Criminal Law: An Overview

Crimes are generally categorized as either felonies or misdemeanors although some are treated as only infractions or minor offenses. Felonies are the most serious types of crime and the punishment for a felony is more severe than a misdemeanor.

Two things must be present in order for a crime to be committed: an act (the physical element) and a particular state of mind (the mental element). The act is the body of the crime -- the corpus delecti. In a murder, for example, it is the killing of a human being by another human being. In arson it is the burning of a structure. Merely thinking about doing something illegal is not a crime.

You are guilty of solicitation if you ask someone to commit a crime for you, or to help you commit a crime, or when you advise someone on how to commit a crime. The only act required for the crime of solicitation is that of asking or advising the other person to do an illegal act.

Conspiracy is an agreement between to or more persons to commit a crime. A married man and his mistress, for example , may plot to kill his wife and collect the insurance money. But in order for the crime to be committed, more is required than a mere agreement. One of the conspirators must do an "overt act" that furthers the conspiracy. Suppose that after making the agreement with his mistress, the man buys a gun to kill his wife with. The husband and mistress are guilty of conspiracy because buying the gun to achieve the goal of the conspiracy -- killing the wife -- was the necessary overt act. If the two now have a change of heart and decide to forget the whole thing, they are still guilty of conspiracy.

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