Legal Guide Book
Criminal Law
The Pocket Guide
Every black-letter rule a first-year criminal law exam actually tests - the elements of a crime, homicide, crimes against persons and property, inchoate offenses and accomplice liability, and the real defenses - reduced to its essential elements, one real example each, and the single thing worth remembering under time pressure. No padding, no filler cases, nothing outside the standard curriculum.
5 chapters · ~61 pages · delivered as a PDF, read on any device · $12 one-time
Contents
Chapter 1: The Elements of a Crime
Almost every crime is built from the same handful of pieces - actus reus, mens rea, and concurrence between them. Miss any required piece, and the crime as charged generally isn't made out, however bad the underlying facts look. Everything else in this book assumes you have this chapter cold.
- Actus Reus, Mens Rea & Concurrence — the Framework
- Actus Reus: The Voluntary Act
- Omissions & the Duty to Act
- Mens Rea at Common Law
- The MPC's Four Mental States
- Strict Liability
- Concurrence
Chapter 2: Homicide
The single most heavily tested topic in criminal law - how the same underlying act can be murder, manslaughter, or no crime at all, depending entirely on mental state, causation, and circumstance.
- Criminal Homicide: An Overview
- Murder & Malice Aforethought
- Degrees of Murder
- Felony Murder
- Voluntary Manslaughter
- Involuntary Manslaughter
- Causation
Chapter 3: Crimes Against Persons & Property
The specific crimes an exam actually names - each has its own real elements, and several overlap in the same fact pattern (a break-in that's also a theft that's also a robbery), so knowing where one crime ends and the next begins is the real skill.
- Assault & Battery
- Rape & Sexual Assault
- Kidnapping & False Imprisonment
- Larceny (Theft)
- Embezzlement & False Pretenses
- Robbery
- Burglary
Chapter 4: Inchoate Offenses & Accomplice Liability
Crimes about crimes that never fully happened, or about someone else's crime - attempt, solicitation, conspiracy, and accomplice liability each have their own real, distinct elements, and none of them are simply lesser versions of the completed offense.
- Attempt
- Solicitation
- Conspiracy
- Pinkerton & Withdrawal
- Accomplice Liability
- Scope of Accomplice Liability
- Merger Among Inchoate Crimes
Chapter 5: Defenses
Even a complete crime on paper can be excused or justified. Every defense below has real, specific elements of its own - none of them are a general "but I had a good reason" escape hatch.
- Self-Defense
- Defense of Others & Property
- Necessity (Choice of Evils)
- Duress
- Insanity
- Intoxication
- Infancy
Individually Priced
Sold SeparatelyIntroductory PriceCriminal Law: The Pocket Guide is sold separately
Criminal Law: The Pocket Guide has its own price and is not included in an All-Access Membership. Unlock it on its own:
This is an early, introductory price for a brand-new product — it’s expected to rise as we add more content. Buy now and it’s yours at today’s rate, forever.
This book teaches general doctrine using original hypothetical examples. It does not provide legal advice about any specific situation and does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your own circumstances, consult a licensed attorney.