UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF LAW Law A505 D: CRIMINAL LAW Spring Quarter 2012 PROFESSOR: Jacqueline McMurtrie Rm. 246, phone: 543-5780, e-mail: jackiem@uw.edu SECRETARY: Cynthia Fester, Rm. 423, phone: 685-7565, e-mail: csfester@uw.edu OFFICE HOURS: Tuesdays 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.; Thursdays 1:30 2:30 p.m. & By Appointment If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, (206) 543-8924 (V/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating that you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to me so we can discuss the accommodations you might need for the class. All classes will be podcast and posted on the course website. Course Goals: My goals for this course are (1) to teach you the basic principles of criminal law such as the elements of a crime, defenses, accomplice liability, etc.; (2) to make you aware of the context of criminal law and the emotionally and politically charged atmosphere in which many criminal law decisions are made; (3) to continue to develop your skills in analyzing cases and analyzing statutes; (4) to integrate concepts of professionalism into the course through outside readings, negotiation exercises, jail tours and discussions with practitioners. Some of you will practice criminal law, most will not. But even those who choose not to practice criminal law may well work in criminal law as legislators, judges or as policy makers. And as lawyers, you will have a special responsibility for the criminal justice system, no matter what your area of practice. Textbooks: REQUIRED JENNIFER THOMSPON-CANNINO, RONALD COTTON WITH ERIN TORNEO, PICKING COTTON: OUR MEMOIR OF INJUSTICE AND REDEMPTION JOSHUA DRESSLER, CASES AND MATERIALS ON CRIMINAL LAW (5TH ED. 2010) OPTIONAL JOSHUA DRESSLER, UNDERSTANDING CRIMINAL LAW (5TH EDITION: 2009) RICHARD G. SINGER & JOHN Q. LA FOND, CRIMINAL LAW, EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATIONS (5TH EDITION: 2010) Course Requirements: You are required to (1) Attend a tour of a correctional facility and turn in report; (2) Participate in three class negotiation exercises and complete the worksheets for the exercises; and (3) Take a final examination. 1. Jail Tour Journal. Please read Adam Gopnik, The Caging of America, New Yorker, Jan. 30, 2012 prior completing your report, which is due on the Monday following your tour. The report should be no longer than 800 words. Please tell me whether you have ever toured such a facility in the past; what you expected to see and what, if anything, surprised you; and in general, what you learned. 1
The dates for the Maleng Regional Justice Center and the King County Corrections Facility are below. Regional Justice Center / Kent Tues., April 10, 4:00 pm 9 students Thurs., April 12, 4:00 pm 4 students Tues., April 24, 4:00 pm 8 students King County Jail/ Seattle Tues., April 10, 4:00 pm 10 students Thurs., April 12, 4:00 pm 10 students Tues., April 24, 4:00 pm 10 students Students must complete a Background Check form found at: https://courses.law.washington.edu/mcmurtriej/a505d_sp12/jailtours.html Once you have completed the form bring the completed, printed form to Room 422 along with a government-issued photo id such as your driver's license or passport. Cynthia or one of the other staff people in Room 422 will make a copy of your government-issued photo identification to be included with your completed form for the background check by the King County Corrections personnel. These forms and photocopies remain under lock and key 24/7 and are shredded as soon as the background check is completed.) Please submit the form by Thursday, March 29 th, so the Corrections staff has time to do the background checks prior to the visit. If you are unable to attend one of the scheduled tours, you must arrange a tour on your own. 2. Class Negotiation Exercises. There will be three in-class negotiations during the quarter. You will participate as a prosecutor, defense attorney or observer during the exercises. You must prepare for the negotiation with your co-counsel prior to the session and turn in the worksheets for the exercises. 3. Examination. There will be a three-hour final examination. The exam will test your mastery of criminal law doctrine. It will cover material in assignments and any doctrinal information provided in class by the professor. The exam will be a modified open book exam. You will be permitted to use the required text and the supplement, any materials, handed out in class, your own class notes and any outlines that you have materially participated in creating. The use of hornbooks, commercial outlines, notes or outlines prepared by other people, computers, or electronic databases (such as Westlaw) is prohibited. You will be permitted to use your computer to answer the exam questions; if you use a computer you are required to use Exam4 software in the open mode (allowing access to files and programs on your computer but not the intranet until your exam is completed). You are bound by the honor code not to use the search feature in any documents you open. Grading: Jail tours and reports and negotiation exercises (see 1 and 2 above) are not graded. However, I will raise a borderline grade if an outstanding job is done on any of the assignments. Furthermore, the assignments are a required part of the course and your grade can be lowered if you fail to complete them on time or neglect to complete the assignments. If you fail to complete any of the assignments, points will be deducted from your final examination score. The final examination will be graded on a curve, in accordance with the grading policy of the law school. 2
Syllabus All page numbers in parenthesis refer to the Dressler Casebook Dressler, Cases and Materials on Criminal Law (5th Edition: 2010) Assignments are subject to modification during the quarter. Consult the course website for up-to-date reading assignments. Day Date Reading Assignments Pages Week 1 Mon. 3/26 Introduction: Setting the Stage Nature, Sources & Limits of the Criminal Law; Trial by Jury & Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Picking Cotton (1-19) Tues. 3/27 Principles of Punishment: Theories of Punishment (31-48) Wed. 3/28 Class will be held from 9:45 AM to 11:20 AM in Room 118 (you may also watch the documentary online) (51-69) Thurs. 3/29 Class Cancelled The Plea: Frontline Documentary Principles of Punishment: The Penal Theories in Action Available at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plea/ Fri. 3/30 Class Negotiation Exercise # 1: The Penal Theories in Action. Each group must submit their results to the Catalyst Collect-It dropbox (link on the left menu of the course webpage) following the exercise. https://catalyst.uw.edu/collectit/dropbox/csfester/20909 Webpage Negotiation Instructions Left Menu Week 2 Mon. 4/2 Principles of Punishment: Proportionality (30-31; 69-72; 81-91) Tues. 4/3 Modern Role of Criminal Statutes: Legality (92; 95-105; 113-119) Wed. 4/4 Class will be held in Room 138 Special Panel with the Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the Nation s Top Military Court. AMJUR MILITARY 302. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (attached). The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com Army on trial too as Sgt. Robert Bales faces charges for Afghanistan shootings 3
Day Date Reading Assignments Pages Thurs. 4/5 Modern Role of Criminal Statutes: Statutory Interpretation Jon May, Statutory Interpretation, Not for the Timid, The Champion, Jan/Feb. 2006. (119-126) Fri. 4/6 Actus Reus: Voluntary Act & Omissions (127-141) Week 3 Mon. 4/9 Actus Reus: Omissions (cont.); Social Harm & Nature of Mens Rea (142-148; 149-163) Tues. 4/10 Mens Rea: Nature of Mens Rea (cont.) & Strict Liability Offenses (163-175; 175-186) Wed. 4/11 Mens Rea: Mistake and Mens Rea (194-213) Thurs. 4/12 Defenses: Introduction & Justification Defenses (480-486; 500-510) Fri. 4/13 Justification Defenses: Self-Defense (cont.) (510-524) Week 4 Mon. 4/16 Justification Defenses: Self-Defense (cont.) (525-548) Tues. 4/17 Justification Defenses: Defense of Others & Defense of Property/Habitation (549-559) Wed. 4/18 Accomplice Liability: General Principles & Mens Rea (848-868 [You do not need to read Lauria at this point in time) Thurs. 4/19 Accomplice Liability: Actus Reus (868-879) Fri. 4/20 Accomplice Liability (880-900) Week 5 Mon. 4/23 Causation (214-215; 219-232) Tues. 4/24 Homicide: Intentional Killings Background (235-247); (253-264) Wed. 4/25 Homicide: Manslaughter (264-285) Thurs. 4/26 Homicide: Model Penal Code (285-292) Fri. 4/27 Week 6 Practitioner s Panel: A Day in the Life of Prosecutors and Defenders No assigned readings Mon. 4/30 Homicide: Unintentional Killings (295-308) Tues. 5/1 Class Negotiation Exercise #2: Unintentional Killing (308-315) Web Materials Wed. 5/2 Homicide: Felony Murder (315-334) Thurs. 5/3 Class will be held in Room 133 Washington Supreme Court Arguments 4
Day Date Reading Assignments Pages Fri. 5/4 Homicide: Felony Murder (334-345) Week 7 Mon. 5/7 Rape: Actus Reus Background (385-404); (404-421) Tues. 5/8 Rape: Actus Reus (cont.) (421-447) Wed. 5/9 Rape: Mens Rea (453-464; 475 [including Garnett]- 479) Thurs. 5/10 Justification Defenses: Necessity (560-572) Fri. 5/11 Class Negotiation Exercise #3: Justification/Excuse (48-50; 572-579); Webpage Materials Week 8 Mon. 5/14 Excuses: General Principles & Duress (579-597) Tues. 5/15 Excuses: Intoxication (603-611) Wed. 5/16 Excuses: Insanity (611-631) Thurs. 5/17 Excuses: Insanity (631-650) Fri. 5/18 Inchoate Offenses: Attempt (729-745) Week 9 Mon. 5/21 Inchoate Offenses: Attempt (745-758) Tues. 5/22 Inchoate Offenses: Attempt (758-771) Wed. 5/23 Inchoate Offenses: Assault, Solicitation & Intro to (789-809) Conspiracy Thurs. 5/24 Inchoate Offenses: Conspiracy (809-816) Fri. 5/25 Inchoate Offenses: Conspiracy (816-829) Week 10 Mon. 5/28 Memorial Day Holiday Tues. 5/29 Inchoate Offenses: Conspiracy (830-847) Wed. 5/30 Review Session The 3-Hour Final Exam for LAW A505 D Criminal Law is currently scheduled for Monday, June 4, beginning at 8:30 AM. As the exam period approaches you should confirm this date and time at http://www.law.washington.edu/students/exams/default.aspx? If you choose to use a computer to write your exam answer, you will be required to use Exam4, which you can download at http://www.law.washington.edu/students/exams/exam4.aspx. You will be using Exam4 in the Closed Mode Only Exam4 will run during your exam. All other programs and files will be blocked, including internet access, until you end your exam. 5