Deck 4: Crimes Against the Person: Homicide

Question 1

In order to prove criminal homicide, the prosecution must provide

A) Evidence of a dead body
B) Proof of death - corpus deliciti
C) No proof of death is required, merely the reasonable inference
D) Evidence of a body only in the murder statutes but not in the manslaughter statutes

Answer 1

B

Question 2

How many degrees of murder are there?

A) One degree
B) Two degrees
C) Three degrees
D) Murder is defined not in degrees but in classifications, Class I, Class II, etc.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Murder in the first degree requires which category of intent?

A) Specific
B) General
C) Limited
D) Strict liability

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In Penrey v. Lynaugh the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal (the U. S. Supreme denying certiorari on direct review) held that

A) Mental retardation of the defendant prevented imposition of the death penalty
B) Mental retardation of a defendant could be prohibited under certain circumstances but not those posed in this case
C) Imposition of the death penalty was not prohibited by virtue of the defendant's mental retardation
D) Defendants are not allowed in such cases to present evidence of mitigating circumstances

Question 5

In Jackson v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that

A) Murder in the first degree's premeditation could be countered by evidence of voluntary intoxication
B) Murder in the first degree's premeditation could not be countered by evidence of voluntary intoxication but could be used as a mitigating circumstance relative to intentionality
C) Murder in the first degree under Virginia law was unconstitutional
D) Murder in the first degree could not sustain a death penalty

Question 6

Murder in the second degree requires which category of intent?

A) Specific
B) General
C) Limited
D) Strict liability

Question 7

Murder in the second degree focuses on which of the following?

A) The intent to cause the death of person rather than premeditation
B) Premeditation rather than intention
C) Neither intention or premeditation but malice
D) The U. S. Supreme Court found murder in the second degree unconstitutional

Question 8

Malice under American law is currently defined as

A) An intent to kill someone, not necessarily the victim
B) An intent to commit serious or grievous bodily injury upon someone
C) A wanton or reckless disregard of a very great risk of causing death or serious bodily injury
D) All of the above

Question 9

How is intent in a murder in the second degree trial most often determined?

A) Most often proven with direct evidence
B) Seldom from the nature of the act and from all the circumstances of the case in evidence
C) Seldom by direct evidence, but most often through deduction or inference by the trier of fact from the character of the assault
D) The nature of the act and consideration of all the circumstances of the case in evidence

Question 10

Which of the following is one of the central elements that classifies a homicide as manslaughter?

A) The mental state is wantonness
B) There are mitigating factors or provocation exists
C) No firearms were used
D) The dead has to be accidental

Question 11

In a homicide case, the defendant's emotional rage and jealousy is an example of

A) Mitigation or provocation
B) Syndrome defense
C) Gross indifference
D) Mental illness

Question 12

Which of the following is one of the central elements that classifies a homicide as manslaughter?

A) The defendant had time to think about the act in order to build the emotional intensity for provocation
B) The defendant's syndrome defense if based on sudden onset
C) The lack of time to deliberate and think things through rationally
D) It is a limited intent crime

Question 13

A mitigating circumstance is defined as

A) A circumstance relating to the commission of an act that increases the degree of liability or culpability
B) The intention or desire to cause harm to another through an unlawful or wrongful act without justification or excuse
C) Consideration or planning of an act beforehand
D) A circumstance in the commission of an act that lessens the degree of criminal culpability

Question 14

An aggravating circumstance is defined as

A) A circumstance relating to the commission of an act that increases the degree of liability or culpability
B) The intention or desire to cause harm to another through an unlawful or wrongful act without justification or excuse
C) Consideration or planning of an act beforehand
D) A circumstance in the commission of an act that lessens the degree of criminal culpability

Question 15

Premeditation is defined as

A) A circumstance relating to the commission of an act that increases the degree of liability or culpability
B) The intention or desire to cause harm to another through an unlawful or wrongful act without justification or excuse
C) Consideration or planning of an act beforehand
D) A circumstance in the commission of an act that lessens the degree of criminal culpability

Question 16

Malice aforethought is defined as

A) A circumstance relating to the commission of an act that increases the degree of liability or culpability
B) Actual or implied malice existing in or attributed to the intention of one that injures or kills without justification or excuse and usually requiring some degree of deliberation or premeditation or wanton disregard fro life
C) Consideration or planning of an act beforehand
D) A circumstance in the commission of an act that lessens the degree of criminal culpability

Question 17

Which of the following situations would not fit the necessary mitigation or provocation necessary to sustain the charge of manslaughter?

A) Battered spouses
B) Sexual abuse
C) Love, sex, betrayal
D) Intoxication

Question 18

A person who kills an individual without lawful justification commits voluntary manslaughter if

A) The defendant has a specific intent to commit the act
B) At the time of the killing he is acting under a sudden and intense passion resulting from serious provocation
C) The death is a result of an accident, such as a traffic accident
D) The person has acted recklessly in causing the death

Question 19

Under the law, provocation results from

A) Anger so intense that people find it extremely difficult to control themselves and respond constructively rather than violently , to the anger producing stimulus
B) Any level of anger or provocation under reasonable circumstances
C) Retaliatory responses to any perceived provocation as defined by the actor
D) Perceived injustices by the person killed toward the person who commits the act of killing

Question 20

Which of the following is a factor that must be considered in establishing provocation for voluntary manslaughter?

A) The timing of the provocation
B) The element of surprise, shock, and previous level of defendant's knowledge
C) The lack of cooling off from the influence of provocation
D) All of the above

Question 21

The felony murder rule involves allegation that

A) A person is intentionally killed by the defendant in the course of committing another crime
B) The death of a person unintentionally killed or dying during the commission of any crime
C) The death of a person unintentionally killed or dying during the commission of specific felony crimes
D) In all situations where a person is killed must be considered a felony regardless of the circumstances

Question 22

What type category of intent is required for felony murder?

A) Specific intent to commit the underlying felony, strict liability for the death
B) General intent to commit the underlying felony, strict liability for the death
C) Specific intent for the underlying felony, general intent for the death
D) Strict liability for both the underlying felony and the death

Question 23

In felony murder cases which of the following in most prominent in defining the criminal culpability?

A) Actus Reus
B) Mens Rea
C) Both or equally important
D) Neither have importance in this situation

Question 24

In the felony murder law, what qualifies as the underlying crime that resulted in the death?

A) All felonies
B) All crimes, the death enhances the underlying crime to a felony
C) Specific felonies designated by the legislature
D) Felony crimes against persons

Question 25

In felony murder law, the victim (meaning the person who died) can be

A) Only the victim of the underlying crime
B) Any person in some manner connected to the underlying felony with the exception of a co-defendant
C) Any person in some manner connected to the underlying felony including co-defendants
D) Only intended parties associated with the crime

Question 26

Which of the following would not qualify as a victim (the person who died) under the felony murder rule?

A) A by-passer during the crime
B) A public safety officer responding to the scene of the crime
C) The victim of the underlying crime who was intentionally shot and killed by the defendant
D) An inadvertent victim

Question 27

Which of the following is the theory of felony murder rule that says that liability attaches for any death proximately resulting from the unlawful activity-notwithstanding the fact that the killing was by one resisting the crime?

A) Agency theory
B) Proximate cause theory
C) Limited liability Theory
D) The Lowry rule

Question 28

Which of the following is the theory of felony murder rule that says that the felony muder doctrine does not extent to a killing, although growing out of the commission of the felony, if directly attributable to the act of one other than the defendant or those associated with him in the unlawful enterprise?

A) Agency theory
B) Proximate cause theory
C) Limited liability theory
D) The Lowry Rule

Question 29

Which of the following is a defense strategy for felony murder?

A) Demonstrating a lack of causation between the felony and the killing
B) Challenge on the 6th amendment right to due process
C) Placing the blame on someone else
D) Challenge as a double jeopardy problem as a principal and an accessory

Question 30

How are accessories, conspirators, accomplices, and aiders or abettors treated in relation to the principals in a felony crime that falls under the felony murder rule?

A) Not all charged with felony murder, it depends on their involvement
B) Each are treated equally in relation to being charged with felony murder
C) Each are not eligible at the same level as principals
D) Charging all the same violates due process protection for the defendants

Question 31

Using the felony murder rule, what happens if the defendant is acquitted of the underlying qualifying felony?

A) Nothing, the defendant can still be found guilty of the felony murder using strict liability standard
B) Both the underlying felony and the felony murder are under the specific intent requirements therefore acquittal for one means acquittal for both
C) The defendant cannot be found guilty of the felony murder using the strict liability standard but can be found guilty only by using the statutory mens rea standard for the murder
D) Nothing, the defendant can still be found guilty of the felony murder using the limited intent standard

Question 32

Negligent homicide is also referred to as

A) Non-culpable homicide
B) Negligent murder
C) Reckless Murder
D) Involuntary Manslaughter

Question 33

Which of the following are elements of negligent homicide?

A) Wanton conduct and general criminal intent
B) Reckless conduct with general criminal intent
C) Criminal negligence, gross or reckless conduct without proof of criminal intent
D) Reckless conduct with specific criminal intent

Question 34

Which of the following is an example of negligent homicide (involuntary manslaughter ) statute?

A) Vehicular homicide
B) Criminal Abuse
C) Negligent Manslaughter
D) There are no equivalent statutes

Question 35

In most states, assisting a person to commit suicide is

A) Since suicide is not punishable, assisting suicide is not punishable either
B) Is against the law but is seldom charged
C) Is considered felony murder
D) Prohibited by law

Question 36

The current U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows abortions under certain circumstances is

A) Penry v. Lynaugh
B) Midgett v. State
C) Roe v. Wade
D) People v. Russell

Question 37

The intention or desire to cause harm to another through unlawful or wrongful act without justification or excuse is the definition of:

A) Murder
B) Malice
C) Manslaughter
D) Homicide

Question 38

Which of the following is NOT a category of homicide in the illegal framework?

A) Justifiable Homicide
B) Murder 1,2
C) Manslaughter 1,2
D) Involuntary and/or negligent

Question 39

Which of the following is NOT an element of murder that needs to be dealt with and proven in a first degree murder charge?

A) Insanity
B) Premeditation
C) Intentional knowledge
D) Deliberateness

Question 40

A defendant who burns a structure with the clear-cut intention of killing a targeted victim, known to be sleeping within could be prosecuted for?

A) Arson and murder
B) Larceny and murder
C) Assault and murder
D) Extortion and murder

Question 41

Which of the following represents a clear example of negligent homicide?

A) A drug abuser who forgets about their child while using drugs and the child chokes and dies.
B) A drunk driver who kills another human being in a car wreck.
C) A person who is texting while driving and runs a red light which results in the killing of another driver.
D) All of the above

Question 42

Homicide is always a criminal act and is never lawful or appropriate in any matter.

Question 43

Murder in the first degree requires premeditation, deliberateness, and intentional knowledge.

Question 44

Common law recognized two degrees of murder.

Question 45

Murder in the first degree focuses on the defendant who wants the death of another and under the ordinary interpretation knows that someone will die.

Question 46

Murder in the second degree requires a general intent to commit the crime.

Question 47

Intent, which can seldom be proven by direct evidence, may be deduced or inferred by the trier of fact from the character of the assault, the nature of the act, and from all the circumstances of the case in evidence.

Question 48

The crime of manslaughter does not recognize mitigating factors or provocation.

Question 49

A person who kills an individual without lawful justification commits voluntary manslaughter if at the time of the killing he is acting under a sudden and intense passion resulting from a serious provocation.

Question 50

All felonies qualify as the underlying crime for the purposes of charging felony murder.

Question 51

Specific or general intent are not required for felony murder, rather, it is a strict liability crime.

Question 52

The majority of jurisdiction use the agency theory in determining the if the felony rule should apply to qualifying felony cases.

Question 53

Negligent homicide is the killing of another, by criminal negligence, gross or reckless conduct and with a general criminal intent.

Question 54

Under common law suicide was a criminal offense.

Question 55

In Washing v. Glucksberg the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that laws against physician assisted suicide were constitutional.

Question 56

Homicide is the lawful killing of a human being without justification or right.

Question 57

A soldier killing an oncoming enemy, according to the rules of engagement, is an example of a homicide occurring, but the act is noncriminal.

Question 58

Abortion is considered to be an unlawful homicide due to current statutes and codes.

Question 59

Manslaughter is exclusively classified as either accidental or negligent.

Question 60

The concept of victimhood can include an onlooker, a good samaritan or an accomplice under Felony Murder Rule standards.

Question 61

Dr. Kevorkian strongly believed in the practice of physician-assisted suicide, which is legal in the United States.

Question 62

The Roe vs. Wade case concluded that every abortion, at every stage of the development process, is a legal act.

Question 63

The right to a sperm bank, in defense of the destruction thereof, has many ethical and moral implications, though less legal ones.

Question 64

A circumstance relating to the commission of an act that increases the degree of liability or culpability is an aggravating circumstance.

Question 65

Specific intent is an element of murder in the first degree.

Question 66

What is justifiable homicide?

Question 67

How can the prosecution offer proof of the corpus delicti?

Question 68

What are the elements of proof for Murder in the First Degree?

Question 69

How does the prosecution in a first degree murder trial establish premeditation?

Question 70

What are the elements of Murder in the Second Degree?

Question 71

How does the two degrees of murder differ in regard to criminal intent?

Question 72

Explain the two degrees of manslaughter.

Question 73

What mitigating factors or provocation qualify to reduce a murder charge to manslaughter?

Question 74

How does strict liability factor into the felony murder rule?

Question 75

In a multiple offender situation, which offenders are charged? What are the deciding factors?

Question 76

What defense strategies are available for defendants charged with felony murder?

Question 77

How does the doctrine of transferred intent differ from strict liability?

Question 78

What are the elements of Negligent homicide?

Question 79

What is the rationale for criminalizing physician assisted suicide?