Criminal Law

Chapter 1 Introduction

Recent developments in international criminal law have brought about a new interest in this subject. International criminal tribunals and international extradition requests have made it more important for lawyers to be familiar with the basic terms of criminal law.

In the United States, federal statutes define crimes at the federal level and state statutes define crimes at the state level. The role of the courts at both the federal and state levels is gen­erally to apply the statues to the facts of a case. Unlike the criminal law systems of many other countrieshowever, the judge will not undertake an independent investigation or inquiry of the facts. The judge will instead look to see whether the prosecution has met its burden" to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." This is a higher and more difficult standard of proof than is found in civil(i. e. ,non - criminal) trials which requires plaintiffs" to prove their case by a pre­ponderance of the evidence. "

For most people, familiarity with criminal law comes in fragments—from movies, televi­sion, and books. But when we become personally involved in the criminal law system, real  life issues come into focus and the need for information and assistance can arise quickly. This chapter discusses the basics of criminal law_;criminal statutes,criminal law players and procedure, and the potential outcome of a criminal case.                                                                                                     

1. Reading Federal Criminal Statutes

Criminal laws in the United States exist at both the state and federal level. The federal criminal laws are compiled and published in the United States Code. Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code provides that;

Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact,or makes any false,fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations,or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudu­lent statement or entry, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years or both.

That statute is -written as a single sentence. It is difficult for anyone to read. If it could be broke down, it would be much easier to understand. Consider this revision of 18U. S. C.

§ 1001_:

Whoever,in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States,

1. Knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact, or
2. Makes    any false,fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations,or
3. Makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry,shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years or both.

In this revised version of the statute, it is easy to see that there are three ways to violate the statute. It also becomes evident that some terms may be redundant. For example,is there re­ally a difference between" conceals" and" covers up" ? Or between" false" and" fictitious" ? If it were within our power to amend the statue ,we might make it clearer by breaking the statute into sections and eliminating the redundant language.

II. Criminal Laws and Their Sources

When a society and its government decide that certain conduct is dangerous to citizens,or damaging to the society as a whole,such conduct is labeled as"crime" and is made punishable by sanctions such as fines and imprisonment. Most crimes are identified in statutes that have been enacted by federal, state, and local government legislatures, in response to issues that af­fect the jurisdiction. For example,a city may determine that it is a crime to be drunk in public, while the federal government decides bank robbery is a federal crime, since most banks are fed­erally insured.

' Criminal statutes describe the type of conduct that has been deemed a crime , the mindset or intent required,and in some instances,the proper punishment. For example,the following" Burglary" statutes are from the California Penal Code:

Section 459. Every person who enters any house, room, apartment, tenement, shop, ware­house, store, mill, bam, stable, outhouse or other building,tent,vessel, [etc. ]. . . with intent to commit grand or petit larceny or any felony is guilty of burglary.

Section 461. Burglary is punishable as follows:

1. Burglary     in the first degree;by imprisonment in the state prison for two,four,or six years.
2. Burglary in the second degree .-by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison.