Criminal Law I

Under the Model Penal Code, which of the following are considered an example of an involuntary act?

- A reflex of convulsion. - A bodily movement during unconsciousness. - A bodily movement during sleep.

Currently accepted as a rationale for punishment of criminal behavior?

- Deterrence. - Education. - Restoration.

Which of the following statements is true with respect to the Model Penal Code (MPC)?

- It was compiled by the American Law Institute. - The MPC has been adopted verbatim by virtually every jurisdiction. - A main purpose of the MPC is to serve as a compilation of alternative methods of dealing with issues in criminal law, as an aid to be used by legislatures when enacting criminal laws.

In determining whether the legislature intended to impose liability without fault in a criminal statute, what factor(s) should a court consider?

- The legislative history of the statute. - The severity of the punishment for the crime. - The seriousness of harm to the public that may be expected to follow from the forbidden conduct.

MPC section 2.02 expressly addresses all of the following mental states:

- purposely. - knowingly. - negligently.

Recklessness as defined by MPC section 2.02 requires:

- that a person consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from the conduct. - that the risk involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe.

Which of the following is a true statement? a) A defendant who intended to cause serious bodily injury short of death, but whose act did cause the death of the victim, has committed murder. b) A defendant who had no intent to kill, but who negligently causes the death of the victim, would be guilty of murder. c) A defendant who had no intent to kill, but whose act does cause death of the victim, could not be found guilty of murder. d) A defendant who had the intent to kill, but whose act did not cause the death of the victim, can be found guilty of murder.

A defendant who intended to cause serious bodily injury short of death, but whose act did cause the death of the victim, has committed murder.

Which statement best summarizes the dissenting opinion in State v. Larson?

A subjective standard should apply to assess whether the defendant acted recklessly.

Based on the United States v. Jewell case, which of the following is an incorrect statement of the law?

An actor who is aware of the probable existence of a material fact but does not attempt to determine if that material fact exists can only be found to have acted recklessly with respect to that material fact.

Gross Negligence

An imprecise phrase at common law that can mean either recklessness or extreme negligence.

Malicious

An imprecise phrase at common law that is effectively equivalent to intent or recklessness.

Willful

An imprecise phrase at common law that is effectively equivalent to intent.

Which one of the following statements regarding mayhem is true?

At common law mayhem required the defendant to perform a violent act.

Recklessness

Conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk so as to be a gross deviation from the law-abiding person standard.

Which of the following is a correct statement regarding criminal negligence?

Criminal negligence is a higher standard than civil negligence, but a lesser standard than recklessness.

Purpose

Desire, wish, goal, or conscious object.

Which of the following crimes is specifically defined as requiring an omission to act?

Failure to file a tax return.

Civil Negligence

Failure to perceive a risk so as to be a deviation from the reasonable person standard.

Criminal Neligence

Failure to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk so as to be a gross deviation from the reasonable person standard.

Which of the following statements is correct?

In State v. Quintana, the court ruled "other bodily member" (as used in the Wisconsin mayhem statute) encompasses all bodily parts.

General Intent

Intent to commit the actus reus of the crime itself.

Which of the following statements about involuntary manslaughter is true? a) Involuntary manslaughter is a felony in most jurisdictions. b) Involuntary manslaughter requires an intent to kill or inflict substantial bodily injury. c) Involuntary manslaughter can only result when the defendant acts with criminal negligence. d) Involuntary manslaughter is an intentional killing committed under extenuating circumstances that mitigate the killing.

Involuntary manslaughter is a felony in most jurisdictions.

Which of the following is a correct statement about the term "motive"?

Procedurally, a motive for committing a crime is relevant in proving guilt when the evidence of guilt is circumstantial.

Which one of the following statements regarding criminal assault and battery is correct?

The Model Penal Code defines assault to include both assault and battery.

Which of the following best states the position of the United States Supreme Court on the constitutionality of strict liability criminal statutes?

The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized as a general matter it is constitutionally permissible to enact strict liability criminal statutes.

Which of the following best illustrates an example of a defendant's voluntary act?

The act of willfully slapping a person across the face.

In People v. Berry, how did the court rule on the contention that there was sufficient time for the defendant's passions to have cooled?

There was ample evidence in the record to support the conclusion that the defendant's heat of passion was the result of the long course of provocatory conduct, and therefore had not yet cooled.

Which of the following is a correct statement of the ruling of the court in State v. Ortega?

Touching something intimately connected with the victim's body is sufficient for a conviction of battery.

In County Court of Ulster County v. Allen, the U.S Supreme Court held:

When the act required is one of possession, it can be the subject of a presumption.

In Sexton v. State, what was the issue to be decided on appeal?

Whether a mistake of fact was a defense to the charge of reckless manslaughter.

Which of the following is not relevant when deciding whether a defendant should be found guilty of voluntary manslaughter?

Whether the victim intended to provoke the defendant.

In City of Minneapolis v. Altimus, involuntary intoxication was stated to include several different kinds of intoxication. These include:

a) coerced intoxication. b) pathological intoxication. c) intoxication by innocent mistake.

At the early common law one whose conduct brought about an unintended death in the commission or attempted commission of a felony was guilty of murder. Modernly, American jurisdictions have limited the rule by:

a) permitting its use only as to certain types of felonies. b) a narrower construction of the time period during which the felony is in the process of commission. c) requiring that the underlying felony be independent of the homicide.

Modern state criminal codes respecting voluntary intoxication as a defense:

are divided as to whether to allow such a defense in any case.

According to Patterson v. New York, second degree murder under New York law exists when the requisite mental state combines with:

causing the death of another.

In State v. Goodseal, the Court found that the purpose of the felony-murder rule was to:

furnish an added deterrent to the perpetration of felonies which, by their nature or by the attendant circumstances, create a foreseeable risk of death.

A defendant may not be convicted of a crime until:

guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt.

Which of the following terms refer to the mental part of a crime?

mens rea

Involuntary manslaughter may be predicated on a death as a result of an omission to act if there was a duty to act, and: a) the failure to act was a breach of the duty of care. b) the failure to act was an unlawful act or a criminally negligent one. c) the failure to act was accompanied by knowing that death is certain or substantially certain from his omission. d) the failure to act was accompanied by the intent to kill or cause serious bodily injury.

the failure to act was an unlawful act or a criminally negligent one.

Both at common law and under the typical modern statute the felony murder rule requires that:

the killing occur in the commission or attempted commission of the felony.

In the State v Rocker case, the dissenting opinion uses the terms "general intent." "General intent," according to this dissent, means that the defendant acted:

with the awareness of sufficient facts and circumstances from which the trier of fact could infer defendant acted with general intent.

Which of the following statements are correct?

- Civil laws and criminal laws both aim to shape the conduct of the citizenry to encourage people to act in ways beneficial to society. - Civil laws and criminal laws become effective as models of behavior when they sanction those people who do not follow the law. - The primary difference between civil laws and criminal laws is that tort law deals with wrongs to private individuals and criminal law deals with wrongs done to the public.

Each crime will have, as a part of its definition, which of the following elements?

A definition of the required criminal act (or omission to act if there is a duty to act) that the defendant must perform.

How does the Model Penal Code define intoxication?

A disturbance of mental or physical capacities resulting from the introduction of substances into the body.

At common law, criminal liability required:

A finding that both a mental element and a physical act requirement are established.

What test is used to determine whether a defendant killed after reasonable provocation?

A hybrid test containing both objective and subjective tests of provocation.

Which one of the following statements best characterizes the principle of vicarious liability as it relates to the criminal law?

A person is generally not liable for how someone else acts, unless that person directs, encourages, or aids the other person to act.

The M'Naghten test has long been the subject of controversy. Which of the following has NOT been a grounds for criticism of the rule?

It fails to identify those without moral blame.

Which of the following statements about the state of unconsciousness is true?

It is a complete defense if the defendant was in fact unconscious at the time he/she undertook that which constituted the acts required for the alleged crime.

Which one of the following statements regarding mayhem is true?

At common law, a mayhem injury must have rendered the victim unable to fight.

"Which of the following correctly states when the Model Penal Code would conclude that a person is not responsible for criminal conduct?

At the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.

Knowledge

Awareness with practical certainty that a result will occur.

In People v. Schmidt, how did the court define the term "wrong?"

Both a legal and a moral wrong.

Based on United States v. Escamilla, which of the following is a true statement? a) Gross negligence is defined as exacting proof of a wanton or reckless disregard for human life. b) Proof of simple negligence will suffice for involuntary manslaughter. c) Gross negligence is a set standard that never changes. d) Due to its nature, the laws of the United States did not apply on T-3.

Gross negligence is defined as exacting proof of a wanton or reckless disregard for human life.

Of the sources cited in People v Marrero, which held "It is no doubt true that there are many cases in which the criminal could not have known that he was breaking the law, but to admit the excuse at all would be to encourage ignorance where the law-maker has determined to make men know and obey, and justice to the individual is rightly outweighed by the larger interests on the other side of the scales"?

Holmes, The Common Law.

Which of the following is an example of a malum prohibitum crime? a) Hunting on land without the owner's consent. b) Battery. c) Assault. d) Driving while intoxicated.

Hunting on land without the owner's consent.

In State v Beale, the defendant was convicted of knowingly concealing stolen property. The court, in adopting the rule followed in a majority of jurisdictions, held that:

In determining the state of a defendant's belief, the jury may properly take into consideration the belief which the jury concludes a person of ordinary intellectual capacity would have formed from such facts and circumstances.

Which of the following statements about the United States v. Bayes case is correct?

The court looked to the common law for a definition of assault.

Which of the following DOES NOT need to be proven in order to establish the defendant committed murder?

The defendant acted with the intent to kill.

Which of the following was NOT identified as a finding of the jury in State v. Guthrie?

The defendant was guilty of second-degree murder.

Which of the following statements is NOT correct regarding the insanity defense?

The insanity defense allows an acquittal and outright release from confinement of persons not morally blameworthy for their conduct.

In Parsons v. State, the court adopted which of the following tests for insanity?

The irresistible impulse test.

According to Sanders v. State, who decides whether a defendant is insane?

The jury.

Under the Model Penal Code, in which of the following situations would mistake of fact not be a valid defense?

The mistake negates an act required to establish a material element the crime.

What is the difference between acting "purposely" with respect to a result and acting "knowingly" with respect to a result under the Model Penal Code?

To act purposely is to act with purpose, aim, or design to cause a particular result, whereas to act knowingly is to do an act conscious of the practical certainty of the results.

Which one of the following statements regarding criminal assault as an attempted battery is correct?

Where A throws a rock at B, but misses, A must have intended to hit B in order to be convicted of assault as an attempted battery.

If an expert marksman, enraged by seeing his wife engaged in an adulterous relationship, entered the bedroom and shot and killed his wife, his intent to kill his wife:

can be inferred because the killer used a gun.

If defendant formed the intention to commit a crime, and then drinks in order to gain the nerve to commit the crime and/or to prepare himself for the defense of intoxication, then:

the defendant cannot claim the defense of intoxication even if at the time the crime was committed he has become too intoxicated to form the requisite intent.

In State v. Goodseal, the Court held that:

the predicate felony must be one inherently or foreseeably dangerous to human life as judged by the jury at trial based on the facts of the case.

In State v. Caddell, which one of the following statements best summarizes the court's holding regarding the defense of unconsciousness/automatism?

It is an affirmative defense which must be established by evidence put forth by the defense.

Under the M'Naghten rule a person is criminally insane if:

It must be clearly proved that, at the time of the committing of the act, the party accused was labouring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing; or, if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing what was wrong.

Which of the following conclusions was reached by the court in People v. Washington?

Malice aforethought cannot be attributed to a robber if the killing in question was committed by the victim of the robbery.

Which of the following is the most accurate statement?

Most crimes today are defined by statute.

Which of the following statements is true about voluntary manslaughter?

Murder can be reduced to voluntary manslaughter even though the defendant intentionally killed the victim.

What mens rea is the defendant required to have in order to be found guilty of the commission of a strict liability crime?

No mental state is required.

Defendant was engaged in a bank robbery. At the time Defendant was taking money from the teller, a customer about to enter the bank, who was unaware of the robbery taking place, suffered a heart attack and died. Is the Defendant guilty of felony murder?

No, because there was no causal connection between the customer's death and the robbery.

According to the dissent is State v Thompson, what is the justification for holding a defendant liable for the crime of murder without any showing of specific intent or premeditation?

Once it is established that a defendant has the requisite intent sufficient to establish guilt as to the underlying felony, the felony-murder rule then operates as a conclusive presumption that the defendant possessed the intent necessary for murder.

Based on State v. Larson, which of the following is not a correct statement regarding the term "reckless"?

One acts recklessly only if he intentionally does an act or fails to do an act which it is his duty to the other to do, knowing or having reason to know of facts which would lead a reasonable man to realize that the actor's conduct is practically certain to cause a harmful result.

The majority of the courts that have held that evidence of mental condition not amounting to insanity is admissible have done so to allow a defendant to negate:

Premeditation or deliberation required for conviction of first degree murder.

Intent

Purpose or knowledge with substantial certainty.

Specific Intent

Some intent beyond the intent to commit the actus reus itself.

In Lambert v. California, what assumption did Justice Douglas state that the court had to make?

The appellant had no actual knowledge of the requirement that she register under the ordinance.

According to Montana v. Engelhoff, which of the following statements regarding voluntary intoxication is correct?

Each state gets to decide whether voluntary intoxication is a valid defense to criminal liability.

According to your reading in the hornbook, which of the following type of conduct has NOT been held to involve a very high degree of unjustified homicidal danger that will suffice for depraved-heart murder? a) Firing a bullet into a room known to be occupied by several people. b) Playing a game of "Russian roulette" with another person. c) Shaking an infant so long and so vigorously that it cannot breathe. d) Firing a gun at the front door of a dwelling known to be unoccupied.

Firing a gun at the front door of a dwelling known to be unoccupied.

Which of the following represents a conclusion reached by the court in Wellar v. People?

For murder, if the defendant's intent be directly to produce a bodily injury, it must be such an injury as may be expected to involve serious consequences, either periling life or leading to great bodily harm.

What is the holding in the majority of cases regarding a defendant charged with a crime requiring the mental state of recklessness, but who is so intoxicated at the time of his conduct as to be unaware of the risk?

If the only reason why the defendant did not realize the risk is that he was too intoxicated he is guilty of recklessness.

Which of the following statements most accurately summarizes the general rule regarding ignorance or mistake of law as a defense in criminal law?

Ignorance or mistake of a fact or law is a defense when it negates the existence of a mental state essential to the crime charged.

Which of the following statements about the Model Penal Code is not accurate? a) The Model Penal Code recognizes that penal sanctions are appropriate in some cases of inadvertent homicide. b) The Model Penal Code does not recognize the crime of negligent homicide. c) The Model Penal Code defines negligent homicide as a homicide committed negligently. d) Under the Model Penal Code, negligence may serve as an appropriate basis for punishing inadvertent homicide.

The Model Penal Code does not recognize the crime of negligent homicide.

A defendant in a criminal case, at the time he engaged in the conduct giving rise to the charges against him, may have been suffering from an abnormal mental condition that was not of a kind or character to afford him a successful insanity defense. In such a case, his mental condition:

can be relevant to a mental state that is an element of the specific offense.