Criminal Law - Quiz 1

Which of the following is true of the legal essence of criminal conduct?

Defenses refer to the zone of individual liberties over which governments have no authority. (Defenses refer to the zone of individual liberties over which governments have no authority to regulate and to those instances where other factual or legal defenses few an individual from criminal responsibility.)

Which of the following can be confirmed using the "but-for" test?

Factual causality (The but-for test is a method for determining factual causality that holds that "without this, that would not be," or "but for the conduct of the accused, the harm in question would not have occurred.")

Which of the following is true of the four states of mind outlined by the Model Penal Code (MPC)?

"purposeful" in the MPC is the equivalent of specific intent in the common law. ("Purposeful" is the MPC equivalent of specific intent at the common law; it refers to a desire to cause the outcome that resulted from an act.)

Which of the following is true of the actus reus of a crime?

A criminal activity conducted during a hypnotic state is not considered a crime. (Some forms of human action are inherently noncriminal. The laws of most jurisdictions specify that a person's actions must be voluntary for them to carry criminal liability.)

Sandra is sentenced by a state court to five years in prison for possession of illegal drugs. A year after her conviction, the state passes a law that increases the minimum prison term to eight years for those found in possession of illegal drugs. Which of the following is most likely true of the given scenario?

According to the constitutional provision against ex post facto laws, Sandra does not have to serve the additional term prescribed by the new law. (An ex post facto law is one that inflicts a greater punishment than existent law did at the time a crime was committed. The U.S. Constitution prohibits ex post facto laws. Therefore, Sandra does not have to serve the additional term prescribed by the new law.)

In a statute which makes it a crime to "knowingly commit any lewd or lascivious act in the presence of any child under the age of 16 years," the age of the victim is known as _________.

An attendant circumstance (Statutes defining crimes may specify that additional elements, called attendant circumstances, be present for a conviction to be obtained. In this instance, a lewd and lascivious act in front of a 20-year-old might not be a crime.)

Which of the following best illustrates the concept of proximate cause?

An elderly victim dies of a heart attack when a thief produces a gun during a robbery. (Here, the attacker's action is the proximate cause of the person's death. This is because the attacker set in motion a chain of events with potentially deadly consequences and the person's death is a foreseeable consequence of the attacker's actions.)

Which of the following is true of the purposes of criminal law?

Criminal law allows people to plan their lives by guaranteeing a relative degree of safety to well-intentioned individuals. (Criminal law allows people to plan their lives by guaranteeing a relative degree of safety to well-intentioned individuals, while constraining the behavior of those who would unfairly victimize others.)

Adultery is considered taboo in most counties. Adultery, in those countries, is ______.

Immoral (Taboos are violations of the social code in a society. Because laws have not been enacted against quite a large number of generally recognized taboos, it is possible for behavior to be contrary to accepted principles of social interaction and perhaps even immoral -but still legal.)

____________ refers to the requirement that the concurrence of a guilty mind and a criminal act must produce harm.

Causation (Causation refers to the fact that the concurrence of a guilty mind and a criminal act must produce or cause harm. It is an actual link between an actor's conduct and a result.)

_________is the ability to exercise control over property or objects, even though they are not in one's physical custody.

Constructive possession (Constructive possession refers to the ability to exercise control over property or objects, even though they are not in one's physical custody.)

Dr. Hermann accuses Linda, a worker at his hospital, of stealing money from his office. The court hearing the case, however, dismisses the charges against Linda, stating that there is no direct or indirect evidence of the crime having taken place. In the given scenario, the charges against Linda have been dismissed due to the court's failure to established __________.

Corpus delicti (Corpus delicti holds that a person cannot be tried for a crime unless it can first be shown that the offense has occurred. Corpus delicti consists of a showing of: (1) the occurrence of the specific kind of injury and (2) someone's criminal act as the cause of the injury. The charges against Linda have been dismissed due to the court's failure to establish corpus delicti.)

Zygmunt is being interviewed on television, where he tells the show's host that he regularly smokes marijuana. Which principle of law makes it impossible to convict him based solely upon this statement?

Corpus delicti (The corpus delicti rule holds that a criminal conviction cannot be based solely on the uncorroborated confession or admission of the accused. A person may, for example, confess to a crime, but if there is no independent evidence showing that such a crime has even taken place, the individual making the confession can't be prosecuted.)

__________ is a principle of law that holds that a criminal conviction cannot be based solely on the uncorroborated confession or admission of an accused.

Corpus delicti (The corpus delicti rule that holds that a criminal conviction cannot be based solely on the uncorroborated confession or admission of the accused. A person may, for example, confess to a crime, but if there is no independent evidence showing that such a crime has even taken place, the individual making the confession can't be prosecuted.)

Which of following is true of ex post facto laws?

An ex post facto law is one that aggravates a crime, or makes it more serious than it was when committed. (An ex post facto law is one that makes an action committed before the passing of the law criminal and punishes such action; aggravates a crime or makes it more serious than it was when committed; inflicts a greater punishment than existent law did at the time the crime was committed; or alters the legal rules of evidence and requires less, or different, testimony than the law required at the time of the offense in order to convict the offender.)

Milano, a two-year-old boy, is suffering from chest congestion. Milano's parents, owing to their busy schedules, do not take Milano to a doctor. They assume that the congestion is not serious and that his condition will improve in a few days. Milano, however, passes away the very next day after his condition worsens. Milano's parents could most likely be convicted for ________.

An omission to act (Omission to act refers to an intentional or unintentional failure to act, which may impose criminal lability if a duty to act under the circumstances is specified by law. Here, Milano's parents failed to provide the necessary treatment for their child's illness.)

An adversarial system differs from an inquisitorial system in that adversarial systems _______.

Are punctuated by processes (Accusatorial systems are punctuated by processes. Police conduct their investigations with little judicial oversight till the accused is arrested. After the arrest, the public prosecutor enters the process. Adversarial systems are more like one continuous investigation and trial overseen by a judge.)

Emil is arrested by the police for having committed a personal crime . From among the following, Emil is most likely to have ________.

Assaulted his neighbor (Assault is an example of a personal crime. A personal or violent crime is a crime committed against a person, including murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery.

Which of the following standards of proof is required for a conviction in a criminal court?

Beyond a reasonable doubt (Prof beyond a reasonable doubt is required for convictions in criminal court.)

The governor of a state is disliked by many in the state's legislature. The legislature pronounce him guilty of a murder that he clearly did not commit, hoping that the resulting punishment will remove him from office. This scenario is illustrative of which type of constitutionally prohibited act?

Bill of attainder (A bill of attainder is a legislative pronouncement that an individual is guilty of a crime. Bills of attainder are prohibited to the federal and state governments by the U.S. Constitution.)

Benjamin, a drug addict, dies from an overdoes of a drug that he takes with his friends Carter and Yan Li at Carter's house. Which of the following is most likely true if the case is tried under the felony murder rule?

Both Carter and Yan Li can be convicted for Benjamin's death even if the killing was unintentional. (Felony murder statutes hold a person involved in the commission of a felony responsible for homicide if another person dies during the offense, even though the death may have been unintentional. So, both Carter and Yan Li may be convicted for Benjamin's death.)

Public order crimes include offenses such as __________.

Breach of peace, disorderly conduct, vagrancy, loitering, and public intoxication (Public order offenses are acts that are willfully committed and that disturbs public peace or tranquility. Included are offenses such as fighting, breach of peace, disorderly conduct, vagrancy, loitering, unlawful assembly, public intoxication, obstructing public passage,, and (illegally) carrying weapons.)

Delbert has a history of somnambulism (sleepwalking). One night, he rises from his bed, retrieves an axe from his shed, and bludgeons his twin daughters to death. He wakes up the next morning covered in blood, with no memory of the killings. Which of the following is most likely true of this scenario?

Delbert has not committed a criminal act, because his actions were involuntary. (Before we consider a person's state of mind, we must first determine if there is a criminal act. The actus reus of a crime must consist of voluntary actions, and acts committed while sleepwalking are, by definition, not voluntary.)

Nadia is accused of kidnapping a child. The federal court handling the case refers to a previous similar case and decides to sentence Nadia to 15 years in prison. Her lawyer, however, appeals to the Supreme Court, which then finds that the facts of the previous case are different from Nadia's case. The Supreme Court has ______.

Distinguished the facts of Nadia's case from the facts of the previous case ("Distinguished" means to argue or to find that a rule established by an earlier appellate court decision does not apply to a case currently under consideration, even though an apparent similarity exists between the cases. If it is possible to distinguish the facts of a new case from the facts of earlier ones, then the law of the precedential case will not be applied, or only applied in part, to the case under review.)

Which of the following is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution?

Double jeopardy (Double jeopardy is a second prosecution or a second punishment for the same offense. Double jeopardy is prohibited by the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.)

Simon is arrested for the murder of an FBI agent. He is sentenced to 10 years in prison without any legal proceedings. Which of the following is being breached in the given scenario?

Due process of law (Due process of law refers to procedures that effectively guarantee individual rights in the face of criminal prosecution. It is the due course of legal proceedings according to the rules and forms that have been established for the protection of private rights or the formal adherence to fundamental rules for fair and orderly legal proceedings.)

To obtain a conviction in criminal court, the prosecution must prove

Each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. (The prosecution has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt each element of the crime charged, and that the defendant was the perpetrator of any such charged crimes.)

Lloyd has been accused of embezzlement, but he cannot be punished immediately. Evidence has to be brought forth that proves he is guilty of the crime. Which of the following purposes of criminal law is being illustrated in the given scenario?

Establish criteria for determination of guilt at trial (The scenario talks about the need for evidence to punish a person. For this, criminal law establishes criteria that help determine whether a person is guilty if not.)

Felony murder statutes fifer from statutes of other forms if murder in that they hold a person liable for the murder _____________.

Even if the killing was unintentional (The felony murder is an exception to the general notion that criminal liability does not accrue when the harm that results is different in kind from the harm intended. It holds a person involved in the commission of a felony responsible for homicide if another person dies during the offense, even though the death may have been unintentional.)

Agatha is sentenced to life imprisonment by a state court for felony murder. A few years later, a new law is passed in the state which increases the punishment for felony murder to a death sentence, but no changes are made to Agatha's sentence. Which of the following legal concepts explains why Agatha does not face the death penalty?

Ex post facto (An ex post facto law is one that inflicts a greater punishment than existent law did at the time a crime was committed. Without protections from ex post facto laws, Agatha could face the death penalty.)

Which of the following restrictions on criminal law prohibits law from being applied retroactively; that is, applied to acts committed before the law was enacted and effective?

Ex post facto (An ex post facto law is one that makes an action committed before the passing of the law (and that was legal when committed) criminal and punishes such action. It is, therefore, prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.)

Which of the following is true of the concept of corpus delicti?

Federal courts have abandoned the requirement of established the corpus delicti of a crime. (Federal courts and a few state courts have abandoned the requirement of establishing the corpus delicti of a crime because doing so is not always possible. Attempted crimes, some high-technology crimes, conspiracies, and crimes such as income tax evasion make the corpus delicti requirement difficult, if not impossible, to meet.)

______________ statutes hold a person involved in the commission of a felony responsible for homicide if another person dies during the offense, even though the death may have been unintentional.

Felony murder (The felony murder rule is an exception to the general notion that criminal liability does not accrue when the harm that results is different in kind from the harm intended. Felony murder statutes hold a person involved in the commission of a felony responsible for homicide if another person dies during the offense, even though the death may have been unintentional.)

Which of the following is an example of an instance where there is no concurrence of an actus reus with a mens rea?

Francis overpowers and kills a school shooter before he can kill any students. (There are three essential aspects to all crimes: the criminal act (actus reus), a culpable mental state (mens rea), and a concurrence of the two. Criminality exists when the two concur and where no defense exists. Here, there is no concurrence of the two, and there is also a defense available. Francis has not committed a crime.)

Franklin finds himself sexually attracted to young children. He regularly fantasizes about kidnapping children on their way home from school and raping them in his van. Franklin never acts on these fantasies, however. Which of the following is most likely true of this scenario?

Franklin has committed no crime, because there can be no crime without actus reus. (There are three essential aspects of all crimes: the criminal act (actus reus), a culpable mental state (mens rea), and a concurrence of the two. Criminality exists when the two concur and where no defense exists.)

Franklin, while driving to work, is caught up in thoughts regarding an important client meeting he has to attend that day. Since he is driving with the flow of traffic, he is unaware that he is driving at 65 mph in a 55 mph zone. Which of the following is most likely true of the given scenario?

Franklin is committing a strict liability crime. (Routine traffic offenses are generally considered strict liability offenses that do no require intent and may even be committed by drivers who are not consciously aware of what they are doing.)

Noah, in the midst of a heated argument with his wife, strikes a table with a butcher knife to scare her, but the knife slips from his hand, hits his wife, and she later dies from the infection caused by the wound. Which of the following forms of mens rea is being illustrated in the given scenario?

General intent (If a defendant intended to act but did not intend the consequences, then general intent is present. Here the husband did not intend to kill his wife; he wanted to scare her.)

Which of the following best describes a transferred intent?

It is a legal construction by which an unintended act that results from unintentional action undertaken in the commission of a crime may also be illegal. (Transferred Intent is a legal construction by which an unintended act that results from Intentional action undertaken in the commission of a crime may also be illegal. To apply, the harm that befalls the unintended victim must be similar to the intended harm, and the transference cannot increase the defendant's criminal liability.)

Which of the following highlights the major contribution of the Hammurabi Code?

It routinized the practice of justice in Babylonian society (Although the Hammurabi Code specified a variety of corporal punishments, and even death, for named offenses, its major contribution was that it routinized the practice of justice in Babylonian society by lending predictability to punishments.)

Jefferson, married 29-year-old, has consensual sex with Liana, his 14-year-old neighbor. Which of the following is most likely true of the given scenario?

Jefferson is committing statutory rape, even in the absence of mens rea. (Statutory rape occurs between two consenting individuals and requires only that the offender have sexual intercourse with a person under the age of legal consent. It is a strict liability offense that does not require mens rea.)

Jennifer knows that she is infected with the HIV virus. She does not disclose this to Scott, her fiancé, because she doesn't want to risk losing him. They have sexual intercourse, and as a result he is also infected with the virus. Which of the following is most likely true of the given scenario?

Jennifer can be prosecuted because she knowingly exposed Scott to HIV. (In many states, it is a felony to knowingly expose uninformed others to HIV through sexual contact. Therefore, Jennifer can be prosecuted for felony. In this instance, Jennifer has scienter (guilty knowledge).)

Jimmy accidentally fires his gun. The bullet hits a building, who gets killed. Which of the following is the "cause in fact" of the pedestrian's death?

Jimmy's shooting (A cause in fact is the particular factor without which none of the other causes would be sufficient to harm the victim. Here, Jimmy is the cause in fact since all the other causes harmed the victim only because Jimmy first fired the shot.)

Joanna kills a burglar while attempting to defend herself from being attacked by him. Which of the following is true of the given scenario?

Joanna has not committed a crime because there is no concurrence of actus reus and mens rea in the scenario. (There are three essential aspects of all crimes: the criminal act (actus reus), a culpable mental state (mens rea), and a concurrence of the two. Criminality exists when the two concur and where no defense exists. In this scenario, there is no concurrence of the two, which is why Joanna has no committed a crime.)

Ferdinand Sebastian, a state court judge, is hearing a murder case. He realizes that tone of the statutes considered for deciding the case is in conflict with the common law of the state. Which of the following is true of the given scenario?

Judge Sebastian should decide the case according to the statute rather than the common law. (The common law, except interpretations of state and federal constitutions, is a lower form of law than statutes. As such, statutes prevail when in conflict with the common law. Therefore, the case should be decided according to the statute.)

Statutory law is best defined as __________.

Law in the form of statutes or formal written codes made by a legislature or governing body with the power to make laws (Statutory law is the body of written laws created by the legislature of a country or state.)

Leo and Martin burst into a bank and tell everyone to get on the floor and hand over their money. Leo and Martin couldn't get real guns, so they painted two squirt guns black. An off duty police officer, mistaking the squirt guns for real guns, opens fire on the pair. Martin is killed, but Leo survives. Which of the following is most likely is most likely true of the given scenario?

Leo can be charged with felony murder for Martin's death. (Felony murder statutes hold a person involved in the commission of a felony responsible for homicide if another person dies during the offense, even though the death may have been unintentional.)

Mikael confesses to the police that he sexually assaulted his girlfriend. Which of the following is true according to the corpus delicti rule?

Mikael can be punished only of there is further evidence found that he committed the crime. (A person may confess to a crime, but if there is no independent evidence showing that such a crime has even taken place, the individual making the confession can't be prosecuted. Here, if Mikael's girlfriend says that he hasn't assaulted her, he cannot be charged with the crime.)

Which of the following statements is true of misdemeanors?

Misdemeanors are generally thought of as punishable by less than a year's incarceration. (Misdemeanors are minor crimes that are punishable by incarceration, usually in a local confinement facility, for a period of which the upper limit is prescribed by statute in a given jurisdiction, typically one year or less.)

Which of the following is true if the modern U.S. legal system?

Most crimes fall within the jurisdiction of the state courts and not the federal courts. (The framers of the Constitution structured their new government with the intention that state courts would hear most state and federal cases, and as a consequence of the federal architecture they created, most crimes fall within the jurisdiction of the states.)

Which of the following is true of motive?

Motive need not be proven by a prosecutor in order to prove that a defendant acted purposefully. (A motive refers to a person's reason for committing a crime. While it may be helpful to prosecutors in convincing a jury that a defendant had mens rea, it does not have to be proven as a matter of law.)

Joanna feels that abortion should be legalized. She strongly believes that it is a woman's right to abort her child if she wants to. According to her, every individual possesses control over his or her body and that other individuals or governments should not curb that right. Joanna is most likely an adherent of _______.

Natural law (Adherents of natural law believe that that some laws are fundamental to human nature and discoverable by human reason, intuition, or inspiration, without the need to refer to man=made laws. A philosophical outgrowth of natural law is natural rights theory which holds that individuals naturally possess certain freedoms that may not be encroached upon by other individuals or governments.)

According to the American Bar Association (ABA), which of the following is included in the rule of law?

Objectivity and evenhandedness in the application of legal norms (The ABA defines the rule of law to include a relatively high degree of objectivity in the formulation of legal norms and a like degree of evenhandedness in the application of these legal norms.)

After being passed over for promotion, Omar plots to kill his boss. He purchases a gun and practices with it at the local shooting range. Eventually, he brings the gun to work and confronts his boss. When Omar finally pulls the trigger, however, he misses his boss and instead kills his colleague and friend, Abraham. Which of the following is most likely true of this scenario?

Omar is guilty of murdering Abraham, because the intent to kill his boss is transferred to Abraham. (Transferred intent is a legal construction by which an unintended act that results from intentional action undertaken in the commission of a crime may also be illegal; here, Abraham's death is unintended but resulted from Omar's intentional attack on his boss.)

Which of the following is true of factual causality?

Proof of factual cause alone is not sufficient for a conviction to result. (Proof of factual cause may be necessary for a conviction, but it alone is not sufficient for a conviction to result. Even when factual cause can be demonstrated, however, it might not provide the basis for a criminal prosecution because the government must then prove that it is also a legally recognized cause.)

___________ is the primary or moving cause that plays a substantial part in an event that brings about injury or damage.

Proximate cause (Proximate cause is the primary or moving cause that plays a substantial part in an event that brings about injury or damage. It may be a first cause that sets in motion a string of events whose ultimate outcome is reasonably foreseeable.)

The American Law Institute uses the term "legal cause" rather than _________.

Proximate cause (The ALI suggests the use of the term "legal cause" rather than "proximate cause" in order to emphasize the notion of a legally recognizable cause, and to preclude any assumption that such a cause must be close in time and space to the result it produces.)

Marion takes out a larger life insurance policy on her husband and then poisons him over the course of several weeks by putting small amounts of rat poison in his morning coffee and evening meals. What level of mens rea is Marion most likely displaying?

Purpose (Purpose refers to a desire to cause the outcome that resulted form a criminal act.)

According to the Model Penal Code, which of the following mental states is considered the most culpable (blameworthy)?

Purposeful (Purpose refers to a desire to cause the outcome that resulted from a criminal act. Since our legal system presumes that people are rational, self-interested, and have free will, it punishes people more harshly when they have affirmatively chosen to engage in criminal conduct.)

Ralph, a Californian working in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is accused of spying for North Korea. Which of the following is true of the given scenario?

Ralph will be tried in the federal courts. The Constitution gives the national government jurisdiction over activities such as interstate and international commerce, foreign relations, warfare, immigration, bankruptcy, civil rights, and certain crimes committed on the high seas and against the "law of nations" (international law).

Harry lives in suburban neighborhood. He is an experienced shooter and can't wait to test out his new high-powered rifle, so he points it out his upstairs bedroom window and shoots toward the sky several times. Nearly a mile away, a women is hit by one of his bullets as it falls back to Earth. What level of mens rea is Harry most likely displaying?

Recklessness (Recklessness is behavior that consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a harmful result will occur; as an experienced shooter, Harry mostly likely knew that shooting out his window created a substantial and unjustifiable risk of a harmful result, and yet he acted anyway.)

Proximate causality different from factual causality in that proximate causality ___________.

Represents the primary cause of the harm that results from a person's action (Proximate cause is the primary or moving cause that plays a substantial part in an event that brings about injury or damage. It may be a first cause that sets in motion a string of events whose ultimate outcome is reasonably foreseeable.)

_______ is an example of a violation of law for which one may ne prosecuted without fault or intention.

Routine traffic offenses (Routine traffic offenses are generally considered strict liability offenses that do not require intent and may even be committed by drivers who are not consciously aware of what they are doing.)

Concurrence is best defined as which of the following?

The simultaneous coexistence of an act in violation of the law and a culpable mental state (The concurrence of an unlawful act and a culpable mental state provides the third fundamental aspect of crime. Concurrence requires that the act and the mental state occur together in order for a crime to take place.)

When Samantha finds out that her husband has been cheating on her, she decides to kill him at the gas station where he is employed. Her aim is faulty, and she never even injures her husband. One of her shots ricochets into a gas tank, however, which explodes and kills a customer at the gas station. She argues that her bullet didn't directly cause the customer's death. Which of the following is most likely true of the given scenario?

Samantha can be convicted for murdering the bystander, even though she did not mean to hurt him. (Samantha's actions are the proximate cause of the bystander's death because she sets in motion a chain of events with potentially deadly consequences and the bystander's death is a foreseeable consequences of her actions.)

Which of the following is true of the U.S. Constitution?

The U.S. Constitution determines the nature of criminal law by setting limits on what can be criminalized. (Constitutional provisions determine the nature of criminal law by setting limits on just what can be criminalized or made illegal. The Constitution sets limits on the nature and extent of criminal law that the government can enact.)

Constructive possession is defined as

The ability to exercise control over property or objects, even though they are not in one's physical custody. (When a person exercises control over an object, even when it is not in their physical custody, they are said to be in constructive possession.)

Gabriel, while driving on a dark and stormy night, accidently hits a pedestrian. When Gabriel goes to check on the pedestrian, he notices that the victim is dead and that she is a coworker whom Gabriel hates and would have loved to murder for the trouble she has given him at work. Which of the following is most likely true of the given scenario?

The actus reus takes place before the mens rea in the given scenario and therefore Gabriel has no criminal lability for his coworker's death. (Concurrence requires that a criminal act and the mens rea occur together in order for a crime to take place. A defendant must form the intention to kill, even if it is only a second, before taking the act that resulted in the death of another person for there to be purposeful or intentional murder.)

The concept of "conduct" in criminal law encompasses _________.

The behavior of a person and the mental state of the person at the time of behavior (When attorneys speak of "conduct," they routinely mean more than mere behavior or action. The term conduct, in criminal law, encompasses both the behavior and the mental state that were present at the time of the behavior.)

Two burglars break into a house late in the night. Hearing the noise, the owner of the house wakes up and uses a shotgun to kill one of the burglars. The other burglar escapes. Which of the following is true of the given scenario?

The burglar who escapes can be convicted of murder the felony murder rule. (Under the felony murder rule, the burglar who escapes can be convicted of murder because he is involved in the commission of the felony responsible for the death, even though the burglar did not intend the death.)

Which of the following is true of common law?

The common law is often regarded as the major source of modern criminal law. (The common law tradition was carried to the United States by the early English immigrants, and today it forms the basis of much statutory and case law in this country. The influence of common law on contemporary criminal law is so great that it is often regarded as the major source of modern criminal law.)

Causation refers to ___________.

The connection between an actor's conduct and some resulting harm (Causation refers to the fact that the concurrence of a guilty mind and a criminal act must produce or cause harm.)

General intent is best defined as

The form of intent that can be assumed from the defendant's behavior; general intent refers to an actor's physical conduct. (If a defendant intended to act but did not intend the consequence, then general intent is present.)

An omission to act is criminal only when

The law specifies a duty to act. (A failure to act may be criminal when the person in question is required by law to do something , that I, when the law specifies a duty to act. These include offenses such as the failure to file a tax return to register for the military draft.)

Which of the following is true of concurrence?

The mens rea and the actus reus must occur in the proper sequence for concurrence to be established. (In a criminal act, the mens rea and the actus reus mist occur in the proper sequence for concurrence to be established. That is, mens rea should precede the act.)

Which of the following is an axiom that holds that behavior cannot be criminal if no law exists that defines it as criminal?

The principle of legality (The principle of legality holds that behavior cannot be criminal if no law exists that both defines it as illegal and prescribes a punishment for it.)

Maximilian is arrested and charged and under a statute which makes it illegal to "perform any manner of act which would be considered offensive." His strongest argument against a conviction would be what?

The statute violates the void-for-vagueness principle. (The void-for-vagueness rule is a constitutional principle that refers to a statute defining a crime that is so unclear that a reasonable person of at least average intelligence could not determine what the law purports to command or prohibit. If that is the case, the law is struck down.)

Loretta is attacked by a thief while returning from work on a rainy day. She pushes the thief away and starts running. The thief shoots at Loretta, but the bullet misses her. Half a mile down the street, still running, Loretta is hit by a car, which kills her. Which of the following is true of the given scenario?

The thief cannot be convicted for the crime because the car that killed Loretta cannot be reasonably foreseen. (The car in the scenario is independent of any harm caused by the assailant and could not have been reasonably foreseen. Therefore, the thief cannot be convicted for the crime.)

Monica is in love with Laura's husband. She decides to kill Laura so that she can marry the man she loves. She plots for days and finally come up with a plan to kill Laura. Monica obtains a gun and starts to drive to Laura's house. While she is driving, Monica's brakes give out and she flies through an intersection, crashing into another car and killing its driver. It turns out that Laura is the other driver. Which of the following is most likely true?

There is no concurrence between actus reus and mens rea in the given scenario and therefore Monica has no criminal liability for Laura's death. (Concurrence requires that a criminal act and the mens rea occur together in order for a crime to take place. A defendant must form the intention to kill before taking the act that resulted in the death and there must also be a causal relationship between the two for there to be purposeful or intentional murder.)

Which of the following is true of strict liability crimes?

Under the Model Penal Code, strict liability offenses are punishable only by fines or forfeiture. (Under the Model Penal Code and some state codes, strict liability offenses are termed "violations" rather than crimes and are punishable only by fines or forfeiture.)

Which of the following statements is true of criminal Law?

Violations of the penal law are referred to as crimes. (A crime is any act or omission in violation of penal law, committed without defense or justification, and made punishable by the state in a judicial proceeding.)