Deck 8: Criminal Law and Procedure

Question 1

The exclusionary rule is considered controversial because it could lead to the accused escaping prosecution.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Which of the following is classified as a criminal act?

A) Being without visible means of support
B) Being addicted to a narcotic drug
C) Being in possession of a controlled substance
D) None of the above is correct.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The crime of attempt exists to protect society from group criminality.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Today's definition of a crime is based on

A) a definition from an eighteenth century English judge.
B) the Model Penal Code.
C) the U.S.Constitution.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 5

The U.S.Supreme Court will overturn criminal statutes that

A) target groups on the basis of race or gender.
B) in any way limits someone's constitutional rights.
C) limit people's future actions.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 6

The U.S.Constitution specifically guarantees all citizens a general right of personal privacy.

Question 7

The most culpable level of criminal intent under the Model Penal Code is where an offender acts "purposely."

Question 8

Cruel and unusual punishment is forbidden by this U.S.Constitutional Amendment:

A) Fourth Amendment.
C) Sixth Amendment.
B) Fifth Amendment.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 9

The justification and excuse defenses are classified as affirmative defenses.

Question 10

The difference between a felony and a misdemeanor is

A) defined in the U.S.Constitution.
C) determined by individual trial courts.
B) a matter of state or federal law.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 11

Everyone charged with a crime has a constitutional right to a trial.

Question 12

The crimes of perjury and burglary require proof of causation.

Question 13

Miranda warnings must be given whenever the police question a suspect.

Question 14

If the police fail to inform a person of their Miranda rights when required, statements made in the subsequent interrogation will be excluded from trial.

Question 15

Solicitation and conspiracy are examples of inchoate crimes.

Question 16

The Eighth Amendment is the source of a criminal defendant's right to cross-examine adverse witnesses.

Question 17

The legislature is today the dominant criminal law policymaker.

Question 18

The constitutional limitations on the way governmental officials procedurally go about investigating criminal offenses and prosecuting alleged criminal offenders are primarily contained in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S.Constitution.

Question 19

Mala prohibita offenses are intrinsically bad.

Question 20

State statutes establishing minimum age requirements to consume alcoholic beverages and to smoke tobacco products are examples of mala in se offenses.

Question 21

Jones grabbed a purse from Smith's arm and began running.A police officer saw what happened and ran after Jones.Jones sprinted across a bridge and threw the purse into the river below.He stopped and did not resist when the officer arrested him.Upon interrogation, Jones claimed that a voice in his head told him that the purse contained a bomb.Jones took it in an attempt to save the woman and others in the vicinity.At trial, Jones should offer

A) a justification defense.
B) an alibi defense
C) an affirmative defense
D) Both a justification and an affirmative defense

Question 22

Which of the following federal statutes focuses on patterns of racketeering activities that involve the commission of certain offenses known as predicate acts?

A) Federal Tort Claims Act
C) RICO
B) Bail Reform Act of 1984
D) Federal Dram Shop Act

Question 23

The basic components of a criminal offense do not include proof of

A) an actus reus.
C) mens rea.
B) motive.
D) concurrence.

Question 24

The exclusionary rule is supported by

A) the Fifth Amendment.
B) the First Amendment.
C) the Fourteenth Amendment.
D) the Twelfth Amendment.

Question 25

Who is entitled to be notified of their Miranda rights?

A) People subject to custodial interrogation
B) People stopped by the police
C) People subject to a stop and frisk
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 26

The proper, though not necessarily complete, chronological stages of the criminal process are

A) preliminary hearing, arrest, and formal charge.
B) arrest, preliminary hearing, and arraignment.
C) arrest, indictment, and preliminary hearing.
D) information, arraignment, and arrest.

Question 27

At a criminal trial, prosecutors must offer at least a minimum amount of evidence to show guilt.This is called

A) actus reus case.
B) prima facia case.
C) ex post facto case.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 28

The exclusionary rule

A) provides that in some cases evidence resulting from an illegal search and seizure must be suppressed and not used by the prosecution to establish guilt.
B) is stated in the Constitution as part of the Fourth Amendment.
C) has no exceptions.
D) only applies to the federal government.

Question 29

When a defendant, with the intent to commit some other crime, performs an act, which constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of the other crime, that act is the inchoate crime known as

A) attempt.
C) conspiracy.
B) solicitation.
D) entrapment.

Question 30

Which of the following crimes would be classified as general-intent offenses under the common law?

A) Arson
C) Rape
B) Trespass
D) All of the above is correct.

Question 31

A specific intent crime whereby a person asks, hires, or encourages another person to commit a crime is the inchoate crime of

A) conspiracy.
C) solicitation.
B) attempt.
D) collusion.

Question 32

Which of the following crimes is classified as inchoate?

A) Rape
C) Larceny
B) Robbery
D) Solicitation

Question 33

Miranda v.Arizona (384 U.S.436) held that the prosecution's use of statements of an accused, made to police without prior warnings of the person's rights to remain silent, to counsel, and to appointed counsel if indigent, was a violation of the accused's rights contained in

A) the First Amendment.
C) the Sixth Amendment.
B) the Fourth Amendment.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 34

Under the Model Penal Code recognizes the following as category(ies) of criminal intent.To be criminally culpable a person must act

A) purposely.
B) knowingly.
C) recklessly
D) negligently.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 35

Assume that a criminal defendant claims that she was the victim of a criminal kidnapping and was forced by her kidnappers to commit the crimes with which she is accused.Assume further that she could prove that she had complied with their demands only because her captors had threatened to kill her if she resisted.What defense would be appropriate for her to adopt at trial?

A) Entrapment
C) Insanity
B) Self defense
D) Duress

Question 36

The defendant was a passenger in a car that was driven onto private property.The driver mistakenly believed that they were entering a public park.The passenger was charged with violating a criminal ordinance that prohibited entry on private property without the permission of the owner.Her best defense to criminal responsibility would be

A) that she too was mistaken about the ownership of the property as ignorance of the law is usually a viable defense to criminal liability.
B) the coercion defense because she could not jump out of the car without injury.
C) that she committed no overt act (actus reus) as her act of entering was not voluntary because she was a passenger.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 37

Rafe stops Leslie on a busy street and offers to sell her an expensive wristwatch for next to nothing.After some questioning by Leslie, Rafe admits that the watch is stolen.Leslie pays for and takes the watch.Rafe is an undercover police officer, who then arrests her for the crime of receiving stolen property.Which of the following inquiries will be most critical in determining whether she has a valid defense of entrapment?

A) Did she know that what she did was a crime?
B) Did Rafe threaten her or use force to get her to make the purchase?
C) Was she predisposed to commit the crime, or did he plant the idea in her mind and then supply her with the opportunity?
D) Did she understand the nature and the consequences of her action?

Question 38

When can illegally obtained evidence be admitted, despite the exclusionary rule?

A) When police act reasonably in relying on what later turned out to be a bad warrant
B) When the evidence is an independent source
C) Both options A and B are true.
D) Such evidence can never be admitted.

Question 39

Juanita worked as a bank teller.A man approached her window and handed her a note telling her to get as much money as she could and leave the bank immediately or her daughter would be harmed.The man pointed out the bank window where Juanita saw her daughter in an unfamiliar car outside the bank.Juanita did as she was told, saving her daughter.However, she was soon arrested for bank robbery.Juanita should offer

A) a justification defense.
B) an alibi defense.
C) an affirmative defense.
D) None of the above is correct.

Question 40

Scott awoke to find a man prowling in his home.Scott took his loaded gun from his nightstand and confronted the man, asking him to leave.Instead, the man lunged at Scott and Scott shot him.What kind of defense would Scott offer at trial?

A) Whether he had a reasonable opportunity to escape the threatened harm
B) Whether he entertained a well-grounded fear that the threat would be carried out
C) Whether there was an immediate threat made of death or serious bodily injury
D) Whether the codefendant entrapped him by providing the idea and opportunity to commit the crime

Question 41

You are a legal adviser to the governor of a small Midwestern state.The governor asks you to review a proposal that would save the state money by abolishing the grand jury and reducing the number of jurors on a jury on criminal cases from twelve to eight.The governor wants to know if these proposals are constitutionally legal or legally permissible.What would your answer be?

Question 42

Why did the Supreme Court create the exclusionary rule?

Question 43

The right to a speedy trial

A) applies only to the federal prosecutions.
B) applies only to the state prosecutions.
C) applies to both federal and state prosecutions.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 44

A criminal process used to question the constitutionality of the detention of a state prisoner by appealing to a federal court is known as

A) a writ of certiorari.
C) the harmless error doctrine.
B) a writ of habeas corpus.
D) a bail hearing.

Question 45

Which of the following is not a duty of the grand jury?

A) Determining whether a person should be brought to trial
B) Hearing evidence against the accused
C) Deciding the guilt or innocence of the accused
D) All of the above are true.

Question 46

Jones grabbed a purse from Smith's arm and began running, when the contents of the purse spilled on the sidewalk.A police officer saw what had happened and arrested Jones.At the time of the arrest, the police officer searched Jones's person and found a pen in his pocket.The officer took the cap off the pen and found cocaine in the pen.The officer then started picking up the purse and various items that had fallen from it.He reached inside the purse and found a pillbox, which he then opened.He found heroin inside Smith's pillbox.Could the findings of the police officer be used in court to convict (a) Jones for the possession of cocaine or (b) Smith for the possession of heroin? Explain your answer.

Question 47

A steals B's car.The police find A with B's car, but the car has been mostly disassembled and sold.At his arraignment, A pleads nolo contendere.The nolo contendere plea will

A) give B a summary judgment in a civil suit based on A's converting the car to his own use.
B) permit the court to convict the defendant without the defendant having to plead guilty.
C) shift to the prosecution the burden of proving the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
D) None of the above is true.

Question 48

Bail is set by

A) the judge.
C) the bail bondsman.
B) the prosecutor.
D) None of the above is true.