Deck 3: Classification of Crimes and Basic Elements of Criminal Responsibility

Question 1

____________ is not a major category of crime.

A)felonies
B)public order offenses
C)misdemeanors
D)petty offenses

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The intention to commit an act __________ is an example of specific intent.

A)for the purpose of atoning for some past act
B)to achieve a particular criminal result
C)to achieve some further consequences beyond the conduct or result that constitutes the actus reus of the offense
D)with the awareness of a statutory attendant circumstance

Answer 2

C

Question 3

___________ holds a person criminally liable even when the consequence of his or her action is not what the actor actually intended?

A)General intent
B)Specific intent
C)Mens rea
D)Transferred intent

Answer 3

D

Question 4

____________ is a criminal act.

A)"Possessing questionable moral character,such as a morbid interest in violent crime that may lead to the commission of such acts"
B)"Writing detailed stories about imagined criminal acts and thus inspiring others to commit them"
C)"Committing an omission such as neglecting to take care of a sick child,leading to that child's death"
D)"Thinking about a criminal act and planning it extensively by oneself"

Question 5

To determine whether an act caused a specific result

A)there must be at least one eyewitness.
B)the victim's actions need to be the proximate cause of the result.
C)the accused person's act must be the cause-in-fact of the result.
D)the police must obtain a confession indicating the accused person's guilt.

Question 6

An example of a general intent crime is

A)assault with intent to kill.
B)statutory rape.
C)receiving stolen property with the knowledge that it is stolen.
D)larceny.

Question 7

The _____________ usually consists of a voluntary action.

A)omission
B)purpose
C)intent
D)actus reus

Question 8

A criminal's ____________ is different from a hope,desire,or wish.

A)mens rea
B)actus reus
C)purpose
D)culpability

Question 9

Situations that can diminish a person's criminal responsibility include

A)extreme youth,such as being too young to be tried as a juvenile offender
B)being forced at gunpoint to steal a car
C)mental infirmity,such as mental retardation or mental illness
D)All the above are correct.

Question 10

__________ is a formal definition of crime.

A)any act that is worthy of strong community disapproval by its members
B)any act in which a person,location,or object is the legal victim
C)any act that is deeply wrong in the opinions of the citizens and community
D)All the above are correct.

Question 11

The,which can be seen in several specific Amendments in the Bill of Rights.Three are listed below.__________ is NOT one of these special rights and protections that they U.S.Constitution requires for an accused criminal?

A)the Eighth Amendment's protection against excessive bail,excessive fines,and cruel and unusual punishment
B)the Sixth Amendment's right to a speedy and public trial,trial by jury,cross-examination of witnesses,and counsel
C)the Fourteenth Amendment's right to due process of law,which means that the federal government must grant all of the aforementioned rights to every defendant and state governments must grant most of them
D)the First Amendment's right to freedom of expression,which means that the defendant has the right to tell his or her version of events in a public courtroom

Question 12

Motive is important as a matter of proof because

A)it is a form of mens rea and thus is an element of required proof for criminal culpability.
B)the criminal actor is liable for the emotions that motivated him or her to commit the crime.
C)it may help to identify the perpetrator of a crime or explain why a suspect may have acted in a particular way.
D)since it means the emotion prompting a person to act,it is actually the same as intent.

Question 13

Punishment for criminal and civil wrongdoing in Anglo-American law differs in

A)use of fines to restore the debt created to the community.
B)use of restoration to the victim in the form of apologies or financial repayments.
C)condemnation and stigma that accompanies the conviction of a crime.
D)use of incarceration as a sentence,and (for some offenders)before and the criminal trial.

Question 14

Tort liability is different from criminal liability in that

A)a crime is committed against the community at large,but a tort is a wrong against specific individuals only.
B)the consequences of tort liability are less than the consequences of criminal liability.
C)the consequences of tort liability are often more severe than the consequences of criminal liability.
D)a tort is committed against the community at large,but a crime is a wrong against specific victims only.

Question 15

An example of a criminal omission is the failure to

A)stop a murder or rape from occurring
B)file an income tax return
C)feed one's child,leading to that child's death
D)register for the draft

Question 16

Modern law defines a ____________ as a crime that is less serious than a felony and is usually punishable by fines,penalties,or incarceration of less than one year.

A)petty offense
B)felony
C)misdemeanor
D)wobbler

Question 17

A level of homicide provided for in some jurisdictions is

A)third-degree murder
B)first-degree murder
C)reflexive manslaughter
D)simple manslaughter

Question 18

__________ is NOT used to describe the guilty state of mind required for criminal liability.

A)knowledge
B)intent
C)mens rea
D)All the above are correct.

Question 19

__________ would NOT be considered by a prosecutor in deciding whether to charge an offense as a felony or a misdemeanor

A)Prior offenses committed by the perpetrator
B)The age of the perpetrator when the crime was committed
C)Seriousness of the offense committed
D)The neighborhood in which the perpetrator resides

Question 20

The purpose of making possessory offenses a crime is to

A)raise arrest rates
B)arrest criminals without having to catch them red-handed
C)deter further criminal activity
D)show other criminals that they cannot escape the law

Question 21

If two people shoot a victim and hit the victim's vital organs simultaneously

A)both can be viewed as the cause-in-fact.
B)only the principal actor is viewed as a cause-in-fact.
C)the victim needs to provide testimony before dying.
D)one will be viewed as an accomplice,regardless of the circumstances.

Question 22

Bigamy is a specific intent crime.

Question 23

Definitions of "immoral" and "deserving of punishment" are extremely flexible,depending on who defines them and when.

Question 24

The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused was the "but-for" cause of the social harm in order to hold him or her criminally responsible unless

A)there are two independent causes that operate simultaneously,either of which could have caused the result
B)the victim is a possible criminal who was escaping the custody of a citizen's arrest
C)the accused person was not aware that he or she committed a social harm
D)later incidents,not in the accused person's control,led to further harm to the victim

Question 25

Proximate cause is that cause,from among all of the causes-in-fact that may exist,which is the legally-defined cause of the social harm.

Question 26

A civil offense is prosecuted by government attorneys who represent the community as a whole.

Question 27

Misdemeanors are often offenses that violate the public welfare.

Question 28

The actus reus element is any act or omission containing the ingredients of causation and social harm.

Question 29

One of the components of the requirement of concurrence exists when

A)the mens rea must have been present at some point in time before the actus reus that caused the social harm is committed.
B)concurrence shows that the actus reus must occur at the same time as the social harm that it causes.
C)concurrence can be either intentional or otherwise.
D)the mens rea must have been present at the same moment in time that the accused committed the actus reus that caused the social harm.

Question 30

If a person who has committed a crime voluntarily later regrets the act,he or she will not be held equally responsible.

Question 31

Numerous judicial decisions hold that a person is criminally liable when he or she stands by and does nothing to help someone else in jeopardy.

Question 32

Name the five elements of criminal responsibility.

Question 33

A person can be guilty of a crime requiring possession without any further act than possession of the prohibited article.

Question 34

Explain what a felony is under both the common law and the modern definition.

Question 35

A person cannot be convicted of a crime unless the prosecution proves beyond a reasonable doubt a concurrence of a voluntary act and the required mental state that actually and proximately caused the prohibited social harm.
Matching Questions
38.Match the following mental sates with the definitions below.

Question 36

General intent is the intent only to commit the actus reus of the crime.

Question 37

A defendant would be liable for resulting social harm if __________ existed but the defendant did not foresee them.

A)independent interrupting causes
B)dependent intervening causes
C)independent intervening causes
D)dependent interrupting causes

Question 38

Do criminal defendants have more legal safeguards than civil defendants do? Why or why not?

Question 39

Causes that are separate from the defendant's actions and for which the defendant is not help responsibility for an harm caused are named

A)independent interrupting causes.
B)dependent intervening causes.
C)independent intervening causes.
D)dependent interrupting causes.

Question 40

Criminal liability requires a concurrence of the actus reus and the mens rea.

Question 41

Name two examples of speech that can be considered criminal acts and thus not fall under the protection of the First Amendment.

Question 42

Name the four mental states that comprise malice aforethought.