Burdens of proof and persuasion Bar Exam Flashcards - Medical Study Cards
Master Burdens of proof and persuasion with Oncourse flashcards. These spaced repetition flashcards are designed for medical students preparing for NEET PG, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2, MBBS exams, and other medical licensing examinations.
Burdens of proof and persuasion Flashcard Deck - 10 Cards
Flashcard 1: What is the difference between factual cause and legal cause?
Answer: Factual cause requires proof that the result would not have occurred when and as it did but for the defendant’s conduct. Legal cause generally requires that the result be a foreseeable consequence of the conduct and that no superseding intervening cause breaks the chain.
Flashcard 2: When can a failure to act satisfy the actus reus requirement?
Answer: An omission creates criminal liability only when the defendant had a legal duty to act, such as a duty imposed by statute, contract, relationship, voluntary assumption of care, or creation of the risk. The defendant must also have been physically capable of performing the required act.
Flashcard 3: When does an intervening event relieve a defendant of criminal responsibility for a result?
Answer: An intervening event generally does not break causation if it is a foreseeable response to the defendant’s conduct, including ordinary medical negligence. An unforeseeable, highly abnormal event may be a superseding cause that relieves the defendant of liability for the result.
Flashcard 4: What is required to establish constructive possession?
Answer: Constructive possession requires knowing control over the item and the ability to exercise dominion over it, even though the item is not in the defendant’s physical custody. Mere proximity or presence where the item is found is insufficient.
Flashcard 5: Can a person be criminally punished merely for having a particular status or condition?
Answer: Generally, no: due process prohibits punishing a person solely for being addicted, homeless, or in another involuntary status. The prosecution may punish voluntary conduct associated with the status, such as possessing drugs.
Flashcard 6: What is the concurrence requirement in criminal liability?
Answer: The required mental state must exist at the time the defendant performs the criminal act or omission. A later-formed intent ordinarily cannot establish liability for an earlier act, although a continuing course of conduct may satisfy concurrence.
Flashcard 7: What are the usual elements the prosecution must prove for a crime?
Answer: The prosecution generally must prove a voluntary act or qualifying omission, the required mental state, any required attendant circumstances, and causation if the offense is result-based. The prosecution must also prove concurrence between the act and mental state.
Flashcard 8: What is the voluntary-act requirement for criminal liability?
Answer: Under the majority rule, criminal liability requires a voluntary bodily movement; reflexes, convulsions, conduct during unconsciousness, and movements performed while sleepwalking are not voluntary acts. Earlier voluntary conduct may still establish liability if it created the involuntary condition or otherwise satisfies the offense.
Flashcard 9: What does the principle of legality require in criminal law?
Answer: A person may be punished only for conduct defined as criminal by a law enacted before the conduct occurred. Criminal statutes must give fair notice and cannot be so vague that they fail to provide ascertainable standards.
Flashcard 10: What is the majority rule for strict-liability offenses?
Answer: Most crimes require a culpable mental state, but a legislature may create a strict-liability offense for which the prosecution need not prove mens rea as to a specified element. Courts generally construe criminal statutes narrowly and presume a mens rea requirement unless the statute clearly indicates strict liability.
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