Criminal Law & Procedure — Bar One-Sheet (Elements & Mnemonics)

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE — BAR ONE-SHEET (ELEMENTS & MNEMONICS)

Lean issue-spotting checklist — elements and mnemonics only. Pair with the full Criminal Law & Procedure Master Outline for depth, then drill questions at MBEMax.

KEY PRINCIPLE #1 — ACTUS REUS, MENS REA & CAUSATION

• ACTUS REUS = voluntary act (or omission w/ legal duty: statute, contract, relationship, assumption, creation of peril).
• MENS REA — common law: specific intent · malice · general intent · strict liability.
• MPC states of mind: purposely · knowingly · recklessly (conscious disregard) · negligently.
• SPECIFIC-INTENT CRIMES — mnemonic "FIAT": First-degree murder, False pretenses, Forgery · Inchoate (solicitation, conspiracy, attempt) · Assault (attempted battery) · Theft crimes (larceny, embezzlement, robbery, burglary). (Specific intent ⇒ voluntary intox & mistake defenses available.)
• CAUSATION: actual (but-for) + proximate (foreseeable; eggshell victim).

KEY PRINCIPLE #2 — HOMICIDE

MURDER = unlawful killing + malice aforethought (mnemonic "I-WIF"): Intent to kill · Wanton/depraved heart (reckless indifference) · Intent to inflict serious bodily harm · Felony murder.

• 1st degree: premeditated/deliberate, or enumerated felony.
• FELONY MURDER: death during inherently dangerous felony — mnemonic "BARRK": Burglary · Arson · Rape · Robbery · Kidnapping. (Limits: felony independent of killing, foreseeable, during felony/flight, agency rule.)
• VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER: intentional + adequate provocation (heat of passion: provoke + actual + reasonable + no cooling) or imperfect self-defense.
• INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER: criminal negligence OR misdemeanor-manslaughter.

KEY PRINCIPLE #3 — OTHER CRIMES

• BATTERY = unlawful application of force. ASSAULT = attempted battery OR intentional fear.
• LARCENY = trespassory taking + carrying away + another's personal property + intent to permanently deprive (at time of taking).
• EMBEZZLEMENT = fraudulent conversion of property in lawful possession.
• FALSE PRETENSES = obtain title by knowing false rep. (Larceny by trick = possession only.)
• ROBBERY = larceny + from person/presence + by force or fear.
• BURGLARY (common law) = breaking + entering + dwelling + of another + at night + intent to commit felony inside.
• ARSON = malicious burning of dwelling of another (modern: any structure).

KEY PRINCIPLE #4 — INCHOATE & PARTIES

• SOLICITATION = enticing another to commit crime (merges).
• CONSPIRACY = agreement + intent + (majority) overt act. No merger. Each liable for co-conspirators' foreseeable crimes (Pinkerton). Withdrawal limited.
• ATTEMPT = specific intent + substantial step beyond mere preparation. Merges. Legal impossibility = defense; factual = no.
• ACCOMPLICE = aid/encourage + intent; liable for crime + foreseeable. Withdrawal before crime.

KEY PRINCIPLE #5 — DEFENSES

• INSANITY: M'Naghten (didn't know nature/wrongness) · irresistible impulse · Durham (product) · MPC (lacked substantial capacity).
• INTOXICATION: voluntary → specific-intent only; involuntary → any.
• SELF-DEFENSE: reasonable + proportional; deadly only if reasonable fear of death/serious harm; no duty to retreat (majority); aggressor must withdraw.
• NECESSITY (natural) · DURESS (human threat — not to murder) · MISTAKE (of fact negates intent; of law generally no).
• ENTRAPMENT = gov inducement + no predisposition.

KEY PRINCIPLE #6 — 4TH AMENDMENT (SEARCH & SEIZURE)

Threshold: gov action + reasonable expectation of privacy + standing. Default = warrant on probable cause + particularity.

WARRANTLESS SEARCH EXCEPTIONS — mnemonic "SPACES C":

• Search incident to lawful arrest (wingspan; vehicle = Gant) · Plain view (lawful vantage + immediately apparent) · Automobile (PC, mobile, containers) · Consent (voluntary, scope, actual/apparent authority) · Exigent circumstances (hot pursuit, evidence destruction, emergency) · Stop & frisk (Terry: reasonable suspicion) · plus inventory, special needs, border, administrative.

SEIZURE: arrest needs PC (warrant for home arrest absent exigency). EXCLUSIONARY RULE bars fruit; exceptions: independent source, inevitable discovery, attenuation, good-faith warrant reliance, Miranda physical fruits, impeachment.

KEY PRINCIPLE #7 — 5TH/6TH AMENDMENTS (CONFESSIONS & TRIAL)

• MIRANDA (5th): custody + interrogation → warn. Invoke counsel = all questioning stops; invoke silence = scrupulously honor. Waiver knowing/voluntary. Public-safety exception.
• 6TH AMEND COUNSEL: attaches at formal charge; offense-specific; deliberate elicitation.
• 14TH DUE PROCESS: confession voluntary (no coercion).
• LINEUPS: 6th Amend post-charge; due process — not unduly suggestive.
• TRIAL RIGHTS: speedy trial · jury (≥6) · confrontation · double jeopardy (same elements — Blockburger) · Brady disclosure.

KEY PRINCIPLE #8 — MERGER, JURISDICTION & MISC PROCEDURE

• MERGER: solicitation & attempt merge into completed crime; conspiracy does NOT merge. Lesser-included offenses merge.
• WHARTON RULE: no conspiracy if crime inherently requires 2 participants (dueling, adultery, bigamy).
• ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT: as

  ADDITIONAL HIGH-YIELD POINTS

  Concurrence. The guilty mind must actuate the guilty act — mens rea must exist at the moment of the actus reus, not be formed afterward. Tested where intent arises after a taking or after force.

  Transferred intent. Intent follows the act to an unintended victim for crimes against persons/property (D aims at A, hits B — guilty as to B; usually also attempt as to A). Does not apply to attempt itself.

  Strict-liability signals. No mens rea required — typically regulatory/public-welfare offenses, statutory rape, and selling liquor/contraband to minors. Mistake of fact is NO defense to a strict-liability crime.

  Mistake of law exceptions. Generally no defense, BUT excused if: reasonable reliance on an official statement of law (statute later overturned, court decision, official interpretation) or the mistake negates a specific intent. Reliance on private counsel is not enough.

  Mere presence rule (accomplice). Presence at the scene plus knowledge is insufficient — the accomplice must actually aid, abet, or encourage with intent that the crime succeed.

  Conspiracy — unilateral vs. bilateral. Common law/bilateral: needs two guilty minds (acquittal of the sole co-conspirator frees the other). MPC/unilateral: one genuine agreement suffices (feigning police informant still convicts the defendant).

  Attempt — abandonment. At common law, voluntary abandonment is NO defense once a substantial step is taken; MPC allows a complete and voluntary renunciation defense (not motivated by a higher risk of getting caught).

  Kidnapping & false imprisonment. False imprisonment = unlawful confinement without consent. Kidnapping = confinement plus movement (asportation) or concealment in a hidden place.

  Receiving stolen property. Receiving control of stolen property + knowledge it is stolen + intent to permanently deprive the owner.

  Defense of others / property. Defense of others mirrors the victim's right to self-defense (reasonable belief). Property: reasonable non-deadly force only — deadly force is never permitted merely to protect property.

  Edwards rule (5th Am.). Once a suspect unambiguously invokes the right to counsel, police may not re-initiate interrogation on any offense until counsel is present (protection lapses only after a 14-day break in custody). Invocation must be clear.

  Massiah / deliberate elicitation. After 6th Am. counsel attaches, the State may not use a planted informant to deliberately elicit statements; a passive "listening post" informant is permissible.

  Third-party & apparent-authority consent. A co-occupant with common authority may consent, but a physically present co-tenant's objection defeats consent (Randolph). Apparent (reasonably believed) authority validates the search.

  Terry frisk scope. A frisk is a limited pat-down of outer clothing for weapons only; an item is seizable under "plain feel" only if its incriminating nature is immediately apparent without manipulation.

  Standing (4th Am.). Defendant must have a personal reasonable expectation of privacy — passengers generally lack standing to challenge a vehicle search but may challenge the stop; overnight guests have standing, casual visitors do not.

  Dual sovereignty & jeopardy attachment. Separate sovereigns (state + federal) may both prosecute the same act without double-jeopardy bar. Jeopardy attaches when the jury is sworn (or first witness sworn in a bench trial).

  ★ ONE-LINE ATTACK ORDER

  Crime = actus reus + mens rea + concurrence + causation → specific vs general intent → defenses → inchoate/accomplice → PROCEDURE: 4th (search/seizure + exceptions) → 5th (Miranda/voluntariness) → 6th (counsel/lineup) → exclusionary rule + fruits.