For EACH of the terms – find a criminal case, a book of nonfiction or fiction, a short story, a news article, or a movie from the past 10 years, that best illustrates the term and how it is to be applied. YOU MAY NOT USE examples from the textbook.
For each term:
1. identify the term and the elements in the offense, what elements are added or different for each successive more serious offense; make sure you also are aware of any requirements of definitions such as what is physical injury, and if you can, identify if that penal law section has a corroboration requirement to the charge, and is it met
2. identify the news article, criminal case, book, or movie that illustrates the term, and provide clear enough citations for the article, criminal case, book, short story, or movie that can be found.
3. specifically explain the facts of the case/story and identify how the story meets each element of the offense.
4. remember – some crimes have alternate theories – like the crime of robbery causing physical injury, displaying a weapon, or aided by another actually present, sex crimes have different theories too. You may use the same story to explain multiple theories PROVIDED you can clearly explain how the story you are offering for the example meets the specific subsection.
5. With respect to the crimes having multiple different theories you only need to do a maximum of 3 in particular sections – so for example rape in the 3rd degree has many subsections – just pick some of them;
6. USE THE PENAL LAW STATUTES ONLINE, and you may also want to look at the New York State Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions – which the judges use to break down the elements of offenses when explaining charges to the jury.
