Criminal Law and Procedure
Elements first, labels second
Pennsylvania criminal law runs through the Crimes Code (Title 18) and the Rules of Criminal Procedure. For any offense, name the elements and the grading, not just the label. Mens rea is defined in 18 Pa.C.S. § 302 (intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, negligently); a fact pattern that supports one mental state often defeats another, and recklessness is the default when a statute says nothing.
Separate substance from procedure. Procedure questions test the source of arrest authority (warrant versus warrantless, in-presence offenses), the level of suspicion behind each intrusion (mere encounter, investigative detention, custodial arrest), the point custody attaches for Miranda, preliminary arraignment and preliminary hearing timelines, and Rule 600 prompt-trial math.
Traps that recur:
- Assuming a federal rule applies unchanged here. Pennsylvania's Article I, Section 8 has been read more protectively; there is no good-faith exception for a warrant defective on its face (Commonwealth v. Edmunds).
- Treating felony as a magic word. Deadly force against a fleeing person is limited by 18 Pa.C.S. § 508 to preventing death or serious bodily injury, or apprehending someone the officer reasonably believes presents that threat and cannot otherwise be caught.
- Confusing arrest with search. A lawful arrest does not authorize searching everything in sight.
- Reciting a label such as burglary without checking whether the structure was an overnight accommodation or whether anyone was present.
Rule of thumb: write the elements in a column and place the specific fact from the prompt beside each one. If a mental state or grading element has no matching fact, the offense does not fit, and the distractor is almost always the answer that skips that step.