Criminal Law

Question 1

The doctrine of transferred intent does what?

Answer 1

when a defendant acts with the intent to kill or harm one person and that act directly results in harm to another, the defendant’s intent is transferred to the unintentionally harmed person

Question 2

When is an accomplice liable?

Answer 2

An accomplice is a person who aids or abets a principal prior to or during the commission of the offense with the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of the offense. An accomplice is liable to the same extent as the principal for:

the crime for which the accomplice provided encouragement or assistance and

other crimes committed by the principal that were a natural and probable consequence of the accomplice’s conduct.

Question 3

Define common law burglary

Answer 3

Unlawful breaking and entering of another’s dwelling at night and the specific intent to commit a felony therein.

Question 4

What are the requirements to be guilty of attempt?

Answer 4

The specific intent to commit a crime and took a substantial step towards the commission of that crime

Question 5

Defenses to attempt include.

Answer 5

Defenses to attempt

Impossibility

Legal – intended act would not be criminal if completed
Factual (no defense) – unknown condition prevents completion of intended crime
Abandonment

Majority/common law (no defense) – attempt complete once overt act committed
Minority/MPC – voluntary & complete withdrawal from crime

Abandonment

Majority/common law (no defense) – attempt complete once overt act committed
Minority/MPC – voluntary & complete withdrawal from crime

Question 6

Is a warrant based solely on an anonymous tip valid?

Answer 6

No. Facts supporting probable cause may come from several sources, including information from a reliable, known informant. However, information from an unknown informant must be independently verified by police.

Question 7

Does the 5th amendment protect the custodian of corporate records from self incrimination?

Answer 7

No.

Question 8

How does the Blockburger right to counsel test work?

Answer 8

Under the Blockburger test, offenses are not the same if each offense requires proof of an element that the other does not.

Question 9

Must a prosecutor present exculpatory evidence to a grand jury?

Answer 9

No.

Question 10

Detail the burdens for imposing the death sentence.

Answer 10

This holding has been applied to state capital-murder sentencing schemes that require a finding of at least one aggravating circumstance at either the guilt or penalty phase before the death penalty can be imposed. Therefore, a capital-sentencing scheme (as seen here) violates Apprendi if it:

allows a jury to render an advisory sentence recommending the death penalty without specifically finding an aggravating circumstance and

permits the judge to then make that finding independently (Choices C & D).

Question 11

What is the effect of the bilateral approach to conspiracy?

Answer 11

Conviction requires proof of at least two guilty minds. For this reason, and because of the need for consistency in verdicts returned by a single jury,* a conspirator cannot be convicted if all other coconspirators are acquitted at the same trial.*

Question 12

Is a mistrial as a result of a hung jury a bar to a second trial under the protection against double jeopardy?

Answer 12

No. There is no bar also when at the defendant’s request or with the defendant’s consent or due to manifest necessity—i.e., a situation rendering it impossible to continue the trial or reach a fair outcome.

Question 13

What are the two theories for felony murders and their effects?

Answer 13

agency theory (majority rule) – the defendant is responsible for deaths caused by cofelons

proximate cause theory (minority rule) – the defendant is responsible for deaths caused by any person (e.g., cofelon, police, bystander)

Question 14

Can an accomplice be convicted of a crime that the principal was acquitted for?

Answer 14

Yes under the modern view of accomplice liability. An accomplice is a person who (1) aids or abets the principal prior to or during the commission of a crime with (2) the specific intent that the crime be committed.* An accomplice is responsible for the crime to the same extent as the principal regardless of whether the accomplice participated in or was present at the crime.

Question 15

When does accomplice liability arise?

Answer 15

when a person:

aids or abets another (i.e., the principal) before or during a crime
with the specific intent that the encouraged crime be completed.
Slight aid or encouragement will suffice, even when such assistance is not ultimately necessary to complete the crime.

Question 16

Does a change of heart undo a completed larceny?

Answer 16

No

Question 17

How does an anticipatory search warrant operate?

Answer 17

the probable cause requirement is met if:

at the time of issuance, there is probable cause to believe that the triggering condition will occur and

if the condition does occur, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found at the place to be searched.

Question 18

Is in-court identification testimony admissible following an unnecessarily suggestive out of court identification?

Answer 18

Therefore, such in-court identification testimony is admissible only if the prosecution demonstrates that it is sufficiently reliable—i.e., poses no substantial likelihood of misidentification.

Question 19

When is an offense considered the same for double jeopardy purposes?

Answer 19

if one is a lesser included offense of the other. That is because every element of the lesser offense is included in the greater offense. Therefore, when a conviction of a lesser included offense stems from a guilty plea, the double jeopardy clause bars a subsequent prosecution for the greater offense unless:

an event necessary to establish the greater offense occurred after the plea was entered or
the greater offense was charged before the plea was entered.

Question 20

May a state law impose a strict cutoff for a finding of intellectual disability if the individual has an IQ over 70?

Answer 20

NO. This violates the 8th Amendment

Question 21

What are the requirements for a preliminary hearing to determine whether probable cause exists to hold a defendant? (Gerstein hearing)

Answer 21

This generally must be held within 48 hours of the D’s arrest. However, there is no need for such a hearing if probable cause has already been determine through a grand jury indictment or an arrest warrant.

Question 22

Elements of false pretenses

Answer 22

obtained title to (i.e., ownership of) another’s property (e.g., cash)
by knowingly misrepresenting a past or present material fact upon which the victim relied and
did so with the specific intent to defraud.

To prove reliance, the prosecution must establish that the defendant’s misrepresentation was a significant factor in—or the cause of—the victim’s decision to pass title to the property to the defendant.

Question 23

Is testimony given under a grant of immunity coerced?

Answer 23

Yes. Any criminal-trial use of such testimony outside the context of a perjury prosecution constitutes a denial of due process.

Question 24

When is the right to counsel at a probation-revocation hearing required?

Answer 24

Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to counsel at probation-revocation proceedings when a sentence for the underlying offense:

has not yet been imposed and
will be imposed if the probation is revoked.

Question 25

The plain feel doctrine allows…

Answer 25

an officer conducting a valid frisk who feels an object that is immediately identifiable as a weapon, contraband, or evidence of a crime may seize the object.

Question 26

When would an otherwise accomplice be excluded from being liable?

Answer 26

the crime requires more than one participant
the criminal statute imposes liability on only one participant and
the person acts as the nonliable participant.

Question 27

Common-law murder occurs when a person unlawfully kills another with malice aforethought, which requires proof of one of the following mental states

Answer 27

Intent to kill

Intent to inflict serious bodily injury

Reckless disregard of an obvious or unjustifiably high risk of causing death or serious bodily injury (i.e., depraved-heart murder)

Intent to commit an inherently dangerous felony (i.e., felony-murder rule)

Question 28

What does the Pinkerton Rule do?

Answer 28

Allows a conspirator to also be convicted of all substantive crimes committed by a coconspirator who was acting in furtherance of the conspiracy.

Question 29

How may a defendant be held to be incompetent to stand trial?

Answer 29

The test for whether a defendant is competent to stand trial is the same test for determining whether the defendant is competent to plead guilty: whether the defendant comprehends the nature of the proceedings against him and has the ability to consult with a lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding.

Question 30

The M’Naghten test incorporates what two elements?

Answer 30

a defendant is not guilty if, because of a defect of reason due to a mental disease, the defendant did not know either (i) the nature and quality of the act, or (ii) the wrongfulness of the act. However, loss of control because of mental illness is not a defense under this test.

Question 31

When the MPC applies, how is the mens rea term applied?

Answer 31

To each element of the crime.

Question 32

In a criminal proceeding, may a prosecutor comment on someone’s 5th Amendment silence?

Answer 32

No. But the opposing parting in a civil suit may comment on that.

Question 33

What is the standard for mistake of fact in a specific intent crime?

Answer 33

An honest, even unreasonable, mistake.

Question 34

Imperfect self defense is…

Answer 34

When you use deadly force when it was not reasonable. It reduces murder to a lower offense.

Question 35

What is the difference between larceny by trick and false pretenses?

Answer 35

Under false pretenses, you get title to the item or money.

Question 36

Is an honest mistake of consent a defense to attempted rape?

Answer 36

Yes.

Question 37

Can a person with property on a bailment be guilty of a larceny of that property?

Answer 37

No. He would be charged with another crime.

Question 38

Does a provocation defense have an objective or subjective component?

Answer 38

Both. A person can subjectively cooled off or be at a point for a reasonable person would have objectively cooled off. Whichever comes first cuts off the defense.

Question 39

What is a defense to solicitation?

Answer 39

A person can be exempted from the crime if the legislature intended to protect the solicitor.

Question 40

Intent to defraud is the intent to induce the owner of property to permanently part with it. When does such intent not exist?

Answer 40

If the D either believes that she has the right to appropriate the property or intends to and is able to return the property.

Question 41

When is someone guilty of involuntary manslaughter?

Answer 41

When they commit an unintentional homicide with criminal negligence or during an unlawful act.

Question 42

The representation of defendants with conflicting interests may amount to ineffective assistance of counsel. When is this enough to overturn a conviction?

Answer 42

To overturn a conviction based on a conflict of interest, a defendant must show that there was an actual conflict of interest and that such conflict adversely affected the attorney’s performance.

Question 43

In the plea bargaining process, a prosecutor may threaten to charge a more serious crime in order to convince the defendant to plead guilty to a less serious charge. When may this be a wrongful act?

Answer 43

Such action does not rise to the level of prosecutorial vindictiveness, at least where there is probable cause for charging the more serious crime.

Question 44

When is a life imprisonment without parole cruel and unusual punishment?

Answer 44

when the sentence is imposed for a non-homicide crime on a defendant who was a minor at the time that the crime was committed.

Question 45

What are the requirements for a police stop of a vehicle?

Answer 45

Police generally may not stop an automobile, even for a driving-related matter, without a reasonable, individualized suspicion of a violation of the law, unless the stop is effected on the basis of neutral, articulable standards.

Question 46

Is dismissal of an indictment a justifiable response to evidence being used that was obtained illegally?

Answer 46

No. That evidence is useable for the indictment so long as the evidence is suppressed properly at trial.

Question 47

Due process requirements for a guilty plea are

Answer 47

The plea must be

Voluntary and

Knowing and intelligent (D aware of the nature and essential elements of the offense, consequences of the plea, waives const. rights to: plead not guilty and proceed to jury trial, remain silent, to counsel, confront adverse witnesses, subpoena witness testimony)

Question 48

A defendant’s due process rights are violated when the prosecution prejudices the D by failing to timely disclose evidence that is both…

Answer 48

Favorable to the D and material to guilt or punishment.