Criminal Law and Procedure: Elements, Defenses, and the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments
Substantive Crimes
Know the elements of the major offenses: homicide (murder with malice aforethought, degrees, felony murder, manslaughter), assault and battery, theft crimes (larceny, embezzlement, false pretenses, robbery, burglary), and inchoate offenses (attempt, solicitation, conspiracy). Mens rea categories (purpose, knowledge, recklessness, negligence) drive the analysis.
Defenses
Self-defense, defense of others, defense of habitation, duress, necessity, insanity (M'Naghten, irresistible impulse, Model Penal Code), intoxication, infancy, and entrapment. Distinguish justification from excuse.
Fourth Amendment
Search and seizure requires state action and either a warrant or a recognized exception: consent, search incident to arrest, automobile, plain view, exigency, inventory, and Terry stop-and-frisk. The exclusionary rule, fruit of the poisonous tree, and the good-faith exception are heavily tested.
Fifth and Sixth Amendments
Miranda applies to custodial interrogation; the right is triggered by custody plus interrogation. The Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches at formal proceedings and includes the Confrontation Clause. Double jeopardy, speedy trial, and plea bargaining complete the picture.
Traps
A common trap: Miranda warnings are not required for nontestimonial evidence, and the public safety exception applies. Another: the exclusionary rule does not apply to grand jury proceedings or civil proceedings. Consent must be voluntary and may be limited in scope.
Worked Example
Police stop a car for a broken taillight, smell marijuana, and search the trunk. Under the automobile exception, the odor supplies probable cause, so the search is valid. If the stop were pretextual but objectively justified, it is still valid.