LOUISIANA BAR EXAM CRIMINAL LAW 114
2026 REVISION NOTES AND STRUCTURED
CRIMINAL LAW PRINCIPLES OVERVIEW GUIDE
◉ Transferred Intent. Answer: Where D intends to produce a
criminal result against one party but inadvertently harms another.
Intent transfers to the unintended victim, not a defense that D
harmed the wrong person.
◉ Concurrence. Answer: Needed to prove guilt, have to show the
criminal act was set in motion by the requisite criminal state of mind
and that mens rea and criminal act concurred precisely in time. i.e. D
breaks into house to escape rain, sees valuable item and decides to
steal it. Not burglary because breaking and entering was not
actuated by the requisite mens rea- which occurred later.
◉ Legal Cause. Answer: D's conduct must be both the actual and
proximate cause of the specified criminal result. Actual cause +
proximate cause = legal cause.
◉ Actual Cause Tests. Answer: 1. The criminal result would not have
occurred "but for" D's act. 2. If there were multiple causes, D's act
was a "substantial factor" in causing the criminal result. 3. D
"accelerated" an inevitable result. i.e. D1 stabs victim, D2 then
shoots him in the head.
,◉ Proximate Cause. Answer: Established when the harm produced
by D was objectively foreseeable.
◉ Superseding Cause. Answer: Breaks the causal connection to
relieve D of liability. Have to see if the intervening cause was
dependent or responsive to D's initial cause, or was independent or
a mere coincidence.
◉ Criminal Homicide. Answer: The unlawful killing of a human
being caused by another. Unlawful when there is no legal
justification or is the result of a criminal state of mind.
◉ Murder. Answer: The unlawful killing of a human being with
malice. At CL, death of a human being requires the victim had been
born alive, though some states have extended to killing of a viable
fetus. Death must be caused by someone other than the victim.
◉ Acceleration of Death. Answer: Killing someone who is already
dying is still considered murder, because of speeding up their death.
◉ Year and a Day Rule. Answer: At CL, if victim died more than a
year and a day after D's act, treated the death as unforeseeable and
D was not the legal cause of death. Most states have eliminated this
rule.
,◉ 4 Ways D can be Liable even without personally killing the victim.
Answer: 1. D is an accomplice to the actual killer;
2. Reasonably foreseeable result of a conspiracy is a homicide, which
is committed in furtherance of the conspiracy;
3. Where both a 3P and D acting together is a substantial factor in
the victim's death;
4. Felony murder.
◉ Express versus Implied Malice for Murder. Answer: If D engaged
in conduct he expected would cause death, malice is express. If D
didn't expect the conduct to cause death but it resulted because of
creation of extreme risk, malice is implied.
◉ Intent to Kill. Answer: D acts with purpose to kill another human,
or knowledge his conduct will kill.
1st degree murder in non common law fact pattern.
◉ Deadly Weapons Doctrine. Answer: Intent to kill is inferred when
D uses an instrument designed to kill or uses in a manner likely to
kill or inflict serious bodily harm. i.e. deliberately shooting gun,
swinging bat at victim's head. 1st degree murder in non common
law fact pattern.
, ◉ Intent to Cause Serious Bodily Harm. Answer: Still express malice,
even though D did not intend to kill. Can arise from a conscious
desire or substantial certainty that D's actions will result in victim's
injury. i.e. Driving over victim's legs to scam insurance, but victim
dies instead.
2nd Degree murder in non common law fact pattern.
◉ Depraved Heart Murder. Answer: Unintentional killing resulting
from reckless / grossly neg conduct that creates an extreme risk to
others and demonstrates wanton indifference to human life. Malice
is implied. i.e. encouraging someone to play Russian Roulette, having
a highly dangerous animal in a residential area.
2nd Degree Murder in non common law jurisdiction fact pattern.
◉ Felony Murder. Answer: Malice is automatically established by
causing death in commission or attempted commission of an
inherently dangerous felony.
First Degree Murder in non common law fact pattern.
◉ Collateral Felony Test. Answer: Majority requires the killing to be
independent of the felony. i.e. if primary purpose is serious physical
harm, not independent and fails the collateral felony test. Includes
manslaughter, aggravated battery, aggravated assault.
2026 REVISION NOTES AND STRUCTURED
CRIMINAL LAW PRINCIPLES OVERVIEW GUIDE
◉ Transferred Intent. Answer: Where D intends to produce a
criminal result against one party but inadvertently harms another.
Intent transfers to the unintended victim, not a defense that D
harmed the wrong person.
◉ Concurrence. Answer: Needed to prove guilt, have to show the
criminal act was set in motion by the requisite criminal state of mind
and that mens rea and criminal act concurred precisely in time. i.e. D
breaks into house to escape rain, sees valuable item and decides to
steal it. Not burglary because breaking and entering was not
actuated by the requisite mens rea- which occurred later.
◉ Legal Cause. Answer: D's conduct must be both the actual and
proximate cause of the specified criminal result. Actual cause +
proximate cause = legal cause.
◉ Actual Cause Tests. Answer: 1. The criminal result would not have
occurred "but for" D's act. 2. If there were multiple causes, D's act
was a "substantial factor" in causing the criminal result. 3. D
"accelerated" an inevitable result. i.e. D1 stabs victim, D2 then
shoots him in the head.
,◉ Proximate Cause. Answer: Established when the harm produced
by D was objectively foreseeable.
◉ Superseding Cause. Answer: Breaks the causal connection to
relieve D of liability. Have to see if the intervening cause was
dependent or responsive to D's initial cause, or was independent or
a mere coincidence.
◉ Criminal Homicide. Answer: The unlawful killing of a human
being caused by another. Unlawful when there is no legal
justification or is the result of a criminal state of mind.
◉ Murder. Answer: The unlawful killing of a human being with
malice. At CL, death of a human being requires the victim had been
born alive, though some states have extended to killing of a viable
fetus. Death must be caused by someone other than the victim.
◉ Acceleration of Death. Answer: Killing someone who is already
dying is still considered murder, because of speeding up their death.
◉ Year and a Day Rule. Answer: At CL, if victim died more than a
year and a day after D's act, treated the death as unforeseeable and
D was not the legal cause of death. Most states have eliminated this
rule.
,◉ 4 Ways D can be Liable even without personally killing the victim.
Answer: 1. D is an accomplice to the actual killer;
2. Reasonably foreseeable result of a conspiracy is a homicide, which
is committed in furtherance of the conspiracy;
3. Where both a 3P and D acting together is a substantial factor in
the victim's death;
4. Felony murder.
◉ Express versus Implied Malice for Murder. Answer: If D engaged
in conduct he expected would cause death, malice is express. If D
didn't expect the conduct to cause death but it resulted because of
creation of extreme risk, malice is implied.
◉ Intent to Kill. Answer: D acts with purpose to kill another human,
or knowledge his conduct will kill.
1st degree murder in non common law fact pattern.
◉ Deadly Weapons Doctrine. Answer: Intent to kill is inferred when
D uses an instrument designed to kill or uses in a manner likely to
kill or inflict serious bodily harm. i.e. deliberately shooting gun,
swinging bat at victim's head. 1st degree murder in non common
law fact pattern.
, ◉ Intent to Cause Serious Bodily Harm. Answer: Still express malice,
even though D did not intend to kill. Can arise from a conscious
desire or substantial certainty that D's actions will result in victim's
injury. i.e. Driving over victim's legs to scam insurance, but victim
dies instead.
2nd Degree murder in non common law fact pattern.
◉ Depraved Heart Murder. Answer: Unintentional killing resulting
from reckless / grossly neg conduct that creates an extreme risk to
others and demonstrates wanton indifference to human life. Malice
is implied. i.e. encouraging someone to play Russian Roulette, having
a highly dangerous animal in a residential area.
2nd Degree Murder in non common law jurisdiction fact pattern.
◉ Felony Murder. Answer: Malice is automatically established by
causing death in commission or attempted commission of an
inherently dangerous felony.
First Degree Murder in non common law fact pattern.
◉ Collateral Felony Test. Answer: Majority requires the killing to be
independent of the felony. i.e. if primary purpose is serious physical
harm, not independent and fails the collateral felony test. Includes
manslaughter, aggravated battery, aggravated assault.
