Crim review

Question 1

Battery definition

Answer 1

Battery is the unlawful application of force to another that results in harmful or offensive contact

Question 2

Doctrine of transferred intent

Answer 2

A D can be held liable for a crime if they intended to harm one person but instead harms another in the process

Question 3

Fear of harm assault

Answer 3

When the D intentionally places another in reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact

Question 4

Pinkerton rule

Answer 4

The Pinkerton rule holds all conspirators liable for any foreseeable crimes committed by a coconspirator in furtherance of the conspiracy – regardless of whether they had knowledge of those crimes

Question 5

Situations where the intial aggressor is entitled to use force in self defense

Answer 5

1. When the initial aggressor’s use of nondeadly force is met with deadly force
2. When the initial aggressor, in good faith, completely withdraws from the altercation and communicates that fact to the victim

Question 6

Two kinds of unintentional killings nested under CL murder

Answer 6

1. Felony murder
2. Depraved heart murder

Question 7

Depraved heart murder

Answer 7

An unintentional killing that results from reckless indifference to a high risk of human life

Question 8

Attempt

Answer 8

A D is guilty of an attempted crime if the D
1. Had the specific intent to commit the crime
2. Performed an act in furtherance of that crime but
3. Did not complete the crime

Question 9

Can factual impossibility be a defense to conspiracy?

Answer 9

No. Factual impossibility can never be a defense to conspiracy!

Question 10

Effect of fraud on consent to sexual intercourse

Answer 10

• Fraud in factum: When consent is obtained by fraud regarding the nature of the act, leaving the victim unaware that they consented to sex, that negates the victim’s consent
• Fraud in inducement: When consent is obtained by fraud regarding what the victim knows is sexual intercourse, that does not negate the victim’s consent.

Question 11

Mistake of fact as a defense to rape

Answer 11

Mistake of fact is a defense to rape if the defendant’s honest, reasonable, but mistaken belief negated the requisite mental state

For rape, requisite mental state is that they must consciously perform the unlawful act

Question 12

Malicous damage to property

Answer 12

Malicious damage to property occurs when a defendant damages another’s property with malice. Malice requires proof of either
- knowldge: a practical certainty that one’s act will cause a particular result; or
- recklessness: conscious disregard of a substantial and justifiable risk of harm

Question 13

Requirements to prove malice

not malice aforethought

Answer 13

• knowledge: practical certainty that one’s act will cause a particular result or
• recklessness: conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk of harm

Question 14

Obtaining property by false pretenses

Answer 14

Occurs when a person
- knowingly misrepresents a past or existing material fact
- does so with the specific intent to defraud; and
- thereby obtains title to the property of another

Question 15

Theft crimes, specific intent, and thinking the property is your own

Answer 15

Intent to defraud is the intent to induce the owner of the property to permanently part with it. Therefore such intent does not exist if the defendant either
1. believes that they have the right to appropriate the property or
2. intends to and is able to return the property

Question 16

Mistake of law

as a defense

Answer 16

Ignorance of the law is no defense unless
- D reasonably relied on law that was later invalidated
- the law was not reasonable available to D
- knowledge of the law is an element of a crime (e.g., sale of a gun to a known felon)

Question 17

Mistake of fact

as a defense

Answer 17

• strict liability crime: never a defense
• specific intent crime: honest mistake negates specific intent
• general intent/malice crimes: honest and reasonable mistake negates mens rea

Question 18

Requirements for possession crime

Answer 18

Possession offenses require proof that the D knowingly received an illegal item or exercised dominion and control over the item after learning of its illegal character

mere handling of a controlled substance is not necessarily sufficient to establish possession

Question 19

Kinds of criminal assault

Answer 19

• attempted battery: where defendant has specific intent to commit and takes a subsatntial step toward committing battery
• “fear of harm” assault: where the D intentionally places another in reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive conduct