Also known as: voluntary acts
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A bodily movement that results from the conscious exercise of the actor's will. The requirement ensures that criminal liability attaches only to conduct the actor can control and that punishment can deter.
A bodily movement that results from the conscious exercise of the actor's will. The requirement ensures that criminal liability attaches only to conduct the actor can control and that punishment can deter.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
An intentional act by a person entitled to enforce a negotiable instrument that discharges a party's obligation to pay, such as surrender, destruction, or cancellation of the instrument.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
An intentional act by a person entitled to enforce a negotiable instrument that discharges a party's obligation to pay, such as surrender, destruction, or cancellation of the instrument.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Victor Vargas suffered an epileptic seizure while standing near a stove. His arm jerked involuntarily and knocked a pot of boiling water onto a coworker. Prosecutors charged him with assault. Because the movement was a convulsion rather than a willed act, the court held that no voluntary act supported liability.
Vanessa Vinson entered a guilty plea after the prosecutor threatened to file additional charges carrying decades of prison time. She later moved to withdraw the plea. The court found that the threat rendered the plea involuntary, so the conviction could not stand.
The President signed a commission naming Virgil Volpe to a federal office. The Secretary of State refused to deliver it. The Court treated the President's signing as his own voluntary act that completed the appointment, separate from the later ministerial duty of delivery.
A doctor prescribed lethal medication to a terminally ill patient who then self-administered the dose. The state argued the prescription constituted assisting a suicide. The Court distinguished the doctor's voluntary act of writing the prescription from the patient's subsequent voluntary act of ingestion.
Vera Vargas was subpoenaed before a state commission and invoked the privilege against self-incrimination. The state granted use immunity. The Court held that the immunity removed the risk of incrimination, so her subsequent testimony would be treated as a voluntary act rather than compelled.
A movement is involuntary if it is a reflex, occurs during unconsciousness or sleep, results from hypnosis, or is otherwise not a product of the actor's conscious determination. The Code lists these categories explicitly to exclude them from the voluntary-act requirement.
Supporting sources
An omission satisfies the requirement only when the actor is physically capable of performing the omitted act and a legal duty to act exists. The Code treats such an omission as equivalent to a voluntary act for liability purposes.
Supporting sources
The voluntary-act requirement concerns whether the defendant performed a willed bodily movement that caused the social harm. Mens rea concerns the defendant's state of mind regarding that harm. The two elements are distinct and must both be proven.
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Possession is a voluntary act when the actor knowingly receives the item or remains aware of control over it for a period long enough to have terminated that control. Awareness plus the practical ability to end possession satisfies the requirement.
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Valdez Steel held a promissory note from Vitality Foods. After receiving full payment, the company president intentionally tore the note in half and returned the pieces to the maker. The court ruled that this intentional voluntary act discharged the maker's obligation on the instrument.
No. The UCC lists several intentional acts that discharge an obligation, including surrender of the instrument, cancellation of a signature, addition of discharge language, or a signed record renouncing rights. Physical destruction is only one example.
Supporting sources
…been signed by the President. These provisions contemplate three distinct operations: nomination which is the President's sole voluntary act; the appointment which is also the President's voluntary act performed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and the commission. The acts of appointing and commissioning can…