Упражнение 4. Выскажите своё согласие и несогласие со следующими предложениями. Если, по вашему мнению, предложение неверное, исправьте его.

1. If a person knowingly caused or attempted to cause physical harm to another person, he would likely be charged with assault because he specifically intended to cause physical harm to the other person.

2. An attempt crime can not be charged with just about any other crime because it has never been completed.

3. To be guilty of conspiracy two or more individuals must agree to commit some crime and take some concrete step in carrying out the crime.

4. First Degree Premeditated Murder is often a difficult crime to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

5. Larceny requires the specific intent to defraud another individual.

6. Solicitation requires the specific intent to have the individual whom is solicited commit a certain crime.

7. Overall, specific intent crimes are easier to prove than other types of crimes, because they do not require stronger and more credible evidence than general intent crimes, malice crimes, and strict liability crimes.

 

Упражнение 5. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. Financial crimes, also known as white-collar crimes involve financial gain perpetrated through some type of non-violent fraudulent activity.

2. These crimes may include not only the traditional white collar offenses of fraud and embezzlement, but also bribery, forgery, filing of false insurance or government claims, securities violations, telemarketing offenses, trademark or trade secret offenses, price-fixing, illegal employment practices, health violations, credit card or credit access, escrow and construction violations, and others.

3. The range of behavior involved is great and how the case is handled depends upon a number of factors including the complexity of the case, the age, and vulnerability of the victim(s), the amount of transactions involved, the amount of evidence involved to prove the event, the amount of money or property loss, the reason for the taking, the ability to pay restitution, and others issues.

4. If you are a first time offender, or if you acted out of desperation because of a major life stressor, you are more likely to receive mercy.

5. If you plotted to defraud someone over a long period of time, you are more likely to receive a substantial sentence.

6. You may want to consider a psychological evaluation to demonstrate all those life stressors that made you act contrary to your normal behavior.

7. These cases usually involve lots of documents and lots of foundational witnesses to those documents, which can take up many days in court.

8. When someone is charged with a homicide, it means they could be convicted of something ranging between Involuntary Manslaughter (reckless act resulting in death) to First Degree Premeditated Murder.

9. Some of these cases involve defeating premeditation or showing mentally diminished capability to reduce the degree of murder to second degree or reduce it further to manslaughter.

10. In addition, the doctrine of presumed intent may be helpful in proving specific intent because it holds individuals accountable for all the natural and probable consequences of their acts.

 

Упражнение 6. Ответьте на вопросы по тексту 2.

1. What is the specific intent in the crime of assault?

2. Why is an attempt crime charged with just about any other crime?

3. What type of crime is burglary as a rule?

4. What should an agreement be to become a conspiracy?

5. What crimes require the specific intent to defraud another individual?

6. How can we define First Degree Premeditated Murder?

7. What is special intent for larceny?

8. How should a person act for his actions to constitute the solicitation?

Упражнение 7. Выберите и выпишите из текста 2 опорные слова для подготовки сообщения на английском языке по теме “Types of Specific Intent Crimes” и подготовьте его.

Текст 3

Переведите следующий текст, пользуясь словарем, и научитесь его бегло читать:

Defences

There are several defences that can be raised in a criminal case.

Insanity. One of the most newsworthy defences is that of insanity. Different states have adopted different rules as to how insanity is to be determined. Some states try to determine whether the perpetrator was able to distinguish right from wrong. Other states test the defendant to establish when the status of his or her mind prevented him or her from controlling his or her conduct and he or she was overtaken by an irresistible impulse to engage in unlawful activity. Some others consider the defendant to be not criminally responsible if his or her unlawful act was the product of mental disease or mental defect. These types of insanity defenses are generally the subject of a good deal of controversy and normally involve expert testimony from psychiatrists or other mental health professionals.

Intoxication. Another defense that can be raised is intoxication. If a crime requires specific intent, then a person who is intoxicated may be incapable of forming that specific intent.

Coercion. Coercion arises when there is duress. The bank teller who turns over the bank's money to the robber is acting under duress and therefore is not guilty of larceny in removing the money from the drawer. He or she is coerced in releasing the money.

Necessity. A woman is threatened with sexual assault, and who then breaks down a neighbor's front door to seek refuge is not guilty of burglary because her conduct is governed by the defense of necessity. She needed to find safety.

Entrapment. Entrapment is a much more difficult defense. The purpose of the entrapment defense is to prevent the government from manufacturing the crime. An undercover police officer who offers to purchase narcotics from someone who he or she believes to be a pusher is not guilty of entrapment. However, an undercover police officer who applies immense pressure to a suspect to sell him or her narcotics by establishing a friendship with him or her and then playing on that friendship to overcome that person's unwillingness to sell narcotics probably would be guilty of entrapment.

Vagueness. The U.S. Constitution precludes punishing a person under a statute that is too vague to be understood. A statute should be sufficiently clear that a reasonable person could determine what conduct is forbidden and the statute should be sufficiently clear as to prevent arbitrary enforcement by the police.

Self-Defense. The ultimate defense to a crime against a person is self-defense. As a general rule, a person may use whatever force is reasonably necessary to prevent immediate and unlawful harm to him- or herself. Some jurisdictions have adopted the retreat rule that requires a person who can safely retreat to do so before using deadly force.

Protection of Property. A related defense in property crimes is protection of property. As a general rule, a person can use whatever force, short of deadly force, that reasonably appears to be necessary to protect property.

Слова к тексту 3:

1. newsworthy [ˊnju:zˏwə:ðɪ] - заслуживающий упоминания

2. insanity [ɪnˊsænɪtɪ] - душевное расстройство, невменяемость

3. to distinguish [dɪsˊtɪŋgwɪʃ] - различать

4. to overtake - овладевать

5. irresistible [ˏɪrɪˊzɪstəbl] - непреодолимый

6. mental disease [dɪˊzi:z] - душевная болезнь

7. controversy [ˊkɔntrəvə:sɪ] - разногласие

8. duress [djuəˊres] - принуждение

9. a bank teller - кассир банка

10. to seek refuge [ˊrefju:ʤ] - искать убежища

11. entrapment [ɪnˊtræpmənt] - провокация преступления с целью его разоблачения

12. an undercover police officer - полицейский, работающий под прикрытием

13. to purchase [ˊpə:ʧəs] - покупать

14. to apply immense pressure [ˊpreʃə] - оказывать сильное давление

15. vagueness [ˊveɪgnɪs] - неопределенность, неясность

16. to preclude [prɪˊklu:d] - предотвращать, мешать

17. arbitrary [ˊa:bɪtrərɪ] - произвольный

18. a retreat [rɪˊtri:t] - отступление

19. deadly force - смертоносное насилие

20. short of - кроме

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