Crim Law/Pro ALL BBQs

Which of the following would satisfy the actus reus requirement for criminal liability?

An omission when there is a duty to act.

For purposes of meeting the actus reus requirement, which of the following circumstances does NOT give rise to a duty to help others?

The victim expected the defendant to rescue him.

A motorist notices a disabled car in a ditch with a man slumped over the steering wheel, apparently unconscious.

Which of the following actions would be most likely to expose the motorist to criminal liability if the man were to die three hours later?

The motorist brought the man to the motorist’s home to rest, and the man died there.

Under common law, which of the following is categorized as a general-intent crime?

Battery.

Which of the following examples most accurately describes the mental state of “knowledge” for purposes of criminal liability?

The defendant was practically certain that the harm would result.

If a criminal statute does not state any specific mens rea for a material element of the crime set forth by the statute, and the court’s examination of the statute’s language, context, and legislative history also do not reveal any particular mens rea for the element, what standard will the court likely impose?

A mens rea of recklessness.

To what does the term “willful blindness” refer?

A way for certain reckless behavior to be treated as knowing behavior.

Which of the following is NOT an element for reckless behavior under the Model Penal Code (MPC)?

An extreme indifference to the risk of harm.

As a criminal mens rea, how does negligence differ from recklessness?

Negligence uses an objective standard of risk.

Which of the following crimes is most likely to require a mens rea?

Trespassing.

Which of the following statements accurately describes the but-for test for causation in criminal cases?

There can be multiple but-for causes for a single crime.

Two defendants simultaneously strike the victim with blunt instruments, causing his death. Either blow was sufficient by itself to cause a fatal injury.

Which test will a court use in assessing actual causation?

The substantial-factor test.

The defendant is charged with a crime for assisting a terminally ill person in committing suicide.

In the absence of a statute governing such cases, why will the prosecution likely be able to prove causation?

The actions of the defendant accelerated the victim’s death.

Which of the following, if present, will negate a showing of causation for criminal liability?

A superseding cause.

All the following may be considered unforeseeable intervening events that break the chain of causation, except which?

Medical malpractice by a physician.

What is the minimum level of conduct which, if committed by a crime victim, will qualify as a superseding cause and relieve the defendant of responsibility for the victim’s harm?

An intentional uncoerced act.

What is the practical significance of the doctrine of double jeopardy?

The defendant cannot be prosecuted repeatedly by the same jurisdiction for the same crime.

Concurrent jurisdiction may exist in all the following situations, except which?

A crime committed on a military base.

What is the importance of an ex post facto clause?

It prevents a prosecution under a criminal statute that retroactively made a defendant’s conduct unlawful.

Which of the following describes how a felony typically differs from a misdemeanor?

A felony is punishable by a prison term of more than one year, whereas a misdemeanor is punishable by a fine or a prison term of one year or less.

At common law, murder is defined as the unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought.

Which of the following mental states does NOT satisfy the requirement of malice aforethought?

Gross negligence.

The defendant obtained poison and poisons the drink of a business rival, intending to kill her. Just before the business rival enters the room, a bystander comes along and drinks the deadly beverage.

If the bystander dies as a result, what is the most serious crime of which the defendant is likely guilty?

Premeditated and deliberated murder.

The defendant is highly sensitive to others’ opinions of him and often experiences extreme mood swings. At a party, the defendant overhears the victim say something that he interprets as insulting, and he immediately grabs and chokes her to death.

Which of the following best describes the defendant’s mindset regarding the killing?

Neither deliberate nor premeditated.

All the following circumstances may be used to infer premeditation, except which?

The defendant killed the victim in a public setting.

Which of the following accurately describes the intent requirement for premeditated and deliberated murder?

The defendant must have had a specific intent to kill.

All the following are required for voluntary manslaughter under the common law, except which?

An extreme emotional disturbance.

Which of the following is an element required to establish voluntary manslaughter under the common law?

Heat of passion.

A defendant may be charged with voluntary manslaughter based on imperfect self-defense, which occurs either where the defendant acted based on an unreasonable fear of imminent harm or under which of following circumstances?

Where the defendant’s use of deadly force to prevent the harm was disproportionate.

Which of the following crimes is considered an intended killing?

Voluntary manslaughter.

For felony murder, which of the following must be true of the underlying felony?

It must be inherently dangerous.

All the following are elements of felony murder under the majority view, except which?

The homicide must be caused by the defendant, an accomplice, or a law enforcement official.

For felony murder, what mental state must a defendant possess with regard to the killing?

None.

Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding the crime of murder with intent to inflict serious bodily harm?

The defendant need not have a conscious purpose to inflict serious or great bodily harm.

The defendant, intending to play a cruel practical joke, fires a taser at a victim, attempting to incapacitate the victim with electrocution. Upon being tased, however, the victim has a heart attack and dies.

If the defendant is subsequently charged and convicted in connection with the victim’s death, it likely would be for which of the following crimes?

Murder committed with the intent to inflict serious bodily harm.

A defendant acts recklessly for purposes of depraved heart murder if which of the following is true?

The defendant is consciously aware of a substantial and unjustified risk that death will result from the act.

All the following may give rise to involuntary manslaughter under the common law, except which?

A homicide committed through the improper use of self-defense.

The defendant in a grocery store stuffs some produce in her shirt and is told to stop by a store clerk. The defendant attempts to flee but is tackled to the ground by the clerk, who hits his head and dies.

Which of the following crimes may the defendant be guilty?

Involuntary manslaughter.

A foreign tourist, forgetting the traffic rules in the U.S., drives on the wrong side of the road and strikes another vehicle head-on, killing its driver.

If the tourist is subsequently found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, what is the likely reason why?

The tourist’s conduct was negligent.

 In cases of involuntary manslaughter involving an unlawful act, what is the significance of determining whether the underlying crime is malum in se or malum prohibitum?

When the crime is malum in se, most courts will assume the existence of proximate causation.

How does the Model Penal Code (MPC) substantively differ when compared to the common-law approach to involuntary manslaughter?

The MPC does not provide for criminal liability based on the commission of an unlawful act.

Which of the following accurately describes the distinction between larceny and larceny by trick?

Larceny by trick requires fraud, whereas larceny does not.

A grocery store sells a certain gourmet wine. A grocery store worker spots a bottle of this wine on his boss’s desk. The worker picks up the bottle and for an instant resolves to take it for his personal use, but he decides against it and puts the bottle down.

Has the worker committed larceny?

Yes.

In which of the following circumstances would a defendant be most likely to avoid liability for larceny due to mistake?

The defendant had an honest mistaken belief as to the property’s ownership.

What is the mens rea required for larceny?

Intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property.

 A computer hacker working alone broke into a bank’s server and transferred $500,000 of the bank’s funds to her personal account.

Why is she unlikely to be charged with embezzlement?

Because she was never in lawful possession of the property.

Which of the following is a required element for the crime of receipt of stolen property?

.Intent to permanently deprive the owner of the property.

Which of the following crimes involving the taking of another’s property is recognized by the Model Penal Code (MPC)?

Theft by unlawful taking

All the following are required elements of the common law crime of forgery, except which?

Unauthorized signature.

Which of the following is required for the crime of robbery?

Engagement in larceny.

A hiker comes across an old structure, enters it through a window, and takes some jewelry that was inside.

Which of the following considerations would be irrelevant to determining whether the hiker committed burglary under the common law?

Whether there was anyone inside when the hiker entered.

Which of the following accurately describes the requirements for burglary under the Model Penal Code (MPC)?

Entering the structure of another with the purpose to commit any crime inside.

Aside from the case of attempted battery, what is minimally required for a defendant to commit the crime of assault?

Recklessly or negligently putting another in reasonable apprehension of imminent unlawful harm.

The defendant threw a steel rod directly at a victim whose back was to him with the intent to strike the victim’s head, but the rod just missed and landed harmlessly on the ground. The victim turned around, immediately realized what had happened, and then became afraid.

Why is the defendant likely guilty of criminal assault?

The defendant attempted to harm the victim and nearly did so.

What is the minimum mens rea required, if any, for criminal battery?

Criminal negligence.

Which of the following scenarios may allow the defendant to avoid a conviction for rape?

The defendant induced the victim into having sex by falsely telling her that her husband was having an affair.

The defendant is unwittingly drugged and, while under the influence, has intercourse with a 16-year-old.

If the defendant is subsequently charged with statutory rape, does she have a valid involuntary intoxication defense under the common law and/or the Model Penal Code (MPC)?

Yes, under both the common law and the MPC.

Which of the factors below may provide a valid defense to a statutory rape prosecution under the common law?

The defendant and the victim were married.

Which of the following accurately describes the actus reus required for kidnapping under the common law?

Restraint and movement of the victim by force or by the threat of force.

The defendant purposefully sets a fire in her neighbor’s house, but the fire is extinguished before any damage is done to the house itself.

Do these facts satisfy the actus reus required for arson under the Model Penal Code (MPC) and/or under the common law?

Yes, under the MPC, only.

Which of the following is the strongest argument for a defendant fighting a possession charge?

The defendant honestly believed that the drugs were legal to possess.

What is the Model Penal Code (MPC) and modern majority rule test to determine whether a defendant committed the requisite actus reus for an attempt crime?

The substantial-step test.

The defendant is taking part in a sporting contest and fires an arrow at a target in an area where a group of people has assembled. The arrow misses the target and nearly strikes the head of a person in the group.

If prosecuted for attempted murder, is the defendant likely to be convicted?

No, because the defendant’s purpose was not to kill.

Which of the following best describes the traditional common law majority rule to test if the actus reus exists for an attempted crime?

Whether the defendant was dangerously close to completing the last act of the crime.

Under the Model Penal Code (MPC), any of the following actions is likely to constitute a substantial step for purposes of the actus reus of an attempt crime, except which?

Researching online weapons that may be used in the commission of the crime

The defendant secretly poisons his neighbor’s food in an attempt to kill her. The neighbor, while incurring pain, unexpectedly survives the attempt. After seeing his neighbor suffer, the defendant has a change of heart and decides not to continue with his plan to kill her.

In a Model Penal Code (MPC) jurisdiction, why would the defendant be unable to use abandonment to avoid culpability for an attempted murder charge?

The last act needed to accomplish the crime had already been committed.

The defendant enters an online chatroom and communicates with a user who she thinks is a computer hacker. In actuality, the defendant is chatting with a law enforcement officer monitoring the chatroom for potential criminal conspiracies.

If the defendant plots to commit a crime with the officer, thinking he is a hacker, could she be found guilty of conspiracy under the Model Penal Code (MPC) and/or the common law?

Yes, under the MPC, only.

An underworld boss wants a competitor dead. The boss directs a henchman to procure an illegal gun. The boss bribes a friend to pickpocket the competitor’s house keys from him while he is out. The boss pays his cousin to shoot and kill the competitor with the gun when he arrives home and is locked out, which the cousin does.

Are the boss’s friend and the boss’s cousin coconspirators of each other?

No, because this is a wheel conspiracy.

Two defendants agree to rob a train. The first defendant goes home and looks up train schedules. The second defendant goes home, reads a book, and forgets about the agreement.

Assuming the majority rule is in effect, which of the following is true?

Both defendants are guilty of conspiracy.

Which of the following statements accurately describes corporations in relation to conspiracy liability?

Both the individuals within a corporation and the corporation itself can be liable for conspiracy.

Which of the following accurately describes the crimes for which a coconspirator is criminally liable in a Model Penal Code (MPC) jurisdiction?

Any crimes that the coconspirator assisted in committing in the course of the conspiracy.

Under what circumstances may Wharton’s rule be raised as a defense to a conspiracy charge?

Where commission of the target crime requires two parties, one of which is the defendant.

A man and an underage girl chat online and agree to meet for consensual sex. Later, when the girl approaches the agreed-upon location, she notices that police are present and tries to flee.

If she is caught and charged with conspiracy to commit statutory rape, which of the following is her best defense?

She is in a protected class.

What is the mens rea required for solicitation?

Purposeful promotion of criminal conduct.

The defendant texts a co-worker, asking him to steal some office equipment that the co-worker has access to. Due to a cellular network failure, the co-worker never receives the text.

Is the defendant likely culpable for solicitation under the common law and/or the Model Penal Code (MPC)?

Yes, under the MPC, only.

The defendant's close friend asks her for a knife so the friend can stab and kill his creditor. The defendant has no desire to see anyone stabbed or killed but agrees to her friend's request and gives the knife so as not to harm their relationship. The next day, the friend stabs the creditor with the knife, resulting in the creditor's death.

Which of the following statements is accurate?

The defendant is an accomplice to homicide because there is direct evidence of her participation.

The defendant learns that his cousin is considering robbing a local train station and mails him a copy of the train schedules. Due to postal delays, however, the mailing does not reach the cousin until after he has robbed the station.

Is the defendant guilty of being an accomplice to robbery under the common law and/or the Model Penal Code (MPC)?

Yes, under the MPC, only.

What offense, if any, is committed by a person who learns that her neighbor has perpetrated a serious crime, but the person does not report it to the police?

None.

Which statement below accurately expresses any relationship between conspiracy and accomplice liability?

A defendant who enters into a conspiracy with the principal automatically satisfies the actus reus for accomplice liability.

At common law, which of the following accurately describes all the offenses of which a defendant may be guilty, where the defendant is both an accomplice to a certain crime and a coconspirator to commit that crime?

Any offenses that were reasonably foreseeable as a consequence of the commission of the crime, as well as conspiracy and the crime itself.

Which of the following is an accurate statement about the availability of the defense of withdrawal to avoid accomplice liability?

The accomplice need not thwart the success of the crime.

Which of the following accurately describes the Model Penal Code (MPC) test for insanity based on volitional impairment?

Because of a mental defect, the defendant lacked substantial capacity to control his conduct.

Which of the following is considered an excuse defense?

Insanity.

Which of the following legal assessments for the insanity defense requires only a showing that the defendant’s mental disease or defect constituted a but-for cause of the defendant’s conduct?

The Durham rule.

In most jurisdictions, who bears the initial burden of production and the ultimate burden of proof for the insanity defense?

The defendant bears both the burden of production and the burden of proof.

Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding the diminished capacity defense under the common law?

It can be used only to negate the mens rea of a specific-intent crime.

Why is the infancy defense rarely invoked in criminal cases?

Defendants under the legal age for criminal prosecution are usually tried in juvenile courts.

All the following scenarios may allow for a defense of involuntary intoxication, except which?

The defendant ordered a drink at a bar that had three times the alcohol content than she had thought.

Which of the following is an accurate statement about the defense of voluntary intoxication?

Under the common law, voluntary intoxication can be a defense to a specific-intent crime if the defendant made a good-faith mistake of fact relevant to the commission of the crime while intoxicated.

In a jurisdiction that follows the Model Penal Code (MPC), the defendant is charged with manslaughter in connection with a reckless act that resulted in the death of a roommate.

If the defendant was drunk at the time of the act, will the defendant be allowed to raise the defense of voluntary intoxication?

No, because under the MPC, voluntary intoxication is a defense only to crimes requiring purpose or knowledge.

Which of the following is NOT a limitation on the use of the consent defense in criminal cases?

Consent is a valid defense only to crimes involving unlawful contact of another

The defendant received an email from his fiancée’s ex-boyfriend, threatening to shoot the defendant and his fiancée at their wedding the following week. After reading the email, the defendant immediately drove to the ex-boyfriend’s house, rang the doorbell, and punched the ex-boyfriend in the face when he opened the door.

Does the defendant have a viable claim of self-defense to a criminal battery charge?

No, because the ex-boyfriend did not threaten imminent harm.

Which statement below accurately describes the “castle doctrine”?

There is no duty to retreat in one’s home or workplace before using deadly force.

Which of the following satisfies the proportionality test for self-defense?

Force that the defendant subjectively believes to be necessary, and that a reasonable person would believe necessary, to avoid the threatened harm.

Which of the following would NOT be relevant in determining whether deadly force in defense of property is permissible under the common law?

The defendant reasonably believes that his property is enticing to criminals to break in.

Under what circumstances, if any, may a private citizen be able to use deadly force to arrest a fleeing person?

Where the fleeing person actually committed a felony for which the arrest is being made, and the person poses a significant threat of death or serious bodily injury to others.

In which situation below would a defendant likely be successful on an entrapment defense in a jurisdiction that follows the Model Penal Code (MPC)?

The defendant proves that a federal agent encouraged the defendant’s criminal conduct through false representations that what he was doing was legal.

Which of the following is NOT an element required to establish a necessity defense under the modern view?

The threatened harm precipitating the defendant’s criminal action came from natural forces.

Which of the following describes how the defense of duress differs from that of self-defense and defense of others?

Duress is used where the defendant employed force against a third party who is not the source of the threat.

Under the Model Penal Code (MPC), which of the following considerations is relevant to determining whether mistake of fact can be used as a defense to a crime?

Whether the defendant’s mistaken belief negates the mens rea for an element of the crime.

Which of the following would be sufficient for a mistake-of-law defense?

Reasonable reliance on an administrative decision.