Questions and Answers of Criminal Law

How does jury selection play out?
What does it mean to say that the United States has a dual court system?
Distinguish between dual and cooperative federalism.
Explain the concept of court hierarchy.
Summarize the typical state court structure (i.e., what are the courts at each level, and what do they do?). Do the same for the courts at the federal level.
Explain the relationship (real and ideal) between higher and lower courts.
Virginia’s public institutions of higher learning include an incomparable military college, Virginia Military Institute (VMI). The United States maintains that the Constitution’s equal protection
After publicly burning an American flag as a means of political protest, Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted of desecrating a flag in violation of Texas law. This case presents the question whether his
Prisoners sentenced to death in the State of Oklahoma filed an action in federal court . . . contending that the method of execution now used by the State violates the Eighth Amendment because it
How do the separation of powers and federalism place limitations on government’s law-making authority? Be specific.
Explain the principle of legality.
What is lenity? How does it place limitations on the criminal law?
Explain how the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause places limits on the criminal law.
What is an ex post facto law? Provide a specific example.
Provide an example of a law that could be considered “void for vagueness.”
List several types of speech that are not protected under the First Amendment.
Provide an example of a law that could be considered“void for overbreadth.”
What types of punishment are considered cruel and unusual?
Explain how the Eighth Amendment applies to sentence length.
Summarize the Blockburger rule as it pertains to double jeopardy.
Explain the circumstances in which double jeopardy does not apply.
Decina was charged with criminal negligence in operating an automobile with knowledge that he was subject to epileptic seizures. He drove erratically at high speeds and his car struck a group of
Defendant and a friend, Jude Mari (Mari), were at a mutual friend’s home. Upon preparing to leave the residence, Mari noticed that Defendant was intoxicated and offered to drive for him. They got
A jury found defendant, Brent Kerrigan Lawson, guilty of petty theft for stealing a $20 hoodie from a Walmart store . . . On this appeal, defendant claims his conviction for petty theft must be
What is the general part of the criminal law? Provide an example.
What is the special part of the criminal law? Provide an example.
Offer an example of a conduct crime and a result crime. Explain your answer.
When can an omission qualify as the actus reus of a crime?
What types of voluntary acts satisfy actus reus?
Distinguish traditional from statutory mens rea.
Provide an example of both a general and a specific intent crime. Explain your answer.
Explain strict liability, and offer an example of two strict liability crimes.
Compare and contrast factual and legal causation.
Provide one example each for ignorance and mistake.
Can ignorance serve as a criminal law defense? If so, when?
Can mistake serve as a criminal law defense? If so, when?
The State of Florida has brought this petition for issuance of a writ of certiorari seeking to quash an order of the trial court determining that the respondent/defendant, Alexander James, is
Massachusetts is one of ten States that prohibit distribution of hypodermic needles without a prescription. In the face of those statutes the defendants operated a needle exchange program in an
The undisputed facts are that James Helton, a sixteen-yearold white male also known as G–Dog, is a member of the Imperial Gangster Disciples (IGD), a twelve member youth group. In October 1991,
What is the difference between a justification defense and an excuse defense?
How does failure of proof differ from justification and excuse defenses?
What is the difference between a perfect and an imperfect defense?
What are the four elements of self-defense?
What is the castle doctrine? How is it relevant in the self-defense context?
What conditions must be in place for a battered woman syndrome defense to succeed?
Is it lawful to use force to resist an arrest? Under what circumstances?
How does defense of habitation differ from defense of property?
What are “make my day” laws? How do they differ from castle doctrine laws?
Is it ever legal to rig a spring gun or a booby trap to prevent someone from breaking and entering your home?
What is the law enforcement defense, and who can claim it?
Can an ordinary citizen use force and claim a law enforcement defense? If so, when? What about deadly force?
What is necessity?
When can a necessity defense be successfully claimed?
Can necessity ever justify homicide? Why or why not?
When is the defense of consent not available?
Minneapolis police officers Kenneth Awalt and Christopher Humphrey responded to the scene first. Officer Awalt observed appellant lying on the grass on the corner of Portland and 24th. Appellant was
Ten-year-old Esmeralda Guevara wrote a note on a stall in the girls’ bathroom at a school in College Place, Washington, on the afternoon of Monday, November 5, 2007. The note read, “[B]omb set 20
The parties, by and large, do not dispute the material facts. The Defendant, Phuong Le, is a 49-year-old who lived in Vietnam until 1991 . . . Le and his family, including his first wife, moved to
Explain the difference between a justification defense and an excuse defense.
Identify the three main reasons for excuse defenses.
Identify the elements of the duress defense.
Why can a duress defense rarely succeed in homicide cases?
Should the courts and state legislatures relax their treatment of duress in homicide cases? Why or why not?Review Questions
Explain the difference between the voluntary and involuntary intoxication defenses.
Under what circumstances could voluntary intoxication serve as a defense? If none, should it result in conviction of a lesser crime? Why or why not?
Describe a situation in which entrapment may occur.
Explain the difference between a subjective and an objective approach to entrapment.
Describe the common law presumptions regarding age and the capacity to commit crime.
Describe three ways that a juvenile can be treated as an adult in regard to a criminal prosecution.
What, in your opinion, is the appropriate age that a person should be tried in adult court?
Explain the difference between diminished capacity and insanity.
Identify and define the different tests for insanity used throughout the United States.
Should the insanity defense be abolished? Why or why not?
Is “black rage” a legitimate excuse defense? Why or why not?
Creative excuse defenses are getting more and more popular. Is this beneficial? Why or why not?
On the evening of August 26, 1981 in Shreveport, Tony Duke gave the defendant, Brian Chism, a ride in his automobile. Brian Chism was impersonating a female, and Duke was apparently unaware of
The relevant facts are not in dispute. On the afternoon of Wednesday, June 13, 2007, the defendant, then a junior at Hanover High School, and two friends, were studying at the Howe Library near the
In December, 2000, Brian Gauthier, an experienced truck driver, was employed by the defendant, Angelo Todesca Corporation, a trucking and paving company. At the time, Gauthier was driving a ten-wheel
Explain how conspiracy differs from complicity.
Define modern-day parties to a crime.
Compare and contrast three means by which assistance is provided in the complicity context.
Explain the two levels of mens rea for the purposes of complicity.
How do the elements of accessory liability differ from the elements of accomplice liability?
Provide an example of abandonment for purposes of accomplice liability.
In what ways could one be immune from conviction in the complicity context?
Compare and contrast vicarious and accomplice liability.
Compare and contrast the two main varieties of vicarious liability
On the night of January 9, 2006, Mark Patterson, a police officer for the Westminster Police Department and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, conducted an undercover investigation on
Defendant stated that, on the night of December 21, 1973, he, Bush and Geller had been out drinking. Bush had been staying at Geller’s apartment and, during the course of the evening, Geller
The basic facts are not in dispute. At the trial the government presented the testimony of four Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agents. In essence their testimony established that Soto
Compare and contrast attempt and the substantive offense.
Explain both components of the mens rea of attempt.
In your opinion, which is the best test for the actus reus of attempt? Defend your answer.
Compare and contrast conspiracy at common law and under modern-day statutes.
Briefly summarize the elements of conspiracy.
Explain the issues that pose complications for conspiracy prosecutions.
List and define the defenses to a conspiracy charge.
What is solicitation, and how does it differ from conspiracy and attempt?
Does solicitation require that the crime that was solicited actually be completed?
Billy Ray Nibert was convicted of first-degree murder for stabbing Eugene Snavely seventeen times with a knife. The issue on appeal is simply determining the appropriate sentence for the crime.. . .

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