Elements of Common Crimes

Why This Matters

Criminal law doesn't just ask you to memorize definitions—it tests whether you understand how crimes are constructed and why certain elements must be proven for conviction. Every crime you'll encounter on an exam breaks down into the same foundational building blocks: the physical act, the mental state, the connection between conduct and harm, and the timing of these elements. Master these concepts, and you'll be able to analyze any crime, even ones you've never seen before.

You're being tested on your ability to distinguish between crimes that look similar but differ in intent, conduct, or harm caused. An FRQ might give you a fact pattern and ask which crime applies—or whether any crime occurred at all. Don't just memorize that robbery involves force; know why that element elevates it above larceny and how the mental state requirement changes the analysis. Understanding the underlying principles lets you reason through novel scenarios instead of hoping you memorized the right definition.

---

The Building Blocks: Core Elements of Every Crime

Before analyzing specific offenses, you need to understand the four foundational elements that prosecutors must prove. These elements work together like a checklist—if any is missing, there's no crime.

Actus Reus (The Guilty Act)

• The physical component of a crime—can be a voluntary act, an omission when there's a legal duty to act, or sometimes a status or condition
• Voluntariness is essential; reflexive movements, acts during unconsciousness, or conduct under physical compulsion typically don't qualify
• Omissions only count when the defendant had a legal duty to act (from statute, contract, relationship, or voluntary assumption of care)

Mens Rea (The Guilty Mind)

• The mental state required for criminal liability—distinguishes accidental harm from criminal conduct
• Four levels under the Model Penal Code: purposely (conscious objective), knowingly (awareness), recklessly (conscious disregard of risk), and negligently (should have been aware)
• Determines the grade of offense; the same act with different mental states can be murder, manslaughter, or no crime at all

Causation

• Links the defendant's conduct to the prohibited result—required for all crimes that specify a particular harm
• Two types must be proven: actual cause (but-for the defendant's act, harm wouldn't have occurred) and proximate cause (harm was foreseeable, not too remote)
• Intervening causes can break the chain; superseding events that are unforeseeable may relieve the defendant of liability

Concurrence

• Requires the mens rea and actus reus to exist at the same moment—intent formed after the act doesn't count
• Temporal alignment is critical; if someone accidentally causes harm and only later wishes they'd done it intentionally, there's no crime
• Tests your understanding of why criminal law punishes choosing to do wrong, not just causing bad outcomes

---

Crimes Against Persons: Harm to Human Beings

These offenses protect bodily integrity and life. The key distinctions involve the type of harm, the level of intent, and whether death results.

Homicide (Murder and Manslaughter)

• Murder requires malice aforethought—intent to kill, intent to cause serious bodily harm, extreme recklessness (depraved heart), or death during a dangerous felony
• Manslaughter lacks malice: voluntary manslaughter involves adequate provocation that would inflame a reasonable person; involuntary involves criminal negligence or misdemeanor-manslaughter
• First-degree murder typically requires premeditation and deliberation, while second-degree encompasses other malice killings

Assault and Battery

• Battery is the unlawful application of force—any harmful or offensive touching without consent satisfies the actus reus
• Assault can be attempted battery (specific intent to commit battery) or intentional frightening (causing reasonable apprehension of imminent harm)
• Aggravated versions involve serious injury, use of a deadly weapon, or assault on protected persons (police officers, children)

Rape and Sexual Assault

• Rape is non-consensual sexual intercourse—modern statutes focus on lack of consent rather than requiring proof of force
• Consent must be freely given; incapacity due to intoxication, unconsciousness, or mental disability negates valid consent
• Sexual assault covers a broader range of non-consensual sexual contact; jurisdictions vary significantly in definitions and grading

Kidnapping

• Unlawful confinement plus movement (asportation) of the victim—some jurisdictions require substantial movement, others only slight
• Specific intent required: typically intent to hold for ransom, facilitate another crime, terrorize, or interfere with government function
• Aggravated kidnapping involves additional factors like ransom demands, harm to victim, or targeting children

---

Crimes Against Property: Theft and Related Offenses

Property crimes protect ownership and possession rights. The critical distinctions involve how property is taken, what type of property, and whether force or deception is used.

Larceny

• Trespassory taking and carrying away of another's personal property with intent to permanently deprive—the foundational theft offense
• Must be tangible personal property at common law; real property, services, and intangibles traditionally excluded (though modern statutes expand this)
• Intent to return negates larceny; borrowing without permission may be conversion but not theft if there's no intent to permanently deprive

Robbery

• Larceny plus force or threat of immediate force—the force must be used to accomplish the taking, not just escape
• Elevated to a crime against persons because of the confrontational element; even minimal force (purse-snatching) can qualify
• Aggravated robbery involves deadly weapons or serious injury, carrying significantly harsher penalties

Burglary

• Breaking and entering a structure with intent to commit a felony inside—the crime is complete upon entry with intent
• Modern statutes have expanded beyond common law's nighttime dwelling requirement to cover any structure at any time
• No need to complete the intended crime; the mens rea at the moment of entry is what matters

Arson

• Malicious burning of a structure—requires actual damage to the structure itself, not just contents or smoke damage
• Malice means intentional or extremely reckless burning; accidental fires don't qualify even if negligent
• Severe penalties reflect danger to human life and potential for widespread destruction

---

Inchoate Crimes: Punishing Incomplete Offenses

These crimes punish conduct before the target offense is completed. The policy rationale is preventing harm and punishing dangerous intent, even when circumstances prevent completion.

Attempt

• Specific intent to commit a crime plus a substantial step toward completion—mere preparation isn't enough
• Impossibility can be a defense: legal impossibility (conduct isn't actually criminal) is a defense; factual impossibility (crime fails due to circumstances) generally isn't
• Punished less severely than completed crimes in most jurisdictions, reflecting that the ultimate harm didn't occur

Conspiracy

• Agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime, plus (in most jurisdictions) an overt act in furtherance
• Each conspirator is liable for crimes committed by co-conspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy (Pinkerton liability)
• Doesn't merge with the completed crime—defendants can be convicted of both conspiracy and the target offense

Solicitation

• Asking, encouraging, or commanding another person to commit a crime—complete upon the request, regardless of response
• Specific intent required: must intend that the solicited crime actually be committed
• Merges with conspiracy if the other person agrees; merges with the target crime if it's completed

---

Quick Reference Table

---

Self-Check Questions

1. What distinguishes robbery from larceny, and why does this distinction result in significantly different penalties?

2. A defendant breaks into a house planning to steal jewelry but gets scared and leaves without taking anything. Has a crime been committed? Which one(s), and what elements are satisfied?

3. Compare voluntary manslaughter and second-degree murder—what element present in murder is negated by adequate provocation?

4. If a defendant agrees with a friend to rob a bank, and the friend shoots a guard during the robbery, can the defendant be charged with murder even though they didn't fire the shot? What doctrine applies?

5. Explain why factual impossibility is generally not a defense to attempt, but legal impossibility is. Give an example of each.