: negates some offenses (assault, battery).
Law enforcement: reasonable force in lawful arrest.

Excuses (defendant is not responsible):
Infancy: under 7 irrebuttable; 7–14 rebuttable.
Insanity: M'Naghten (majority) or MPC § 4.01.
Voluntary intoxication: may negate specific intent
  only (does not excuse general-intent crimes).
Mistake of law: generally no defense; exception for
  reasonable reliance on official misstatement.
Duress: coerced into crime by threat of imminent
  death or SBH (not available for homicide under MPC).

Common Exam Pitfalls

① Battery ≠ Assault (common law):
   Battery = actual contact. Assault = apprehension.
   Many modern statutes merge them; on the MBE,
   apply common-law definitions unless told otherwise.

② Voluntary abandonment: MPC = complete defense;
   Common law = generally NOT a defense once
   "dangerously close."

③ Accomplice = same penalty as principal.
   Only accessory after the fact gets a lesser sentence.

④ Federal age of consent: statutory rape is defined
   differently in federal law vs. state law. Know both.

⑤ Criminal defamation requires actual malice for
   public figures (Garrison v. Louisiana). Truth is
   an absolute defense.

⑥ Corroboration requirement: in most US jurisdictions,
   a confession alone is not sufficient to convict
   (corpus delicti rule / corroboration requirement).
   Independent evidence of the crime must exist.

⑦ Bribery requires a quid pro quo and an "official act"
   (McDonnell v. US). Mere gratuities are a separate,
   lesser offense.

⑧ Fraud: false pretenses requires a misrepresentation
   of existing fact, not a broken promise (future
   promise = breach of contract, not fraud, unless no
   intent to perform at the time of the promise).

⑨ Robbery vs. Larceny:
   Robbery = larceny from person + force/fear.
   The force must accompany the taking; force after
   carrying away is still robbery (fresh-pursuit rule
   in some states).

⑩ Arrest outside the home:
   Warrantless arrest with probable cause in a public
   place is constitutional. Arrest inside the home
   requires an arrest warrant absent exigent
   circumstances (Payton v. New York).

Key Concept Cards

Legality Principle — 4 Corollaries ★★★★★ : No common-law crimes · no ex post facto · no analogy (rule of lenity) · void for vagueness. Memory tip: WPCS — Written, Prospective, Clear, Specific.

Three Elements of Criminal Liability ★★★★★ : Actus reus + mens rea + no valid defense. Missing any one = no liability. Memory tip: ARM.

Federal Statutes of Limitations ★★★★★ : Most federal non-capital crimes: 5 years (18 U.S.C. § 3282). Capital crimes: none. Child sex abuse: none (18 U.S.C. § 3299). Major fraud involving financial institutions: 10 years. Memory tip: Default = 5 years; no SOL for capital crimes and child sex abuse.

Practice Quiz (Comprehensive)

Q. How does the corpus delicti rule protect against false convictions?

The corpus delicti rule (or corroboration requirement) holds that a defendant’s out-of-court confession cannot, by itself, support a conviction. The prosecution must independently establish the corpus delicti — the body of the crime, meaning that the crime actually occurred. This prevents convictions based on false, coerced, or mentally disturbed confessions by requiring that some evidence independent of the defendant’s statement prove a crime was committed.

Q. Why is an accomplice punished the same as the principal, while an accessory after the fact is not?

An accomplice assists, facilitates, or encourages the crime before or during its commission — their participation is causally connected to the criminal harm itself. The law treats their moral culpability as equivalent to the direct perpetrator. An accessory after the fact renders assistance only after the crime is complete; their conduct does not contribute to the original harm and instead constitutes a separate, lesser wrong (obstruction-type offense). Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 3) codifies this by capping accessory-after-the-fact punishment at half the maximum for the underlying crime.