Full Outline Structure
A hierarchical breakdown of every topic your Criminal Law outline should cover.
1
Actus Reus
Voluntary Act Requirement
- Criminal liability requires a voluntary act — reflexes, convulsions, and unconscious movements are involuntary (Martin v. State)
- Status crimes prohibited — cannot punish for being an addict (Robinson v. California)
- Omission liability — only when legal duty exists (statute, contract, relationship, voluntary assumption, creation of peril)
- Possession — constructive or actual; must be knowing (awareness of control over the item)
Social Harm
- Result crimes — defined by harmful outcome (homicide)
- Conduct crimes — defined by prohibited behavior regardless of result (DUI)
- Attendant circumstances — elements that must exist at time of conduct (age in statutory rape)
2
Mens Rea
Common Law Mental States
- Specific intent — purpose to achieve a particular result (e.g., burglary, larceny, attempt, solicitation)
- General intent — awareness of acting in a proscribed manner; intent to do the act (e.g., battery, rape, false imprisonment)
- Malice — reckless disregard of known risk (e.g., arson, common law murder)
- Strict liability — no mens rea required; regulatory/public welfare offenses (Morissette v. United States)
Model Penal Code Mental States
- Purposely — conscious object to engage in conduct or cause result
- Knowingly — aware that conduct is of that nature or practically certain result will occur
- Recklessly — conscious disregard of substantial and unjustifiable risk
- Negligently — should be aware of substantial and unjustifiable risk; gross deviation from reasonable person standard
- MPC default — recklessness is the minimum culpability when statute is silent (MPC §2.02(3))
Mistake of Fact & Mistake of Law
- Mistake of fact — negates mens rea if it negates required mental state; specific intent = any honest mistake; general intent = reasonable mistake only
- MPC mistake of fact — defense if it negates the required element of mens rea
- Mistake of law — generally not a defense (ignorance is no excuse); exceptions for reliance on official interpretation and lack of notice
- MPC §2.04 — mistake of law defense when statute not reasonably made available or reasonable reliance on official statement
3
Causation
Actual & Proximate Cause
- But-for cause — result would not have occurred but for defendant's conduct
- Substantial factor test — for concurrent sufficient causes
- Proximate cause — no superseding intervening cause that breaks the causal chain
- Foreseeable intervening causes (medical treatment, victim's pre-existing condition) — do not break chain
- Year-and-a-day rule — abolished in most jurisdictions but historically limited homicide prosecutions
MPC Approach to Causation
- But-for causation required for all offenses
- For purposely/knowingly — actual result must not be too remote or accidental to have a just bearing on liability
- For recklessly/negligently — actual result must involve the same kind of risk of which defendant was or should have been aware
4
Homicide
Common Law Murder
- Murder — unlawful killing with malice aforethought
- Four types of malice — intent to kill, intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, depraved heart (extreme recklessness), felony murder
- First degree murder — premeditation and deliberation (some jurisdictions require evidence of planning, motive, manner of killing)
- Second degree murder — malice without premeditation/deliberation; depraved heart murder
Felony Murder
- Death during commission of inherently dangerous felony — strict liability for the killing
- BARRK felonies — Burglary, Arson, Robbery, Rape, Kidnapping (first degree felony murder)
- Limitations — merger doctrine (assault/manslaughter cannot be predicate), res gestae (temporal and geographic proximity), agency approach vs. proximate cause
- MPC rejection — no felony murder rule; treats as evidence of extreme recklessness (presumption of recklessness for listed felonies)
Voluntary Manslaughter
- Adequate provocation — heat of passion killing; objectively adequate provocation, actual passion, no cooling time, causal connection
- Common law categories — extreme assault, mutual combat, adultery, illegal arrest; mere words traditionally insufficient
- MPC §210.3 — extreme mental or emotional disturbance with reasonable explanation (broader than common law heat of passion)
Involuntary Manslaughter
- Criminal negligence — gross deviation from standard of care (higher than civil negligence)
- Misdemeanor manslaughter — death during commission of unlawful act not amounting to felony
- MPC — criminal homicide committed recklessly (manslaughter) or negligently (negligent homicide, separate lesser offense)
5
Other Specific Offenses
Assault & Battery
- Battery — unlawful application of force to another; general intent crime
- Assault — attempted battery (specific intent) OR intentional creation of reasonable fear of imminent battery
- Aggravated assault — with deadly weapon, intent to commit felony, or against protected person
Theft Crimes
- Larceny — trespassory taking and carrying away of personal property of another with intent to permanently deprive
- Embezzlement — fraudulent conversion of property lawfully in possession; distinguishing feature is lawful initial possession
- False pretenses — obtaining title to property through material misrepresentation of present or past fact with intent to defraud
- Robbery — larceny from person by force or threat of immediate force
- Burglary (common law) — breaking and entering of dwelling house of another at nighttime with intent to commit felony therein; modern statutes expand significantly
Rape & Sexual Offenses
- Common law — unlawful sexual intercourse by force or threat without consent; marital exemption (largely abolished)
- Modern reform — focus on lack of consent; some jurisdictions require affirmative consent
- Statutory rape — strict liability as to age in most jurisdictions
- MPC approach — grades of sexual assault based on force, coercion, and incapacity
6
Inchoate Offenses
Attempt
- Specific intent to commit the target offense plus substantial step (MPC) or dangerous proximity (common law)
- Factual impossibility — not a defense (e.g., empty pocket in pickpocket attempt)
- Legal impossibility — defense at common law; MPC abolishes the distinction
- Abandonment — voluntary and complete renunciation is defense under MPC but not common law
- Merger — attempt merges with completed offense
Conspiracy
- Agreement between two or more persons to commit unlawful act (bilateral approach) or unilateral approach (MPC — one genuine conspirator sufficient)
- Overt act requirement — MPC and majority of jurisdictions require some act in furtherance
- Pinkerton liability — each conspirator liable for foreseeable crimes committed by co-conspirators in furtherance of conspiracy
- Wharton's Rule — where crime requires two participants, no conspiracy charge unless more than minimum participate
- No merger — conspiracy does not merge with completed offense; can be charged with both
Solicitation
- Asking, encouraging, or requesting another to commit a crime with intent that the crime be committed
- Complete upon communication of request — no need for agreement or action by solicitee
- Merges with conspiracy if agreement is reached; merges with target offense if completed
- MPC allows renunciation defense if solicitor thwarts commission of the crime
7
Accomplice Liability
Parties to a Crime
- Common law — principal in first degree, principal in second degree, accessory before the fact, accessory after the fact
- Modern/MPC approach — abolishes distinctions; accomplice liable as principal
- Mens rea — intent to assist and intent that the crime be committed (purpose under MPC)
- Actus reus — aid, counsel, encourage, or assist the principal; mere presence insufficient without more
- Natural and probable consequences doctrine — accomplice liable for reasonably foreseeable crimes of principal (rejected by MPC, narrowed by Rosemond v. United States)
Accessory After the Fact
- Knowledge that felony was committed, assistance to felon to avoid arrest/punishment
- Treated as separate, lesser offense — not as principal
- Misprision of felony — failure to report known felony (federal crime, rarely prosecuted)
8
Defenses
Justification Defenses
- Self-defense — honest and reasonable belief of imminent unlawful force; proportional force; duty to retreat in some jurisdictions (not in castle doctrine/stand your ground states)
- Defense of others — same standard as self-defense; reasonable belief standard in most jurisdictions
- Necessity/choice of evils — lesser evil to avoid greater harm; not available for homicide; objective balancing of harms
- Law enforcement — reasonable force to effectuate arrest; deadly force only to prevent escape of dangerous felon (Tennessee v. Garner)
Excuse Defenses
- Insanity — M'Naghten (did not know nature/quality or wrongfulness); irresistible impulse; Durham (product of mental disease); MPC substantial capacity (appreciate wrongfulness + conform conduct)
- Intoxication — voluntary intoxication negates specific intent only; involuntary intoxication treated like insanity
- Duress — threat of imminent death or serious bodily harm; not available for murder at common law; MPC allows for all crimes
- Infancy — under 7 no capacity (common law); 7-14 rebuttable presumption of incapacity; 14+ adult capacity
- Entrapment — government inducement of person not predisposed to commit crime (subjective test) vs. conduct that would induce a law-abiding person (objective test)
Outlining Tips for Criminal Law
Always compare common law and MPC approaches side by side — many professors test both frameworks and expect you to identify differences
Build a homicide flowchart — start with unlawful killing, then branch through malice, premeditation, provocation, negligence, and felony murder
For inchoate offenses, be precise about where the line is drawn between preparation and attempt — this is a favorite exam issue
Memorize the mental state hierarchy (purpose > knowledge > recklessness > negligence) and know which applies to each offense
Defenses should be organized by justification vs. excuse — this distinction matters for how they apply to accomplices
Pay attention to merger rules — attempt and solicitation merge, conspiracy does not; this is commonly tested
Practice applying Pinkerton liability to fact patterns with multiple co-conspirators — exam questions love this scenario
Recommended Length
40-55 pages
A thorough Criminal Law outline typically runs 40-55 pages and covers all 8 major sections with key rules, leading cases, and professor-specific notes. Start with this template and expand each section with your class notes, case briefs, and hypotheticals from lecture.