The creation in another of the fear of bodily harm. As the California Supreme Court explained in People v. Williams, 26 Cal.4th 779, “the crime of assault has always focused on the nature of the act and not on the perpetrator’s specific intent. An assault occurs whenever the next movement would, at least to all […]
Category: Criminal Law
Assailant
Criminal Law. “Assailant means one who assails or who assaults; the aggressor.” Scales v. State, 96 Ala. 69 (1892). “The killing of an assailant is excusable on the ground of self-defense only when it is, or reasonably appears to be, the only means of saving one’s own life or preventing great bodily injury; and, if the danger can […]
Asportation
The removal of things from one place to another. The carrying away of goods; one of the circumstances requisite to constitute the offense of larceny. Asportation is an essential element of common law kidnapping. “Asportation is defined as: ‘The removal of things from one place to another. The carrying away of goods; . . . […]
Arson
Criminal Law. The burning of a dwelling or property of another with malice. Under Model Penal Code § 220.1, a person is guilty of arson if he starts a fire or causes an explosion with the purpose of (1) destroying a building or occupied structure of another; or (2) destroying or damaging any property, whether […]
Aggravating Circumstances
The term “aggravating circumstances” refers to factors in the sentencing phase of a death penalty case which support imposing the death sentence on the convicted defendant. Examples of such factors include murder of a young child or murder committed for financial gain.
Aggravated Kidnapping
Kidnapping with the extra element, such as kidnapping of a child, kidnapping for ransom, kidnapping in order to force the victim to commit a crime, kidnapping for the purpose of sexually abusing the victim, etc. “The essence of aggravated kidnapping is the increase in the risk of harm to the victim caused by the forced […]
Affray
Criminal Law. The term “affray” refers to the crime of fighting of two or more persons in some public place to the terror of the people. Mere words are insufficient to constitute affray. However, if one person, by such abusive language toward another as is calculated and intended to bring on a fight, induces the other […]
Actus Reus
Criminal Law. The guilty act. The term “actus reus” refers to the wrongful act or omission to act which renders the defendant criminally liable if combined with mens rea (a guilty mind). In order to be criminal, the act must be voluntary. Thus, acts which are reflexive, convulsive, performed while unconscious, or otherwise involuntary, are insufficient, […]
Accessory Before The Fact
Criminal Law. An accessory before the fact is one who aids, counsels, commands, or encourages the commission of the crime, but who is not present either actually or constructively at the moment of perpetration of the crime. [Example: X recruits A and B to rob a bank and provides them with guns and masks. X remains at home while A and B […]
Accessory After The Fact
Criminal Law. An accessory after the fact is one who, with knowledge of the other’s guilt, renders assistance to a felon in the effort to hinder his detection, arrest, trial or punishment. [Example: After A and B rob a bank, they meet C, who agrees to hide them in her basement until the police leave the area. […]
Accessory
Criminal Law. A person who assists another in connection with a crime, but without being present when the crime is committed. At early common law, guilty parties to a felony crime were categorized as either principals or accessories. The actor that perpetrated the crime was the principal in the first degree, and all others involved were accessories. […]
Batson v. Kentucky
476 U.S. 79 (1986) A 1986 United States Supreme Court opinion in which the Court held that the Equal Protection Clause forbids a prosecutor from using preemptory challenges against potential jurors solely on account of said potential jurors’ race, or on the assumption that African American jurors as a group will be unable impartially to […]
Batson Challenge
A Batson challenge is a challenge filed by a defense attorney in a criminal trial in which the defense contends that the prosecutors in the case struck potential jurors during jury selection in a racially discriminatory manner. If the defense is able to make a preliminary showing that the prosecutor’s actions appear to be race-based, […]
Albernaz v. United States
Citation: 450 U.S. 333 (1981). Summary: Defendants were convicted of conspiracy to import marijuana and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. The foregoing convictions were pursuant to statutes that were parts of different sub-chapters of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 — namely 21 U.S.C. § 963 (conspiracy to import) and 21 U.S.C. § 846 (conspiracy to […]
Abactor
An obsolete and archaic legal term which refers to a person who steals and takes away the cattle or other farm animals by herds or in great numbers at the same time, as distinguished from a person who steals a single animal only.
Abaction
The act of carrying away by violence. “Abaction” is an archaic legal term derived from the Latin term abactio (“driving away” or “stealing”). The term was used to refer to the act of driving away or stealing cattle, sheep or other livestock.