Criminal Law

Ch 5

• Know that defendants aren't criminally liable if their actions were justified or excused under the circumstances and understand how the affirmative defenses operate in justified and excused conduct.
• Understand that self-defense limits the use of deadly force to those who reasonably believe that they're faced with the choice to kill or be killed right now.
• Know and understand the four elements of self-defense.
• Understand the retreat rule and its historic transformation that led to the stand-your- ground rule.
• Know and understand the exceptions to the retreat rule, and to appreciate their impact on self-defense in cases of domestic violence.
• Know and appreciate how self-defense has been expanded to include the defense of others, the home, and property.
• Appreciate how the new "Castle Laws" are drastically transforming the law of self- defense, and to understand their application to self-defense cases.
• Know that the choice-of-evils defense justifies the commission of a lesser crime to avoid an imminent threat of harm from a greater evil.
• Know that the defense of consent is a justification defense based on the high value placed on individual autonomy in a free society.

Ch 6

• Understand that defendants who plead an excuse defense admit what they did was wrong but claim that, under the circumstances, they were not responsible for their actions.
• Appreciate the long history of the insanity defense, and know the popular myths and empirical realities surrounding the insanity defense.
• Understand the difference between insanity and competency when proving the affirmative defense of insanity.
• Know the four different tests of insanity and which elements of mental capacity, reason, and/or will form the basis of each test.
• Understand the difference between diminished capacity and diminished responsibility and appreciate how they apply only to homicide.
• Understand how the law handles the excuse of age and that juvenile court judges can use their discretion to transfer a juvenile to adult criminal court.
• Know the four elements of duress and appreciate the problem with blaming people who are forced to commit crimes.
• Understand that voluntary intoxication is no excuse for committing a crime but involuntary intoxication is.
• Understand that entrapment is used in all societies even though it violates a basic purpose of government in free societies: to prevent crime rather than encourage it.
• Understand why, despite their criticisms, syndrome excuses are, and should be, taken seriously.