CCJS 105 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Corpus Delicti, Actus Reus, Mens Rea
22 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
International crime police organization (interpol) serves as a repository for crime statistics from each of its 188-member nations. Ex: within interpol, acts such as murder, assault, rape, and theft are universally serious crimes, only differing in the ordering. Mala in se ( inherently evil): universally condemned crimes. Evoke reactions such as anger, helplessness, desire for revenge not just because they are wrong but because they hammer at our deepest concerns. Mechanisms function to motivate people to prevent such acts from happening. Mala prohibita ( evil because they are prohibited): crimes that are time and culture bound. Legal answer to who is a criminal : someone who committed a crime and been judged guilty. Corpus delicti ( body of the crime ): the five elements of an act that must be present in order to legally define it as a crime. Really only necessary for state to prove actus reus and mens rea to satify corpus delicti.
