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The American legal system recognizes two main types of court actions, namely, criminal and civil actions (Ashworth and Horder, 2013). A civil action involves a dispute between the wronged party (the plaintiff) and the accused party (the defendant). The dispute involves claims of imposition of injury and/ or destruction of property. On the other hand, a criminal action involves the state or society bringing a case against the accused party in the determination of whether the latter committed the offence in question, thereby leading to punishment of the guilty party (Herring, 2012).
The goal and objective of a civil case is to ensure that the legal duty entitled to the plaintiff is fulfilled by the defendant. On the contrary, the goal of a criminal case is to prosecute the accused party and ensure justice prevails, that is, the determination of innocence or guilt of the accused party.
The remedy and outcome of a civil case is the financial compensation of loss suffered by the plaintiff, if the defendant is considered guilty of the accusation. On the other hand, the outcome of a criminal case involves imprisonment or payment of a fine by the guilty party.
The plaintiff in a civil case commences legal action by filing a complaint against the accused party in a court of law. The plaintiff can also call the defendant to testify and vice versa. In a criminal case, however, the prosecutor, acting on behalf of the state or society, is tasked with filing the case with the court. In this case, the victim does not file the complaint as in the case of a civil action. In addition, the victim cannot be forced to testify in a criminal case (Ross, 2014).
In some instances, the same action or conduct can lead to prosecution as a civil and criminal case. For instance, an individual may be accused of stealing from a patron withdrawing money from an ATM at gunpoint. This situation can be considered as a criminal and civil case.
The elements that constitute the above crime are mens rea and actus reus. According to Lippman (2012), mens rea refers to the mental aspect involved in the crime committed by the accused party. An individual’s state of mind must be ascertained prior to committing the crime, in order to determine the existence of the intention to cause harm. In the above case, the defendant commits the crime purposefully as evidenced by the use of a gun to rob the plaintiff. Actus reus on the other hand, constitutes the guilty act committed. The physical act of robbing the plaintiff by the defendant is considered as actus reus. The situation presented above can be defined legally as armed robbery. An armed robbery is a violent crime that involves use of force or threat to use force in order to impose fear on the victim and take something of value.
Mala in Se crimes are those considered as morally wrong according to the society (Samaha, 2014). The armed robbery crime explained above is an example of a mala in Se crime. This is because the crime involves the defendant’s premeditated intention to cause harm to the plaintiff, an act considered as immoral by the society.
According to the state of California, a felony is defined as a serious offence punishable by death or one that attracts an incarceration charge of more than one year in a county jail or state prison (Howle, 2010). As per the armed robbery case, the felony is classified as a first degree robbery thereby attracting a charge of 3 to 9 years in prison.
Credibility of sources
I evaluated the credibility of sources used in this paper on the basis of the authors’ credentials. The books used in this paper are authored by respected and experienced individuals in the field of law.
References
Ashworth, A., & Horder, J. (2013). Principles of criminal law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Herring, J. (2012). Great debates in criminal law. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Publishers.
Howle, E. (2010). California department of corrections and rehabilitation. Belmont: Diane Publishers.
Lippman, M. (2012). Contemporary criminal law: concepts, cases and controversies. Web.
Ross, D. (2014). Civil liability in criminal justice. New York: Routledge Publishers.
Samaha, J. (2014). Criminal law. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishers.
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