[...]... better think of a dysfunctional one 4 The Crime Junkie’s Guide to Criminal Law Where the Law Comes From The original source of our criminal law was English law that was made by judges and was referred to as “common law. ” The colonies adopted this common law as their own criminal law American courts then continued the tradition of deciding what behavior was criminal That is no longer how things work... easier to disprove than to prove, and it’s usually better to have the other side show its cards first (as when they have the burden of persuasion) so you can know what you’re dealing with and what you need to do to counter that evidence Legal Briefs Common law English judge-made law that was later adopted by individual states 8 The Crime Junkie’s Guide to Criminal Law Substantive criminal law The law. .. story as to why the crime occurred is an entirely separate question With some crimes, like involuntary manslaughter, liability can be based on criminal negligence, which means that the defendant acted with a “gross” lack of care This is a higher standard than ordinary negligence 14 The Crime Junkie’s Guide to Criminal Law in the civil law context To find that an act rises to the level of a crime, the. .. Since crime is a public concern, the state appears in court in the person of the public prosecutor, usually called a district attorney or a state’s attorney The district attorney (or state’s attorney) is not working for the victim in the case It is the state’s case, and the victim is essentially another witness in the state’s prosecution of the defendant for harm to the public welfare Of course, the. .. intent The intent to commit the act that constitutes the crime; can be inferred from just the doing of the act Specific intent The intent to do the act that constitutes the crime plus another particular purpose to the act (for larceny, must show intent to physically take the property plus the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property) Cannot be inferred, must be proven Criminal negligence—A... for a crime, the only thing the prosecution legally has to show is that the defendant did the prohibited act with the intent required by the statute While a showing of motive may be a reliable indicator that the defendant committed the crime, the law does not require the prosecution to show any motive at all on the defendant’s part in order to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt Whether the jury will... what exactly the state has to prove to convict him of that crime Procedural law deals with the way in which crimes are investigated and guilt is determined We’re talking about things like search warrants, police interrogations, and juries However, things get a little tricky with procedural law 6 The Crime Junkie’s Guide to Criminal Law Both federal and state criminal laws have to comply with the U.S Constitution... cooperation The Players You should also keep in mind the different parts in the system Recall the famous voice-over at the start of Law & Order: “In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups, the police who investigate the crimes and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders These are their stories.” Although we may have a tendency to think... regard to that tragic result Now, let’s change the scenario again to one where the bombers’ objective is still to destroy the church building, but that they plant the bomb to go off on a Tuesday evening, and that although they know that the church basement is used regularly during the week, they do not know exactly when the basement is used on Tuesdays Suppose that in fact children and 16 The Crime Junkie’s. .. In our criminal justice system, the answer is “yes.” The law rationalize that the defendant’s mental state with regard to his intended victim “transfers” to the actual victim As Jack McCoy puts it to Yates during a plea bargaining session in the standard Law & Order conference room sequence—“I’m sure your lawyer can explain to you, Mr Yates, that in criminal law, intent follows the bullet.” The Model . class="bi x0 y0 w0 h0" alt="" The Crime Junkie’s Guide to Criminal Law The Crime Junkie’s Guide to Criminal Law From Law & Order to Laci Peterson Jim Silver Library. dysfunctional one. 4 The Crime Junkie’s Guide to Criminal Law Where the Law Comes From The original source of our criminal law was English law that was made