5.8.4: Key Takeaways

California Criminal Law 2026 · LibreTexts

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    From LibreTexts, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, as the source states it; its equations are written in TeX, which the PDF shows typeset. This page at LibreTexts.

    • Infancy is a defense to an adult criminal prosecution if the defendant is too young to form the requisite criminal intent for the offense.
    • The purpose of an adult criminal prosecution is punishment; the purpose of a juvenile adjudication is rehabilitation of the minor before he or she becomes an adult.
    • Four criteria that could support a juvenile court waiver of jurisdiction are the nature of the offense, the sophistication it requires, the defendant’s criminal history, and the threat the defendant poses to public safety.
    • Voluntary intoxication may provide a defense if the intoxication prevents the defendant from forming the requisite criminal intent for the offense.
    • Involuntary intoxication is intoxication achieved unknowingly or pursuant to force, duress, or fraud.
    • Voluntary intoxication is frowned on as a defense and in many states does not provide a defense to certain crimes, such as reckless intent crimes. Involuntary intoxication is more likely to serve as a defense any time the defendant is incapable of forming the requisite criminal intent for the offense.
    • Mistake of law may provide a defense if the defendant believes his or her conduct is legal because of reliance on a statute or judicial opinion that is later overturned.
    • Mistake of law is not a defense when the defendant believes his or her conduct is legal because of reliance on the incorrect advice of an attorney.
    • If the facts as the defendant believes them to be prevent the defendant from forming the requisite intent for the crime, mistake of fact could be a valid defense.
    • Mistake of fact is not a defense to strict liability crimes because intent is not an element.

    This page titled 5.8.4: Key Takeaways was last modified on Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:19:51 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Mark C Fields and Carmyn A. Radetic-Fields.