Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person who commits a wrongful act.
Sources & Authorities· 16 primary sources
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Cases
Statutes
Uniform Acts
How it applies
Common Examples
6
Caregiver Procures Will by Threat
Matthew Martinez depended on his live-in aide for medication and finances. The aide threatened to abandon him unless he signed a new will leaving everything to her. A court found the aide was the miscreant whose coercion overcame Matthew's free will and invalidated the will.
Officer Ignores Duty to Prevent Crime
Marco Marquez served as probation officer for a known violent offender. He learned of an impending armed robbery yet deliberately failed to report or detain the offender to avoid paperwork. Marco was the miscreant who became an accomplice by breaching his legal duty.
Melanie Morris was seventeen when she committed capital murder. Prosecutors pursued the death penalty despite her age. The court identified the state as the miscreant attempting an unconstitutional execution barred by the Eighth Amendment.
Relative Threatens Abandonment for Will
Maya Malik managed her uncle's care during his final illness. She threatened to stop all assistance unless he executed a will favoring her over his children. The court treated Maya as the miscreant whose wrongful threat constituted duress.
Agent Spreads False Story to Alter Trust
Malcolm McKinley told his client a false story about the beneficiary's criminal conduct without verification. The client then amended his trust to favor Malcolm. Malcolm was the miscreant whose reckless misrepresentation procured the transfer by fraud.
Polygamist Defies Criminal Law
Michelle Murphy openly practiced plural marriage in violation of federal statute. Prosecutors charged her as the miscreant whose conduct the Supreme Court upheld as punishable despite religious claims.
Reynolds v. United States98 U.S. (8 Otto) 145 (1878)
Common questions
Frequently Asked
2
When does a miscreant become an accomplice by omission?+
A miscreant becomes an accomplice by failing to fulfill a legal duty to prevent the offense when the person has the purpose of promoting the crime.
What makes a miscreant ineligible for the death penalty?+
A miscreant who was under eighteen at the time of the capital crime is categorically ineligible for execution under the Eighth Amendment.
410 U.S. 113 (1973)Constitutional Law
…intended is guilty as an accomplice. "Art. 1193. Attempt at abortion "If the means used shall fail to produce an abortion, the offender is nevertheless guilty of an attempt to produce abortion, provided it be shown that such means were calculated to produce that result, and shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more…