Criminology Test 1

Which of the following is an example of voluntary manslaughter?

B. The killing committed in the heat of passion after discovering infidelity

What would a killing during a bank robbery be considered?

Felony Murder (does not require intent) 

True or False: A defendant can be charged with first degree murder if the killing was premeditated and deliberate? 

True 

What is the key distinction between larceny and embezzlement?

Larceny involves taking another property without permission. Embezzlement involves the lawful possession of another’s property followed by conversion. But you misuse what was legally given to you (that is conversion)

Which of the following is an example of false pretenses?

B. Selling a fake rolex and transfering ownership

If you take a wallet from someone’s bag what element is missing to make that a robbery.

Force, therefore it is just lacreny.

What is the primary element that distinguishes burglary from other theft crimes

B. the intent to commit a felony inside a dwelling 

True or False: Receiving stolen property is a crime, only if the defendant knew if the property was stolen?

True

______ the intentional creation of a reasonable apprehension of imminent harm

Assault

What of the following is an example of a strict liability defense? 

D. Selling alcohol to a minor

______ is the unlawful application of force resulting in injury or offensive contact?

Battery

Which of the following is an example of a voluntary act?

D. holding a gun up to someone

In the context of homcide which of the following is not a requirement for causation?

C. Superseding or intervening cause

Which is not one the four elements of a crime:

D. Justification

Under common law what mental state is required for arson?

C. Malice

______ is the unlawful killing of one human by another

Homcide

Which of the following is an example of an involuntary act?

B. sleepwalking

Larceny by trick

using deceit or fraud to gain access to another’s property

Larency

trespassory taking and carrying away of a persons property with the intent to permanently deprive them of it. 

______ occurs when someone asks, encourages, requests someone to commit a crime

solicitation

True or False: Thoughts alone can be punishable under criminal law

False

What is the but-for test used to determine?

Actual Cause

What are the three main types of inchote offenses?

1. Attempt

2. Conspiracy

3. Solicitation

____ a crime does not require any mental state

Strict liability

What is required for a defendant to be convicted of felony murder?

Death occurring during the action of an inherently dangerous crime

True or false, under the paper tin rule, conspirators are liable for all foreseeable crimes permitted by their coconspirators. 

True

What is the primary requirement for the defense of abandonment in attacked cases under the MPC

A. the defendant must have voluntarily renounced the crime and prevented its commission

Defenses

Duress

necessity

self defense

defense of others

defense of property

insanity

intoxication

mistake of fact or law

entrapment

consent

A person fires a gun into a crowded room, showing reckless indifferent to human life and kils someone. What type of homicid is it?

D. Depraved heart murder

Which of the following would typically qualify as malice aforethought?

B. plotting to intentionally kill someone after extensive thought

What are the two inchoate offenses where the merger doctrine is applicable?

Attempt and Solicitation

Merger doctrine

essentially means that when you are committing an inchoate offense (example) attempt or solicitation, if you complete the offense you can’t then be charged for both the attempt and the offense. 

Actus Reus

the physical act or omission

Mens Rea

the mental state or intent

Causation

the link between the act and the harm

Concurrence

the mental state and physical act must happen

The Four Elements of Crime 

Actus Reus, Mens Rea, Causation, Concurrence 

What is the root for our criminal law system?

English common

Specific Intent

the defendant intends to engage in the conduct or cause a specific result (burglary)

General Intent

The defendant is aware of their actions but doesn’t intend for a specific result (battery) 

Malice

the defendant acts with reckless disregard for a known risk (arson) 

Strict Liability

no mental state is required; the act itself is enough (traffic violations)

Purposefully

the defendants conscious object is to engage in the conduct or cause a result

Knowingly

the defendants aware that their conduct is of certain nature or will cause a certain result 

Recklessly 

The defendant is aware that their conduct is of a certain nature or will cause a certain result 

Negligently

the defendant fails to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk, deviating from the standard of care a reasonable person would exercise

actual cause (cause-in-fact)

“but-for” would the harm have happened for the defendant’s conduct 

Proximate Cause (legal cause)

this asks whether the harm was a foreseeable result of the defendants act

Is Suicide Homicide

No

what are the two divisions of homicide

murder and manslaughter

Murder

malice or forethought, intent kill, intent to serious bodily injury, reckless indifference to life, debraved heart murder, felony murder

First Degree

planned killing in advanced

Second Degree

killing based on reckless care of human life, unplanned

Manslaughter

murder without malice (often a heat of passion crime) 

Misdemeanor manslaughter

murder while committing a misdemeanor crime 

Model Penal Code Approach

a model act designed to stimulate and assist U.S. state legislatures to update and standardize the penal law of the U.S.

Requirements of heat of passion

Provocations, heat of passion, no cooling - off period, no actual cooling off

Provocation

defendant was provoked by something that would cause a reasonable person to lose control

Heat of Passion 

the defendant was actually in a highly emotional state when they acted 

No cooling-off period

there was not enough time for a reasonable person to calm down before the killing

no actual cooling-off period

the defendant did not calm down before committing the act

Criminal negligence 

the defendant acted with a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would exercise 

Theft crimes 

common law crimes of larceny, false pretenses and embezzlement 

Larceny

the trespassory taking with no legal right to it and carrying away of the personal property of another with the intent to permanently deprieve the owner of the property

False Pretenses

occurs when one obtains title to personal property of another through a known fake statement of material fact, with intent to defraud

Embezzlement

the fraudulent or wrongful conversion of personal property of another by a person with LAWFUL possession of the property Intent to permanently deprive owener

Receiving stolen property 

is a crime when a person receives possession of stolen property, who knows the property is stolen at the time of receiving it

Robbery

the trespassory taking and carrying away of the personal property of another person, in their presence by the use of force or threat of immediate physical harm, with the intent to deprive the owner

Armed Robbery

requires the elements to prove the use of dangerous weapon (gun, knife)

Burglary

the breaking and entering of a dwelling of another at night, for the purpose of committing a felony inside. Most jurisdiction have extended burglary to include any structure at any time 

Rape 

under the common law, rape is the unlawful sexual intercourse of a women by a man (not her husband) without her consent. Under the common law, a husband could NOT be convicted of raping his wife. Now its does include marital rape and makes gender irrelevant. General intent crime  

Statutory rape

is the unlawful application of force, directly or indirectly upon another person their clothes or close personal belongings, that results in injury or offenses contact. Battery is general intent crime, meaning the prosecution need only prove that the unlawful not itself was intended; intent to cause injury is NOT required

Battery

is the unlawful application of force directly or indirectly upon another person, their clothes, or close personal belongings that results in injury or offensive contact. general intent crime, no intent to cause injury is required

Assault 

attempted battery or, the intentional creation of reasonable apprehension of imminent bodily harm to a person 

Arson

malicious burning of a dwelling of another. A majority of states have included damage caused by explosives and have also extended the types of things that can be considered arson. 

most states and the model penal code requires?

that the over act be a “substantial step” toward the completion of that crime

solicitation

Solicitation is asking, encouraging, or commanding someone to commit a crime, and it is considered an “inchoate” crime that is complete once the request is made.

Accomplice liability

or aiding and abetting, is a legal principle where a person can be held criminally responsible for a crime they did not directly commit, but to which they contributed through actions or encouragement with the intent to help

Duress

argues that a defendant committed a crime due to an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury, leaving them no reasonable alternative to escape the harm

Insanity

for a severe mental defect or disease will be analyzed under one of four tests, all of which consider the defendant’s mental state at the time of the offense

The M’Naghten Test

is a legal test for the insanity defense, used in many U.S. states, that requires the defendant to prove they had a "disease of the mind" that caused them to either not understand the nature and quality of their act or not know that their act was wrong at the time the crime was committed

Model Penal Code Test

This test states that a person is not criminally responsible if, at the time of the conduct, they lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of their conduct or to conform their conduct to the law, as a result of a mental disease or defect

Irresistible impulse test

test is a legal standard for the insanity defense, asserting that a defendant may be found not guilty if a mental disease or defect prevented them from controlling their actions, even if they knew those actions were wrong

The Durham test

stated a defendant is not criminally responsible if their unlawful act was the "product of mental disease or defect"