Overview and General matters

Question 1

What is the general approach to crim law?

Answer 1

The Multistate Examination directs examinees to answer questions according to “the generally accepted view” unless otherwise noted. In Criminal Law, the examiners may tell you the law to apply if there is no prevailing view. For example:
• The call of a question might tell you that the common law applies or that the state follows the Model Penal Code (“M.P.C.”) approach
• A fact pattern may also include a statute that you are to apply to the facts
• Finally, a question might reference a well-known legal doctrine such as the Wharton rule or the M’Naghten test
Note that if the examiners do not tell you whether the common law or a statutory version of the crime applies, it likely means that specific elements of the crime are not relevant to the question—for example, the question may concern whether voluntary intoxication is a defense to a crime, in which case the relevant factor is what type of mental state the crime requires, not other elements of the crime that may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Question 2

What is the jurisdiction of a crime?

Answer 2

Generally, a state has jurisdiction over a crime if:
• Any act constituting an element of the offense was committed in the state
• An act outside the state caused a result in the state
• The crime involved the neglect of a duty imposed by the
law of the state
• There was an attempt or conspiracy outside the state plus
an act inside the state, or
• There was an attempt or conspiracy inside the state to
commit an offense outside the state

Question 3

What is a merger of crimes at common law?

Answer 3

At common law, if a person engaged in conduct constituting both a felony and a misdemeanor, they could be convicted only of the felony. The misdemeanor merged into the felony.

Question 4

What is the merger of crimes under modern law?

Answer 4

Generally, there is no merger of crimes in American law. However, a person who solicits another to commit a crime may not be convicted of both the solicitation and the completed crime (if the person solicited does complete it). Similarly, a person who completes a crime after attempting it may not be convicted of both the attempt and the completed crime. Conspiracy, however, does not merge with the completed offense (so, for example, a person can be convicted of both robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery).
Under the M.P.C., a defendant may not be convicted of more than one inchoate crime (that is, attempt, conspiracy, or solicitation) when their conduct was designed to culminate in the commission of the same offense. For example, a defendant who conspired to commit burglary and then actually attempted to commit burglary could not be convicted of both conspiracy and attempt.

Question 5

What are the rules against multiple convictions for some transaction?

Answer 5

Double jeopardy prohibits trial or conviction of a person for a lesser included offense if they have been put in jeopardy for the greater offense. For example, a defendant who was convicted of felony murder based on an armed robbery cannot be convicted later of the armed robbery in the same incident because the armed robbery is a lesser included offense of the felony murder. However, a court can impose multiple punishments at a single trial where the punishments are for two or more statutorily defined offenses specifically intended by the legislature to carry separate punishments, even though the offenses arise from the same transaction and constitute the same crime.

Question 6

What is the classification of crimes?

Answer 6

There are two classes of crimes: felonies and misdemeanors. Felonies are generally punishable by death or imprisonment for more than one year; other crimes are misdemeanors.