General

Question 1

Actus reas consist of two things:

Answer 1

a voluntary act and the resulting social harm

Question 2

theory of punishment that’s goal is to “prevent future crimes”

Answer 2

utilitarianism

Question 3

belief that threat or imposition of punishment can deter crime and people will avoid criminal activity if the perceived punishment outweighs the criminal rewards

Answer 3

utilitarian theory of punishment

Question 4

theory of punishment that’s goal is to “punish in proportion to culpable wrong even if it doesn’t prevent future crime

Answer 4

retributive theory of punishment

Question 5

belief that punishment is justified when it is deserved, deserved when person freely violates society’s rules, punished even if it does not decrease future crimes

Answer 5

retributive theory of punishment

Question 6

A person has to legal duty to:

Answer 6

act to prevent harm to another, even if they can do it as to risk to their self, and even if the person imperiled may lose their life in the absence of assistance

Question 7

Exceptions to omission:

Answer 7

Status relationship, contractual obligation, creation of risk, or voluntary assistance

Question 8

Exception to omission by status relationship:

Answer 8

if the legal protector of another knowing such person to be in peril of life, willfully or negligently fails to make reasonable efforts to rescue them without jeopardizing their own life or lives of others if guilty of manslaughter if the omission is the reason the person dies

Question 9

Examples of status relationships (relationships where people are obligated to act to prevent harm to another)

Answer 9

parents and children, married couples, masters and servants

Question 10

Contractual obligation (exception to omission):

Answer 10

one who has custody of a human, helpless from imprisonment, infancy, sickness, etc. is bound to help them with proper diligence and will be held guilty of manslaughter, if by culpable negligence, the helpless person dies

Question 11

Examples of contractual obligation (exception to omission):

Answer 11

babysitters owes an implied contractual duty to protect; doctors have contractual duty to provide medical care

Question 12

Creation of a risk (exception to omission)

Answer 12

person who wrongfully harms another or another’s property, or who wrongfully places a person or their property in risk of harm has a duty to aid injured person or endangered party

Question 13

Voluntary assistance (exception to omission)

Answer 13

if you start helping someone in jeopardy, you have a duty to keep helping them, if a subsequent omission would put the victim in a worse position than if actor has not initiated help (applies even if actor did not originally have a legal duty)

Question 14

knowingly procured or received property possessed or that D failed to dispose of the object after they became aware of its presence

Answer 14

possession

Question 15

Not guilty of possession if contraband is:

Answer 15

planted on you and you don’t have sufficient time to terminate possession after learning of its presence

Question 16

For possession, D has to be aware of the possession of the object but doesn’t need to be aware of:

Answer 16

it’s illegality or true nature

Question 17

When has a person acted with “mens rea” (broad definition)?

Answer 17

if they committed the actus reus of an offense with a “vicious will,” “evil mind,” “morally blameworthy” or “culpable” state of mind

Question 18

narrow definition of mens rea

Answer 18

if, but only if, a person commits the actus read of an offense with the particular mental state set out expressly in the definition of that offense (also called the “elemental” definition of mens rea)

Question 19

CL definition of intentionally

Answer 19

( 1 ) it was her conscious object to cause the result; or ( 2 ) if she knew that the harm was virtually certain to occur as the result of her conduct

Question 20

CL definition of knowingly (some offenses require proof that the actor had knowledge of an attendant circumstance)

Answer 20

(1) is aware of the fact; (2) correctly believes it exists; or (3) suspects that it exists and purposely avoids learning if her suspicion is correct (willful blindness)

Question 21

willful blindness (CL)

Answer 21

aware of high probability of the existence of the attendant circumstance AND (1) takes deliberate action to avoid confirming the fact OR (2) purposefully fails to investigate in order to avoid confirmation

Question 22

recklessly (CL)

Answer 22

actor disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of which he was aware

Question 23

negligently (CL)

Answer 23

gross deviation from the reasonable person standard (occurs when B

Question 24

CL general intent

Answer 24

only mindset needed is to intend to voluntarily commit the social harm (ex. intent to enter into a house)

Question 25

CL specific intent

Answer 25

offenses explicitly contains one of the following mens rea elements:

• intent to commit some act over and beyond the actus reds of the offense or
• a special motive for committing the actus reus offense or
• awareness of a particular attendant circumstance

Question 26

transferred intent (CL)

Answer 26

intent “follows the bullet”; if you shoot someone and unless the offense requires that D’s criminal intent be directed towards the actual victim

Question 27

CL malice (not in murder)

Answer 27

a person acts with “malice” if she intentionally or recklessly causes the social harm of an offense

Question 28

MPC mens rea requirement

Answer 28

Except as in 2.05, a person is not guilty of an offense unless he acted purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently, as the law may require, with respect to each material element of the offense

Question 29

MPC intent/purpose (CL “intentionally” is not used in MPC)

Answer 29

their conscious object to cause the result

Question 30

MPC “knowingly”

Answer 30

she is aware that the result is “practically certain” to result from her conduct or he is aware that the circumstance exists, or if he is aware “of a high probability of its existence, unless he actually believes that it does not exist”

Question 31

MPC “recklessly”

Answer 31

acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct

Question 32

MPC “negligence”

Answer 32

should be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his conduct

Question 33

Is there strict liability under MPC?

Answer 33

no

Question 34

CL mens rea for complicity

Answer 34

intentionally act to aid in the facilitation or commission of the offense AND act with a level of culpability required in the commission the offense or had knowledge that principal intended its commission at time of giving aid or encouragement

Question 35

In CL, you are liable as an accomplice if:

Answer 35

conduct assists in the commission of the offense

Question 36

MPC accomplice liability

Answer 36

person is guilty of an offense if it is committed by his own conduct or by the conduct of another person for which he is legally responsible or both

Question 37

Under the MPC, a person is an accomplice if:

Answer 37

With the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of the offense:
(1)solicits other person to commit it OR (2) aids or agrees or attempts to aid such other person in planning it OR having a legal duty to prevent the commission of the offense, fails to make proper effort to do so, OR his conduct is expressly declared by law to establish his complicity

Question 38

jury nullification

Answer 38

jury has power to acquit defendant even if it is proven that they are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, if they feel that acquitting them would better serve the principles of justice

Question 39

a conviction upon circumstantial evidence alone cannot be sustained unless:

Answer 39

the circumstances are inconsistent with any reasonable hypothesis of innocence