Criminal Law Ch 5+6

How have American courts treated anti-loitering statutes in recent years?

Courts have found these laws unconstitutional when they are found to be vague, such as by failing to give fair warning of the precise conduct that is prohibited

In special circumstances, state and federal agencies can legally enact or enforce criminal statutes that unnecessarily inhibit the substantive rights identified in the U.S Constitution

False

______ is an accused person's inability to rationally consult with an attorney or to understand the nature of the proceedings against him or her.

Incompetency

A _______ defense reduces the level of offense for which the defendant may legally be convicted - for example, from Murder to Manslaughter.

Mitigating

Which of the following is the way criminal law is utilized in the court system and enforced by the police

Procedural criminal law

Today, The right of privacy includes three of the following rights. Which of the following is not considered a right to privacy?

Right not to have your picture taken in a public place

The US Supreme Court has legally recognized, within the concept of personal privacy, three different types of privacy relating to sexual and reproductive matters. Which of the following choices has not been recognized by the court

The right to decide whether or not to conceive a child

The First Amendment provides that congress shall make no law that prohibits three of the following actions. Which of the following is not covered by the First Amendment

The right to sue

Which of the following is not one of the three most inchoate crimes?

Wavering

A ________ defense, if successfully established by the defense and not disproved by the prosecution, results in an acquittal of any wrongdoing.

complete

The crime of ________ is said to exist as a necessary and important aid to law enforcement because secret enterprises threaten society and are extremely difficult to detect.

conspiracy

Which of the following is an agreement between two or more people to commit an unlawful act or acts or to do a lawful act unlawfully?

conspiracy

Under the ________ test, a person is guilty of attempt when his or her conduct is very close to success, or when an act is so near to the result that the probability of success is very great.

dangerous proximity

A defense is based upon a(n) ____ when the actor has violated a criminal statue but there is a reason for not holding him or her personally accountable.

excuse

The Sixth Amendment and the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments require that the law provide

fair notice of the charges

A person is justified in the use of deadly force to protect his or her property from encroachment (intrusion).

false

Intoxication results only from the ingestion of alcohol.

false

Mens Rea is the only necessary requirement for criminal liability .

false

The aggressor is the one who responds to the person who employs hostile force, either by threatening or striking another.

false

The two principal defenses to attempt are abandonment and proximity.

false

There are eight stages of committing a crime.

false

Which of the following are criminal acts that are punished before the ultimate or intended harm occurs?

inchoate crimes

A test that determines that no attempt has occurred when a suspect has not yet gained control over an essential part or piece of the criminal plan.

indispensable element

Solicitation exists only if the crime solicited has been:

inquired about

______ is a defense in which the law recognizes that the accused was suffering from mental disease when the crime occurred, and thus may be relieved of criminal responsibility.

insanity

A defense based upon a(n) ____ renders conduct lawful that would otherwise constitute a violation of the criminal law.

justification

Which of the following exists when the intended acts, even if completed, would not have amounted to a crime?

legal impossibility

If a defendant was charged with attempted murder by swatting someone over the head with a fly swatter, the defendant would likely be able to prove that he or she did not have the ________ to murder, because it is impossible to kill someone in this manner.

mens rea

Once a defendant has been charged with a criminal offense, the prosecutor has the burden of producing evidence and proving beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of the five elements of criminal culpability. Which of the following is not one of these five elements?

motive and intent

The test that determines that an attempt has occurred when the perpetrator's conduct, (though not having advanced so far as the last act,) approaches sufficiently near to the completed crime to equal a first or subsequent step in a direct movement toward the commission of the offense.

physical proximity

Abandonment of a crime is a valid defense when:

the defendant has had a change of heart on his or her own, because of a sincere belief that furtherance of the act is wrong

Attempt is when a person with the intent to commit an offense, performs any act that constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of that offense.

true

Diminished Capacity is a term used to describe two circumstances in which a mental condition short of insanity will lead to an acquittal or lessened charges.

true

Duress is a form of choice of evils and, in that respect, is similar to the defense of necessity.

true

Failure of proof occurs when the prosecution fails to prove the cause of action in its entire scope and meaning.

true

If the person solicited agrees to commit a crime, then both the solicitor and the person solicited are criminally liable for conspiracy.

true

Self Defense is the justified use of reasonable force by one who is not an aggressor, when the Actor reasonably believed it was necessary to defend against what he or she reasonably perceived to be an unlawful and imminent physical attack.

true

Self-defense is universally recognized in American criminal law

true

Solicitation is the act of seeking to persuade someone else to commit a crime with the intent that crime be committed.

true

Sometimes a person is faced with a choice between two courses of action, both of which will cause harm. If the actor chooses the lesser of the two, he or she can claim this defense known as "Necessity."

true

The actus reus of conspiracy is the act of reaching an agreement.

true

The current trend in criminal law is to reduce rather than increase the age at which children can be held criminally responsible.

true

Voluntary Intoxication is never a defense to a general intent crime. (An example of a general intent crime is Operating Under the Influence.)

true

When a person's intended end constitutes a crime, but he or she fails to complete the offense because of an attendant circumstance that is unknown or beyond his or her control. This is known as a Factual Impossibility Case.

true

When using abandonment as a defense, courts have imposed strict requirements of proof on the defendant.

true

With respect to persons between the ages of 7 and 14, a prosecutor could introduce evidence that the child was mature enough to recognize the difference between right and wrong and that the child could be charged with a crime.

true

A(n) ____ is "one that, if proved, results in the acquittal of a defendant, although the prosecutor has proved" the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

true defense