Deck 5: Defenses to Criminal Liability I: Justifications

Question 1

Insanity is an example of a justification defense.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

​The Model Penal Code "choice of evils" provision contains five elements.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Force may lawfully be used as a preemptive strike against a potential attacker.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Most deadly force statutes do not include the curtilage.

Question 5

Retribution is the heart of the defense of self-defense.

Question 6

​At the heart of the defense of consent is the high value placed on group autonomy in a free society.

Question 7

In both justifications and excuses,the defendant admits doing the criminal act.

Question 8

The law of self-defense is undergoing major transformation.

Question 9

​If you use force to protect yourself,your home or property,or the people you care about,you've violated the rule of law.

Question 10

​Deadly force may never be used for defense.

Question 11

One purpose of competency hearings is to determine if defendants are still insane.

Question 12

​In some cases necessity refers to an imminent danger of attack.

Question 13

In the justification defenses,defendants admit they were responsible for their acts but claim what they did was right (justified)under the circumstances.

Question 14

​Proponents of new "castle laws" warn that they are a license to kill.

Question 15

If a perfect defense is successful,defendants are convicted.

Question 16

A classic excuse defense is insanity.

Question 17

The "New Castle Doctrine" laws are transforming the law of self-defense.

Question 18

An imperfect defense,such as imperfect self-defense,may,in some jurisdictions,reduce a murder to manslaughter.

Question 19

Mitigating circumstances may convince judges or juries that defendants don't deserve the maximum penalty for the crime they're convicted of.

Question 20

Most affirmative defenses are perfect defenses.

Question 21

Some self-defense statutes allow you to kill someone you reasonably believe is about to commit a serious felony against you that doesn't threaten either your life or serious bodily injury.

Question 22

Circumstances that convince fact finders that defendants don't deserve the maximum penalty for the crime they're convicted of are called

A) perfect circumstances.
B) imperfect circumstances.
C) mitigating circumstances.
D) aggravating circumstances.

Question 23

Self-defense is never available to an initial aggressor.

Question 24

Most defenses are perfect defenses; if they're successful,defendants are

A) committed.
B) convicted.
C) acquitted.
D) sentenced.

Question 25

​Which defense is based on the high valued placed on individual autonomy in a free society?

A) ​perfect
B) ​justification
C) ​excuse
D) ​consent

Question 26

"Inevitable" harm is the same as "imminent" harm.

Question 27

A defense in which the defendant admits the act but claims that,under the circumstances,they aren't legally responsible is called

A) ​justification.
B) ​excuse.
C) ​rationalization.
D) ​claim of right.

Question 28

Most affirmative defenses are imperfect defenses.

Question 29

A victim of domestic violence is justified in shooting her cohabitant husband while he is asleep.

Question 30

Self-defense consists of four elements.

Question 31

​A defense in which the defendant accepts responsibility for the act but claims what they did was right is called

A) ​justification.
B) ​excuse.
C) ​rationalization.
D) ​claim of right.

Question 32

Defendants are not criminally liable if their actions were justified under the circumstances.

Question 33

​Historically,self-defense meant protecting yourself and the members of your immediate family.

Question 34

Evidence that doesn't amount to a perfect defense might amount to an imperfect defense; that is,defendants are

A) committed to a mental hospital.
B) entitled to an acquittal.
C) entitled to a sentence reduction.
D) guilty of lesser offenses.

Question 35

Juvenile court judges can use their discretion to transfer a juvenile to adult court.

Question 36

​Which of the following cases involves the "New York Subway Vigilante"?

A) ​State v.Harold Fish (2009)
B) People v.John Gray et al.(1991)​
C) People v.Goetz (1986)​
D) ​State v.Thomas (1997)

Question 37

There's no empirical research to help explain why so many states have adopted the "new castle laws."

Question 38

​The castle exception is an exception to what doctrine?

A) ​the retreat doctrine
B) ​the stand-your-ground doctrine
C) ​the justification doctrine
D) ​the excuse doctrine

Question 39

​Under English common law,who had the burden to prove they "retreated to the wall" before acting in self-defense?

A) ​commoners
B) ​accusers
C) ​victims
D) ​defendants

Question 40

​At the heart of the "choice of evils" defense is the necessity to prevent

A) imminent danger.​
B) ​crime.
C) ​rape.
D) ​murder.

Question 41

In some jurisdictions,a person must retreat before using defensive deadly force if

A) he can with complete safety to himself and others.
B) he was not the original attacker.
C) the attacker demands he retreat or die.
D) the attacker refuses to retreat.

Question 42

One of the four elements of self-defense requires that the defender didn't start or provoke the attack.What is the name of this element?

A) necessity
B) proportionality
C) nonaggressor
D) reasonable belief

Question 43

​The general rule is that self-defense is available only against what type of attacks?

A) ​justified
B) ​legal
C) ​excusable
D) ​unprovoked

Question 44

​What type of laws are drastically reforming the law of self-defense?

A) ​excuse laws
B) ​justification laws
C) ​castle laws
D) ​retreat laws

Question 45

At the heart of the "choice of evils" defense is the necessity to prevent what kind of danger?

A) imminent danger
B) unavoidable danger
C) deadly danger
D) serious danger

Question 46

Which of the following is the majority rule?

A) the stand-your-ground rule
B) the retreat rule
C) both
D) neither

Question 47

Which of the following never justifies the use of force against another person?

A) retaliation
B) self-defense
C) defense of someone other than yourself
D) an imminent attack

Question 48

Supporters of the castle laws see them as the public reasserting

A) fundamental rights.
B) gun rights.
C) freedom of speech rights.
D) freedom of religion rights.

Question 49

The four elements of self-defense are non-aggressor,necessity,reasonable belief and

A) perspective.
B) proportionality.
C) permanence.
D) permissibility.

Question 50

What defense justifies the commission of a lesser crime to avoid the threat of harm from a greater evil?

A) castle defense
B) choice of evils
C) consent
D) self-defense

Question 51

What is the heart of self-defense?

A) necessity
B) imminence
C) practicality
D) concession

Question 52

The law of self-defense is undergoing

A) no change currently.
B) major transformation.
C) minor transformation.
D) nothing.

Question 53

Which doctrine holds that a person does not have to retreat if he or she didn't start the fight,even if it is safely possible?

A) the stand-your-ground rule
B) the self-defense rule
C) the preemptive-strike rule
D) the self-preservation rule

Question 54

According to what rule does the government have a monopoly on the use of force; so when you use force,you're "taking the law into your own hands"?

A) the rule of law
B) the rule of self-defense
C) the rule of justification
D) the rule of mitigation

Question 55

Evidence that doesn't amount to a perfect defense might amount to a/an

A) imperfect defense.
B) special defense.
C) specific defense.
D) rational defense.

Question 56

At the heart of the defense of consent is the high value placed on the right to

A) bear arms.
B) a jury trial.
C) free speech.
D) individual autonomy.

Question 57

​The modern right to use force against those unlawfully entering the person's home generally

A) ​does not include defense of the curtilage.
B) ​does not include deadly force.
C) ​applies only to nighttime intrusions.
D) ​requires that the intruder specifically threaten the occupants of the home.

Question 58

A person who was the initial aggressor can gain a lawful right to self-defense if they do which of the following from the incident they started?

A) renounce themselves
B) completely withdraw
C) irrevocably abbreviate themselves
D) tangentially abstain

Question 59

The defense of consent is

A) a justification defense.
B) an excuse defense.
C) not a defense.
D) a castle doctrine defense.

Question 60

Which of the following is a key requirement of the necessity defense?

A) that no reasonable legal option exists for averting the harm
B) that the harm could have been averted
C) that the harm as minimal and did not need to be averted
D) that efforts to avert the harm would have caused worse harm

Question 61

What state passed the first new castle doctrine?

A) California
B) Ohio
C) Oregon
D) Florida

Question 62

What element of self-defense would Savannah fail to meet in this encounter if she did not withdraw?

A) unprovoked attack
B) necessity
C) proportionality
D) reasonable belief

Question 63

Which of the following is recognized as a valid consent defense situation in most states?

A) a person consents to be killed
B) a person consents to a crime being committed on their children
C) the injury happens during a sporting event
D) statutory rape

Question 64

Which of the following rules is most applicable to this case?

A) the stand-your-ground rule
B) the retreat rule
C) the castle rule
D) the grounded doctrine rule

Question 65

To provide a valid consent defense,the consent of the victim must be

A) objectively reasonable and imminent.
B) knowing and voluntary.
C) in writing and authorized.
D) given after the crime occurs.

Question 66

Knowing consent means

A) the person consenting is too young to understand what she's consenting to.
B) the person consenting understands what she's consenting to.
C) consent was the product of free will.
D) consent was not the product of force.

Question 67

The Jacqueline Galas case deals with the expansion of what laws?

A) new castle laws
B) new retreat laws
C) new curtilage laws
D) new prostitution laws

Question 68

The retreat rule is the

A) common rule.
B) minority rule.
C) majority rule.
D) same as the castle rule.

Question 69

If attackers completely withdraw from attacks they provoke,they can defend themselves against an attack by their initial victims.This is known as

A) the withdrawal exception.
B) the retreat exception.
C) the stand-your-ground exception.
D) the castle exception.

Question 70

Most self-defense statutes require the belief in imminent danger to be honest and

A) credible.
B) legitimate.
C) defensible.
D) reasonable.

Question 71

Two commonly mentioned reasons for the current spread of new castle laws are Americans' heightened consciousness and concern about their security since 9/11 and

A) use of force by police officers.
B) lack of training requirements for police officers.
C) the lack of funding for police.
D) the lack of enough police officers to protect the public.

Question 72

One of the four elements of self-defense states that defenders can use deadly force only if they reasonably believe it's necessary to repel an imminent deadly attack.What is the name of this element?

A) necessity
B) attack
C) proportionality
D) reasonable belief

Question 73

One element of self-defense requires that defenders can use deadly force only if the use of nondeadly force isn't enough to repel the attack.What element is this?

A) necessity
B) nonaggressor
C) reasonable belief
D) proportionality

Question 74

Regarding defense of home and property,most statutes do not include what area?

A) the backyard
B) the front yard
C) the garage
D) the curtilage

Question 75

The case of The Queen v.Dudley and Stephens (1884)involves which defense?

A) imminent necessity
B) the castle doctrine
C) the Good Samaritan defense
D) unprovoked attack defense

Question 76

If charged with assault,what defense would the opponent most likely use at trial?

A) consent
B) excuse
C) justification
D) mental illness

Question 77

If charged with assault,what might prevent the opponent from claiming consent as a defense?

A) the consent was voluntary
B) the consent was knowing
C) the consent was authorized
D) the consent was coerced

Question 78

The Florida castle law abolished

A) the duty to retreat rule.
B) the imminence rule.
C) the use of force rule.
D) the recklessness rule.

Question 79

Why is Vincent not justified in shooting the man?

A) the castle exception requires that you reasonably believe the attack threatens death or serious bodily injury
B) the castle exception does not include curtilage
C) the stand-your-ground rule does not include curtilage
D) the stand-your-ground requires that you reasonably believe the attack threatens death or serious bodily injury

Question 80

What kind of defense is diminished capacity?

A) both an affirmative excuse and a failure-of-proof defense
B) diminished capacity is not a defense
C) an affirmative excuse defense
D) a failure-of-proof defense