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  • We're going to spend some time today

  • talking about criminal law. This is one

  • area of law that it's important for you

  • to know and be aware of, just as a

  • citizen. So that you'll know what your

  • rights are, and so you can recognize when

  • those rights are being violated. So just

  • to begin: there are two basic categories

  • that any crime could fall into. And

  • that's felonies and misdemeanors. A

  • felony is a crime that is punishable by

  • more than one year in jail. And a

  • misdemeanor is a lesser offense that is

  • punishable by less than one year in jail.

  • So that's the distinction between a

  • felony and a misdemeanor. Now with any

  • crime, there are two elements that

  • have to be proven. You have to prove that

  • there was a guilty act; an actus reas,

  • and you have to prove that there was a

  • guilty mind - that the defendant had a

  • guilty mind mens rea. So as far as the

  • guilty act, it could be solicitation;

  • trying to get somebody to help you

  • commit a crime even if they end up not

  • helping you, just the fact that you asked

  • them could be a guilty act. It could be

  • conspiracy; for you and one or two other

  • people get together and plan a crime. You

  • don't go as far as actually attempting

  • it, but you plan for it and maybe gather

  • some guns or something to help you when

  • you do attempt it. So that will be

  • conspiracy. The third thing that could

  • constitute an act would be an attempt. So

  • not only do you gather supplies and plan,

  • but then you actually try to carry it

  • out. You may not succeed but you tried to

  • carry it out, and that would be an

  • attempt .And then the last option there

  • for the guilty act is, if you actually

  • complete the crime. You consummate the

  • crime. Then that would satisfy the guilty

  • act requirement. As far as the guilty

  • mind the mens rea, there are different

  • levels of the guilty mind, the most

  • serious is the

  • inttentional where you have sat down and

  • thought it through and planned it out

  • like a premeditated murder. The least

  • serious guilty mind is that of

  • negligence. For instance they were

  • speeding and happened to hit a pedestrian.

  • While you weren't trying to hit the

  • pedestrian, you didn't mean to, you were

  • just being negligent. And that would be

  • negligent homicide, where this guilty

  • mind is going to come into play is in

  • the punishment phase of the criminal

  • case. If you're found guilty and you're

  • being sentenced, if you intentionally

  • committed a crime, you're going to get a

  • more serious punishment than someone who

  • was reckless or negligent. And so that's

  • how those different levels of intent come into

  • play. So some specific crimes that I want

  • to point out and make sure you

  • understand the differences between them-

  • primarily looking at theft and related

  • crimes. Robbery occurs if you forcefully

  • or unlawfully take the personal property

  • of someone else. Burglary occurs when you

  • unlawfully enter a building with the

  • intent to commit a felony. Notice that that

  • you don't have to actually steal

  • anything or take anything to commit

  • burglary. Just the fact that you

  • unlawfully entered with the intent to

  • commit a felony is sufficient. Then I

  • want to look at these theft crimes. The

  • text discusses these separately, but

  • they're really all just different theft

  • crimes. The first one there is larceny.

  • Larceny occurs when you take something

  • from somebody else with the intent to

  • permanently deprive them of their

  • property. It's similar to robbery, you're

  • taking somebody else's property without

  • their permission.

  • But the difference is that with robbery,

  • there's some force or some intimidation

  • involved and you don't have that with

  • larceny. So for instance if you're

  • walking down the street and somebody

  • sneaks up behind you and picks your

  • pocket, well they haven't committed

  • robbery, because there was no force or

  • intimidation used. But they have

  • committed larceny, because they've taken

  • your property with the intent to deprive.

  • False pretenses is another theft crime.

  • The distinction here is that with false

  • pretenses, the defendant has tricked you

  • into giving them the property. And then

  • embezzlement. The distinction here is

  • that when someone embezzles funds or

  • property, it's something that has already

  • been entrusted to them. For instance, if

  • you were the bookkeeper at your place of

  • business and you handled all the bank

  • deposits and that was your job

  • responsibilities, and you happen to help

  • yourself to a few thousand dollars of

  • the bank deposit, well, that would be

  • embezzlement. That money was entrusted to

  • you as part of your job, and you took it

  • for your own use. The last theft related

  • crime I want to talk about is

  • receiving stolen property. Any time that

  • you receive property that you know or

  • should have known was stolen you could

  • be committing the crime of receipt of

  • stolen property. Next I want to talk

  • about some defenses that can come into

  • play in the criminal arena. First is self

  • defense and the general rule with self

  • defense is that you can use reasonable

  • force to defend yourself. What's

  • reasonable force? Well it's a

  • case-by-case determination. If someone is

  • coming at you with a big stick, would it

  • be reasonable for you to pull out a gun

  • and shoot them? Well no that wouldn't be

  • reasonable use of force.

  • But you can probably you know pick up a

  • stick of your own to defend yourself you

  • could probably punch, or kick, something like

  • that to defend yourself. But use of a gun

  • in that scenario would probably not be

  • reasonable force. So it's a case-by-case

  • determination as to what's reasonable.

  • Now the one exception to this reasonable

  • force requirement is if someone breaks

  • and enters your home. In Tennessee we

  • have what is called castle doctrine. And

  • the basic idea is that if someone enters

  • your home without your permission,

  • there's a presumption that they are

  • there to do you harm and you have the

  • right to shoot first and ask questions

  • later. So that's the one exception to

  • this reasonable force rule. Necessity--

  • sometimes a criminal defendant can show

  • that, "hey had to commit this criminal

  • act in order to prevent some more

  • serious even greater harm from occurring."

  • If they can establish that, they may be

  • able to make out a defense for necessity.

  • Insanity--The defense of insanity looks

  • at the time that the crime was committed

  • and says at the time that the defendant

  • committed that crime, did he understand

  • what he was doing did he understand the

  • difference between right and wrong? And

  • so it looks at the time that the crime

  • is committed. Mistake-- mistake maybe a

  • defense usually because it negates the

  • intent, the mens rea. For instance, if

  • I have a black leather jacket and hang

  • it up at a restaurant and another

  • customer who also has a black leather

  • jacket accidentally picks mine up and

  • walks out with my jacket mistakenly

  • believing it was his. Well he didn't have

  • the intent to steal my jacket,

  • he was mistaken and so he would assert

  • the defensive mistake if he were to be

  • prosecuted for theft. Duress--duress is

  • the defense that can be raised where

  • some sort of pressure has been placed on

  • a person causing them to act in a way

  • that they normally wouldn't. The classic

  • scenario of this would be the bad guys

  • call you and say, "Hey if you don't rob

  • the bank I'm going to shoot your wife

  • and kids. They're here and I've got a gun

  • to their head." in that situation you

  • would go rob the bank and you would have

  • the valid defense of duress. There was

  • fear of real harm to your wife and your

  • children if you didn't carry out that

  • act. Entrapment--This is basically a

  • defense where you're saying hey the cops

  • made me do it. In order for the defendant

  • to win on this defense, they'd have to

  • show that the government somehow induced

  • them to commit a crime that they would

  • not have otherwise committed. This is a

  • stretch of the defense and it doesn't

  • work very often. Statute of limitations--

  • a statue of limitations just limits the

  • amount of time that you have to file a

  • lawsuit, or in this case to prosecute a

  • crime, and so if enough time has passed

  • prosecution may be barred by that

  • statute of limitations. The last defense that

  • might be raised is the defense of

  • immunity-- occasionally the government

  • will agree to grant immunity to a

  • defendant so that they can be used to

  • testify against some other defendant. And

  • once that agreement is in place then the

  • person will testify but they cannot be

  • prosecuted. There are some constitutional

  • protections that you need to know. The

  • United States offers a number of

  • protections the accused through our

  • Constitution. The first one that I'll

  • mention is protection under the Fourth

  • Amendment and that is this requirement

  • of probable cause. It basically says

  • police cannot search you or your your

  • vehicle your home without probable cause.

  • And they can't arrest you or seize you

  • without probable cause. So what does

  • probable cause mean? It means that they

  • have a reasonable belief that a crime

  • has been committed and basically that

  • you have some part in it. The Fifth

  • Amendment guarantees you the right under

  • the protection of double jeopardy which

  • means that you cannot be tried twice for

  • the same crime. Also if a jury returns a

  • verdict of not guilty then that is that.

  • You cannot be tried twice for that crime.

  • The system also assures you the right to

  • remain silent. You don't have to testify

  • or talk to the police if you don't want

  • to. You can speak up and assert your

  • Fifth Amendment right to remain silent

  • you don't have to testify or provide

  • information that incriminates you. Under

  • the Sixth Amendment we are guaranteed

  • the right to be represented by an

  • attorney. But again you do have to speak

  • up and asert that right. Under the

  • Eighth Amendment we are guaranteed

  • protection from excessive bail, and we're

  • also guaranteed that we're protected

  • from cruel and unusual punishment. What

  • has the court, what do the courts

  • consider to be cruel and unusual

  • punishment? Well the courts have said

  • that execution of juveniles is cruel and

  • unusual punishment, they have also said

  • that execution of those who are mentally

  • ill is also a form of cruel and unusual

  • punishment.

  • The Miranda rights or Miranda rule-- as

  • its discussed in the text, basically is a

  • requirement that you have to be informed.

  • If the police are going to to question

  • you, take you into custody, they have to

  • inform you of your rights. The

  • exclusionary rule-- is a tool that the

  • courts can use to help prevent the

  • government from abusing its authority.

  • Basically the exclusionary rule says

  • that if evidence is obtained in

  • violation of your constitutional

  • protections; for instance if they conduct

  • a search without probable cause and

  • obtain evidence against you, then the

  • exclusionary rule is going to exclude

  • that evidence. That can't be used against

  • you at trial. Similarly, if you confess to

  • a crime but the police have not advised

  • you of your right to remain silent

  • before they arrested you before you

  • confessed, then the exclusionary rule may

  • keep that confession out of court. And so,

  • it makes it harder for the government to

  • prove their case if they don't have

  • evidence against you in court.

We're going to spend some time today

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B1 中級 美國腔

第六章 (Chapter 6)

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    Amy.Lin 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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