Statutory crimes

The Working Floor: Find the Offense Before Chasing Liability

Recognize this topic when facts mention a death, a killing, a weapon, a threat, property taken, money obtained through a lie, unauthorized entry, force against a person, a prohibited item, or driving after alcohol or drug use. Procedural language such as “charged with,” “convicted of,” “lesser offense,” “felony,” “during the commission of,” or “which offense is established” also signals classification.

Run this sequence:

1. Identify the physical event: death, taking, entry, force or threat, possession, bodily injury, or operation of a vehicle.

2. Reach for the supplied provision whose operative verb matches that event. Circle or isolate words such as “takes,” “enters,” “converts,” “obtains,” “causes,” “possesses,” or “operates.”

3. List each required element in the order the statute states it. Then locate definitions, exceptions, alternative forms, and grading provisions.

4. Ask which facts prove each element and which facts defeat an element. Do not import an element that the supplied statute omits.

5. For homicide, determine causation and then classify the killing. For property crimes, determine who had possession and who had title at the critical time. For burglary and robbery, separate entry from taking and force. For assault, possession, and impaired driving, identify the statutory act, circumstance, result, and grading facts.

6. If a participant is mentioned, first identify the completed substantive offense committed by the actor whose conduct is described. Only then address any separate participant question.

Your floor is the vocabulary and sequence: murder, felony murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, larceny, embezzlement, false pretenses, burglary, robbery, assault, possession, operation, impairment, causation, title, possession, force, threat, entry, and grading. You should recognize what provision to retrieve and the order of questions to ask.

Your floor is not exact element wording, numbered subsections, statutory exception lists, or jurisdiction-specific grades. Those contents should be taken from the provision supplied at item time.

Homicide’s Classifications: Let Causation and Culpability Sort the Killing

Start with the statutory definition of the prohibited killing and confirm that the defendant’s conduct caused the death. Actual causation asks whether the death would have occurred without the conduct. Legal causation asks whether the death is sufficiently connected to the conduct under the statute, including any statutory treatment of intervening events.

Then classify the offense in this order:

• Murder: Match the statute’s definition of malice or its specified purposeful, knowing, or highly reckless mental state. Do not assume that every intentional killing uses the same wording.

• Felony murder: Determine whether the defendant caused a death during the commission or attempted commission of a felony listed by the statute. Check whether the statute requires a specified felony, a causal connection, or additional limitations. If the provision says no separate intent to kill is required, do not add one.

• Voluntary manslaughter: A purposeful or knowing killing may receive the statutory manslaughter grade when the provision’s listed provocation mitigation applies. Use the supplied requirements exactly; the label alone does not reduce murder.

• Involuntary manslaughter: An unintentional death caused by the level of recklessness identified in the statute generally falls here. Distinguish recklessness from ordinary carelessness by the statutory language and any definitions supplied.

• Negligent homicide: Where the statute creates this lower grade, an unintentional death caused by criminal negligence may qualify even though the facts do not establish recklessness.

Grading usually follows classification. A death during a qualifying felony can move directly to felony murder. If that route is unavailable, ask about malice. If malice is absent, ask whether the statute mitigates an intentional killing. If there was no qualifying intentional killing, distinguish reckless conduct from criminal negligence.

Figure: A decision path showing how causation, felony murder, malice, statutory provocation mitigation, recklessness, and negligence sort an unlawful death into its offense category.

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A homicide checklist therefore asks: What death occurred? What conduct caused it? Was there a qualifying felony? What mental state does the statute require? Does a statutory mitigation provision apply? What grade follows?

Do not treat “the victim survived” as a homicide issue; that fact redirects attention to an offense such as assault. Conversely, when a victim dies, classify the death before analyzing other possible offenses.

The Taking Offenses: Follow Possession, Title, and Timing

Property-taking offenses are separated mainly by who had possession, who had title, what the defendant did, and when the required intent existed.

• Larceny generally requires a trespassory taking and carrying away of tangible personal property of another, from possession, with the required intent to permanently deprive. The critical point is that the defendant takes possession without permission and forms the required intent at the taking.

• Embezzlement generally involves property of another that was already lawfully entrusted to the defendant’s possession. The offense is the later fraudulent conversion or use, not the original receipt. A person who has only custody rather than possession may commit larceny instead.

• False pretenses generally involves obtaining title through an intentional material misrepresentation about an existing or past fact, made with the required fraudulent purpose, on which the victim relies. The victim voluntarily transfers title because of the deception.

• Theft by deception may be defined more broadly than false pretenses. Read whether the statute covers a false statement, concealment, a promise, or another deceptive practice, and whether it requires transfer of title or only possession.

• Receiving stolen property generally requires receiving, possessing, or disposing of property known to be stolen, with the statutory purpose concerning deprivation or retention. The receiver’s offense is distinct from the original taking.

• Extortion-type offenses generally focus on obtaining property through a threat of future harm or another form of coercion. Robbery, by contrast, uses force or an immediate threat in taking property from a person or the person’s presence.

The fastest distinction is often this: larceny begins with wrongful taking; embezzlement begins with lawful possession; false pretenses begins with deceptive acquisition of title. A victim’s consent does not automatically resolve the issue because consent to possession differs from consent to title.

Timing matters. If the defendant receives property innocently and later forms a dishonest purpose, that fact does not automatically create larceny at the original receipt. Look for the offense that matches the later conversion, deception, or possession. If the defendant lies before the victim hands over title, false pretenses is the natural provision to examine. If the defendant is entrusted with property and later uses it for an unauthorized purpose, examine embezzlement.

Entry and Taking: Keep Burglary and Robbery on Separate Tracks

Burglary and robbery can arise from the same episode but require different facts. Burglary centers on an unauthorized entry with criminal intent. Robbery centers on a taking from a person or the person’s presence through force or an immediate threat.

For burglary, read four elements together: the required entry or remaining, the required location, lack of authorization, and intent at the time of entry to commit the specified crime. A person who enters lawfully and later decides to steal may not satisfy a statute requiring intent at entry. A person who enters an open business is not automatically guilty of burglary; authorization and the statutory location requirement still matter.

For robbery, identify the property, the owner or possessor, the person or presence from which it was taken, the required intent, and the force or threat. The threat must meet the statute’s timing and seriousness requirements. A threat made only after the property was safely taken may support another offense but may fail a robbery element if the statute requires force to obtain or retain the property.

A taking can support both robbery and another property offense in the same narrative, but classify the completed offense from the more specific provision. Entry into a building does not convert a forceful taking into burglary, and an unauthorized entry does not convert a later nonforceful taking into robbery.

When the facts include a death during a robbery, first establish whether the robbery was completed under the supplied provision. Then ask whether the homicide statute uses that robbery as a felony-murder predicate. This sequence prevents the felony label from replacing the elements of the underlying property offense.

Assault is statutory and may take different forms. Locate whether the provision requires causing bodily injury, attempting a specified harmful act, or threatening imminent injury while intending the required apprehension. Then identify the victim, the prohibited conduct, any required result, the required timing, and grading facts such as serious injury or weapon use. Do not assume that a threat, physical contact, or injury satisfies every statutory version.

Criminal possession generally requires possession of a prohibited item and the statute’s required knowledge or control. Actual possession exists when the item is physically held or immediately controlled. Constructive possession may exist when the defendant knows of the item and exercises control over the place or item, but shared access alone may be insufficient. Check whether the statute requires duration, exclusive control, a particular location, or an exception.

Impaired driving generally requires operation or actual physical control of a vehicle, in the place and circumstances specified by the statute, plus either actual impairment or a per se measurement such as a statutory alcohol or drug threshold. Read whether the provision requires operation on a public roadway, a particular substance, a measurement within a specified period, or proof that impairment affected driving. Injury or death may create a separate grade requiring additional causation.

The executable sequence is: identify the statutory act; identify the required circumstance; identify any required result; locate the culpability language; then check grading facts and exceptions. Keep “was in the vehicle,” “possessed the item,” “threatened the victim,” and “operated the vehicle” distinct because each may be narrower than the ordinary-language description.

Statute excerpt:
A person commits robbery if, with intent to deprive another of property, the person takes personal property from the person or presence of another by using or threatening immediate physical force. Robbery is a felony.

A person commits murder if, while committing or attempting robbery, the person causes the death of another. No additional purpose to kill is required.

A person commits burglary if the person enters a building without authorization, intending at the time of entry to commit a felony inside.

Ben entered a convenience store during business hours and pointed a realistic-looking pistol at the clerk. He said, “Give me the cash or I will shoot.” The clerk handed Ben the cash. As Ben ran toward the exit, Ben fired the pistol and killed the clerk. Ben’s driver, Dana, had agreed to drive Ben away knowing that Ben planned to use a gun to obtain money. Before considering any question about Dana’s legal responsibility, which two completed substantive offenses did Ben commit under the quoted provisions?

A different sub-area: A statute prohibits knowingly possessing a controlled item, including constructive possession. Lee knows the item is inside a locked box in Lee’s bedroom and keeps the only key. Lee has constructive possession because knowledge and control over the location support possession even without physical holding.

High-Yield Points - ⚡ Biggest Takeaways

Read the supplied statute’s operative verbs before naming the offense. Homicide classification turns first on causation, felony murder, malice, mitigation, recklessness, or negligence. Larceny begins with wrongful taking, embezzlement with lawful possession, false pretenses with deceptive title transfer. Burglary requires statutory entry and entry-time intent, while robbery requires a force-backed taking from a person or presence.