JURI 540 Quiz 1 General Concepts

JURI 540 Quiz 1 General Concepts of Criminal Law

1. Patrick has had a history of epileptic seizures over the last five years. Each seizure comes upon him without warning. One day, Patrick decided to attend an afternoon movie in town. As he was driving to the theater, he had a seizure. He lost control of the car and struck SpongeBob who was lawfully crossing the street. SpongeBob died on his way to the hospital as a result of his injuries. Patrick is charged with involuntary manslaughter. He will likely be found:
2. The felony crime of cocaine possession provides: “It is a felony crime for any person to knowingly possess at least five grams of cocaine.” Cain went to the local drug supplier named Dealer, and asked to buy some cocaine. Dealer said, “How much do you want?” Cain said, “I just need enough to get me through the night. How about a few grams?” Dealer said, “OK, here’s a pretty small bag, it’s $25.” Cain paid the $25, and received the small bag of cocaine from Dealer. Dealer immediately revealed himself to be an undercover police officer, and he arrested Cain. The bag turned out to contain six grams of cocaine. Did Cain commit the felony crime of cocaine possession?
3. The statute provides: “Any person who maliciously damages or destroys any real or personal property not his own is guilty of vandalism.” Francis was walking down the street when he saw smoke coming from the window of a house. Fearing that the house was on fire, and that someone might be trapped inside, Francis called 911 and then ran to the door of the house and tried to open it. When the door wouldn’t open, Francis kicked in the door. Finding nobody inside, Francis waited outside the house for the firefighters to arrive. The firefighters quickly put out the fire and saved the house. Is Francis guilty of vandalism?
4. Groucho kept a small printing press in one room of his home. He used the printing press to help him in his business. Harpo was a classmate of Groucho’s son, Chico. He had been in Groucho’s home on many occasions to visit Chico and had seen the printing press. Harpo decided to print a one-page newsletter critical of the local school board’s policies and distribute it around town. On an evening when he knew Groucho and his family were not at home, Harpo broke into Groucho’s home intending to use the printing press to print his newsletter. He believed that the unauthorized use of the printing press constituted a crime, but he was mistaken in this belief. Groucho and his family returned home while Harpo was still in the house. He was arrested and charged with burglary. The jurisdiction follows the common law definition of burglary. Harpo should be found:
5. The statute provides: “Purposely altering, concealing, removing, mutilating, obliterating, destroying, or taking a public record, with the intent to do so” is a crime. “Public record” is defined by statute as including “records, reports, statements, or data compilations, in any form, of public offices or agencies.” William and Kate were lovers and also students at a public university. Kate did poorly on an exam. After talking with her professor, Kate became convinced that she deserved a better grade, and that the professor was being grossly unfair. Kate told William, who became upset because he also believed the professor was being unfair. William, who was a student of computer science, figured out the password to log into the university computer where student exam grades were stored. William logged into the university computer and changed Kate’s grade on the exam from an F to an A. Did William commit the crime?
6. Rogers believes, wrongly, that there is a statute that makes it a crime to watch an R rated movie over the internet. Rogers decides that the government should not be able to restrict what people watch over the Internet. Therefore, as an act of civil disobedience, he deliberately watches an R rated movie over the internet. Rogers then calls the police, and reports himself as having committed the crime of watching an R rated movie over the internet. Is Rogers guilty of an attempt crime?
7. I wish to shoot my pistol in my backyard. In order to make sure I’m not breaking any laws, I contact my attorney to ask whether what I’m planning to do is legal. She writes back to advise that shooting in my backyard is lawful as long as I shoot between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. and as long as the spot where I shoot from is at least 100 feet from the nearest house. The distance to nearest house appears to be about 600 feet, so I conclude that I have more than enough space to shoot lawfully. While I’m shooting one day around noon, a police officer walks up and looks through a strange device at my neighbor’s house. He then charges me with unlawful discharge of a firearm. A county ordinance that I didn’t know about makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly discharge a firearm within 500 feet of a house. His range finder just told him that the neighbor’s house is only 480 feet away. Which of the following is a TRUE statement under the Model Penal Code?
8. “A person commits theft when he knowingly obtains, by deception, control over the property of the owner and intends to deprive the owner permanently of the use or benefit of the property. ‘Property’ means anything of value.” Clooby wanted to take his girlfriend, Alamuddin, to eat a nice dinner at an expensive seafood restaurant, but he lacked the money. So Clooby decided to try to scam the restaurant. Clooby took Alamuddin to the restaurant, and the two sat down for dinner. They ordered appetizers, entrees, dessert, and a bottle of wine. At the end of the dinner, the waitperson brought them a bill for $200. Clooby took the bill, and then asked Alamuddin if she needed to go to the rest room. As soon as Alamuddin returned from the rest room, Clooby told her that he had paid the bill, and the two walked out of the restaurant and left. In reality, Clooby never paid the bill. Is Clooby guilty of theft?
9. Which of the following is NOT a correct way of understanding the difference between general intent crimes and special intent crimes?
10. In which of the following situations would the Defendant’s claim of voluntary intoxication most likely result in a finding of not guilty?