Day 24 - Wednesday October 13. 2010

Today is an early dismissal day so the schedule is as follows:

C Block 8:55-9:45
D Block 9:50-10:35
Lunch 10:35-11:30
B Block 11:35-12:20
A Block 12:25-1:10

C - Law 12 -Today we will take some notes down about strict liability, absolute liability, due diligence, attempt, and conspiracy.

Help with Strict v Absolute Liability:

As a criminal law offence Strict Liability is a crime in which Mens Rea need not be proven in order for conviction (NOTE: making an honest and reasonable mistake can be used as a defence). Absolute Liability offences are also offences where the act alone need be proven. The only main defences here are that the act was not voluntary. Both are also referred to as regulatory offences most of the time...these are also referred to as Mala Prohibita as opposed to Mala in Se (Prohibita means the crime is in relation to regulation, it is not a crime which is legislated against because it's morally wrong in Se). The defence of due diligence can be used in Strict Liability cases and not in Absolute Liability cases.

Help with due diligence (in terms of Sansregret): A due diligence standard has been expressly added by Parliament to one of the actus reus elements of sexual assault (S.273 of the Criminal Code). Where the accused claims he/she mistakenly thought the complainant had consented to the sexual activity, the accused's honest but mistaken belief is no defence "where the accused did not take reasonable steps, in the circumstances known to the accused, to ascertain that the complainant was consenting." The accused's mistake must therefore be HONEST and REASONABLE.

At the end of the class you'll need to work on questions 1-4 on page 77 in the All About Law text

Help with Parties to an Offense: You are a party if you
• Actually commit 21(1)(a)
• Aid – 21(1)(b)
• Abet – 21(1)(c)
• Counsel or procure (22(1) &(2))
The effect of being a party is that you are guilty of committing an offence – you can be a robber in any of the ways set out. It is not a separate offence. You criminal record will reflect that you were guilty of robbery, not abetting robbery.

D - Geography 12 - Today we're back in the library to continue our research on the Orting high school case study. Should the town of Orting, Washington, build a new high school to attract people to their community or not? What will the impact of increased population be on the tiny town that sits in the shadows of Mt. Rainier? The assignment is in your week 5 package and was posted on this blogsite so check out the Day 22 (Friday October 8th) entry. A reminder that today is the last class that I can give you in the library for this assignment. You'll need to work on this project outside of class time from now on. If you need help, however, feel free to ask in class over the next few days.

A note about your test. You will have a unit final on tectonics (and to a smaller extent topographic map skills and systems) next Tuesday...That is October 19th. At the beginning of the year I handed you a review for the final exam (in your course outline) so look over the weeks one through five note/assignment packages and the review on the course outline to see what you should prepare for. If all else fails ask for help.

A - Introduction to Law 9/10 - Today you'll write quiz four of the course on the work from last week. After the quiz we will continue our look at criminal forensics by looking at how investigators estimate time of death, how fingerprints are "lifted" at a crime scene (including what AFIS is), what the "Four T's" are for marks at a scene, how fibres are used, and what ballistics is. Tomorrow we'll do our fingerprinting activity and Friday we look at the use of DNA and try to understand the process of analyzing it and you'll have a crime to try and solve in class.

Today and Thursday we'll go to: Rice University's CSI: The Experience Web Adventure to understand more about our topics.