Criminal Law

  1. What are the elements of murder?
    • 1) a homicide
    • 2) committed with malice
  2. What is a homicide?
    • 1) killing of another
    • 2) caused by the defendant
  3. When is an omission grounds for a homicide?
    • By:
    • 1) statute
    • 2) contract
    • 3) relationship
    • 4) voluntary undertaking (had a duty to act)
  4. When does the act of a third party contribute to cause death?
    • (Vicarious liability); when acting as:
    • 1) solicitor
    • 2) conspirator
    • 3) accomplice; OR

    under the felony-murder rule

    the 3rd party act must also be foreseeable
  5. What is required to show malice?
    • 1) intent to kill (either through defendant's words or through the use of a deadly weapon in a deadly manner)
    • 2) intent to inflict great bodily harm (serious bodily injury)
    • 3) depraved heart (reckless indifference to a known high risk of death or serious bodily injury); OR
    • 4) the felony-murder rule
  6. What is the felony-murder rule?
    a homicide committed during the perpetration of an inherently dangerous felony
  7. What is required to establish felony-murder?
    • 1) perpetration of the felony from attempt until felon reaches a place of temporary safety
    • 2) an inherently dangerous felony = Burglary, Arson, Rape, Robbery, and Kidnapping (BARRK)
    • 3) felony must be independent from the act that caused death
    • 4) felony must be the proximate cause of the homicide
  8. What is involuntary manslaughter?
    A homicide committed without malice in the following 3 circumstances:

    • 1) intent to inflict slight bodily injury
    • 2) criminal negligence (more than ordinary negligence but less than depraved heart)
    • 3) "misdemeanor manslaughter rule"
  9. What is the "misdemeanor manslaughter" rule?
    Defendant kills while committing a non-inherently dangerous felony (malum in se crime as opposed to malum prohibitum)
  10. What is required to establish self-defense?
    The defendant may use deadly force to protect against an imminent deadly attack. The deadly force must be:

    • 1) reasonable
    • 2) necessary; AND
    • 3) there is no duty to retreat, unless the defendant is the initial aggressor and safe retreat is available

    Minority rule: Defendant must retreat before using deadly force if safe retreat is available, unless in his home, a police oficer, or victim of violent felony
  11. If the defendant is an initial aggressor, when can he assert self-defense as a justification?
    1) If the defendant initial aggressor withdraws (clearly communicates to victim intent to stop fighting)

    OR

    2) If the defendant initially used non-deadly force and is now faced with an attacker suddenly using deadly force

    AND

    If safe retreat is available, the initial aggressor must retreat before using deadly force
  12. Can deadly force be employed in the defense of others?
    Yes, provided that the use of deadly force is 1) reasonable and 2) necessary to defend another
  13. Can a defendant use deadly force to protect a criminal or initial aggressor who had no right to use self-defense against their "attacker"?
    Majority rule: a defendant may claim defense of others if the victim reasonably appears to have the right to use deadly force, even if the "other" does not actually have that right

    Minority rule: a defendant can use no more force than the person they are defending has the right to use
  14. May a police officer or private person use deadly force to prevent the commission of a dangerous felony?
    Yes, so long as the use of deadly force is 1) reasonable and 2) necessary

    A police officer or private person may also use deadly force if reasonably necessary to prevent/apprehend/arrest a dangerous felon.

    A private citizen, however, can only use deadly force if the person apprehended with deadly force is actually guilty of the dangerous felony (a private citizen is not allowed to make a reasonable mistake)
  15. When can a defendant use the reasonable mistake defense?
    A defendant may use deadly force based on a reasonable mistake with respect to:

    • 1) self-defense
    • 2) defense of others
    • 3) crime prevention

    BUT

    Only a police officer can use deadly force to apprehend or arrest based on a reasonable mistake
  16. When can a defendant use deadly force in defense of habitation/property?
    Generally, you cannot, except that deadly force can be used to protect occupants of home from a violent intruder or if the intruder intends to commit a felony inside (must also be reasonable and necessary)
  17. Is youth/infancy a defense to a crime?
    Yes; common law rules apply

    • 1) Under age of 7: no criminal liability
    • 2) Between age 7 and 14: rebuttable presumption of no criminal liability
    • 3) Over 14: treated as an adult
  18. What are the requirements of the M'Naghten test?
    • 1) Defendant did not know the wrongfulness of his act; OR
    • 2) Defendant could not understand the nature and quality of his acts

    (Focus on cognitive impairment, not volitional ability)
  19. What are the requirements of the Irresistible Impulse test?
    Defendant was unable to control his conduct or conform his conduct to the law

    (Focus on volitional ability, not cognitive impairment)
  20. What are the requirements of the ALI/Model Penal Code test?
    Defendant lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law

    (Focus on both volitional and cognitive impairment)
  21. What are the requirements of the Durham test?
    Defendant is not guilty if his crime was the product of a mental disease or defect
  22. What are the requirements for voluntary intoxication and when can it be used as a defense?
    When a defendant 1) voluntarily and 2) knowingly consumes an intoxicating substance

    It cannot be a defense to crimes requiring no intent (strict liability), general criminal intent, or malice

    It can negate specific intent, but only if the defendant is so intoxicated that hecannot form the specific intent required for the crime.

    It can also preclude a finding of deliberation if the Defendant is charged with First Degree Murder.
  23. What are the requirements of involuntary intoxication and when can it be used as a defense?
    When a defendant 1) involuntarily or 2) unknowingly consumes an intoxicating substance.

    It is a defense to all crimes if it renders the defendant "insane" under the applicable test.
  24. When will an intentional killing that would otherwise be murder be mitigated to voluntary manslaughter?
    1) If the defendant experiences adequate provocation (causing both subjective and objective passion and no "cooling off" occurred)

    2) If the defendant intentionally kills the victim under good faith, but with an unreasonable mistaken belief as to self-defense, defense of others, or crime prevention
  25. What are the two common types of first degree murder?
    1) Premeditated and deliberate intent to kill

    Premeditated: The intent to kill is premeditated if the defendant had time to think about killing the victim before doing so

    Deliberate: The intent to kill is deliberate if the defendant acted in a calm and cool frame of find

    OR

    2) Felony-murder rule: a murder that satisfies the felony-murder rule AND is based on on of the specified felonies in the state's first degree murder statute (BARRK) will be sufficient for first-degree murder

    (Intent to kill is required for first degree murder)
  26. Distinguish between murder, involuntary manslaughter, and voluntary manslaughter.
    Murder: Homicide with malice and no justification, excuse or mitigation (first-degree murder if intent to kill; otherwise second-degree murder)

    Involuntary Manslaughter: Homicide without malice and no justification or excuse

    Voluntary Manslaughter: Homicide with malice but with mitigation (adequate provocation or good faith mistake)
  27. What are the two kinds of criminal assault?
    1) Attempted battery: Defendant attempts (but is unsuccessful) to cause imminent harmful contact with victim (specific intent crime)

    2) Intentional creation of reasonable apprehension of contact: Defendant attempts to cause victim to reasonably apprehend imminent harmful contact (general intent crime)
  28. What is a battery?
    The unlawful application of force to another person causing bodily injury or offensive contact
  29. What is a kidnapping?
    The confinement of another person involving either movement or concealment of the victim. (No ransom required)
  30. What are the elements of larceny?
    • 1) trespassory (w/o consent)
    • 2) taking and carrying away (slight movement = enough)
    • 3) personal property of another (possession, not ownership)
    • 4) with intent to permanently deprive (at time of taking)

    The intent to deprive exists if the defendant abandons the victim's property creating a substantial risk of loss

    The intent to deprive does not exist if the defendant intends only to borrow the item and return it later
  31. What are the elements of larceny by trick?
    Same definition as larceny, but the taking occurs with the victim's apparent consent (since it was acquired by the defendant's misrepresentation)
  32. What are the elements of embezzlement?
    • 1) fraudulent conversion
    • 2) of property of another
    • 3) by one in rightful possession (victim must first voluntarily give the defendant rightful possession of the property that the defendant later fraudulently converts)
  33. What are the elements of false representation?
    • 1) acquisition of title (ownership)
    • 2) to another's property
    • 3) by a false representation (for title, not possession)
    • 4) with intent to defraud
  34. What are the elements of robbery?
    • 1) larceny committed
    • 2) from the victim's person or presence (immediate vicinity)
    • 3) by force or threat of force of immediate bodily harm (threats of future bodily harm, or immediate or later non-bodily harm are not sufficient for robbery, but would be sufficient for extortion)
  35. What are the elements of arson?
    • 1) the burning (charring of some part of the structures)
    • 2) of a protected structure (all structures, i.e. residential, industrial, commercial)
    • 3) of another (rightful possession of another)
    • 4) with malice (intent to burn OR with knowledge of extremely high risk of the structure burning)
  36. What are the elements of burglary?
    • 1) trespassory (w/o consent)
    • 2) breaking (physical movement of a door or window to enter structure) (fraud = sufficient in majority jurisdictions)
    • 3) and entering (some portion of defendant's body must enter structure)
    • 4) of the protected structure (any structure)
    • 5) of another (structure must be in rightful possession of another)
    • 6) at nighttime (most states have eliminated nighttime requirement)
    • 7) with intent to commit a felony therein (at time of entry) (a later formed intent to steal does not qualify)
  37. What are the elements of attempt?
    (Specific Intent Crime)

    • 1) an act of perpetration (mere preparation not enough, must take a substantial step/be dangerously close)
    • 2) with intent to commit intended crime
  38. What is required to raise a defense of merger?
    Attempt merges into the target crime so a defendant who actually commits the intended crime cannot be convicted and punished for both attempt and the intended crime
  39. What is required to raise an impossibility defense?
    (Factual impossibility is not a defense; legal impossibility is)

    Legal impossibility exists when the acts defendant intends to commit are not a crime in the jurisidiction

    Factual impossibility exists when the acts defendant intended to commit would be a crime, if the facts were as defendant believed them to be
  40. What are the elements of solicitation?
    • 1) asks or requests
    • 2) another
    • 3) to commit a crime
    • 4) with intent that person solicited commits the crime

    (If the party solicited actually commits the crime, the solicitor will also be liable for the crime)
  41. What are the elements of conspiracy?
    • 1) enter into an agreement (express or implied)
    • 2) with another party (all conspirators must actually agree = majority rule) (Wharton's Rule -- if target crime requires 2 parties, then no conspiracy unless 3 or more parties)
    • 3) for an unlawful objective (crime or fraud); AND
    • 4) some overt act is performed (just about anything)
    • 5) in furtherance of the unlawful objective

    (All conspirators are liable for any crime committed by another conspirator so long as the crime was 1) reasonably foreseeable and 2) in reasonable furtherance of the conspiracy)
  42. What are the defenses to conspiracy?
    • 1) Withdrawal
    • 2) Impossibility

    (NOT merger; conspiracy does not merge into the target crime)
  43. What are the elements of a withdrawal defense?
    • 1) timely communicate (must communicate intent to withdraw before target crime occurs)
    • 2) all other co-conspirators
    • 3) Defendant is no longer a participant in the conspiracy

    Effect = liable for conspiracy, but not the target crime

    (Minority rule = if withdrawing conspirator goes to police in time to permit police to stop target crime, conspirator will not be liable for conspiracy OR target crime)
  44. Who is a principal?
    One who, with intent to commit crime, causes crime to occur
  45. Who is an accomplice?
    One who, with intent for crime to be committed, aids, counsels, or encourages the principal (silent approval is not sufficient)

    Liability: all accomplices AND principals are liable for crimes the principal committed that accomplice assisted, counseled or encouraged

    (Also liable for other crimes committed by principal so long as other crimes were foreseeable)
  46. Who is an accessory after the fact?
    One who, with intent to help a felon escape or avoid arrest or trial, receives, relieves, or assists a known felon after the felony has been completed

    Liability: not liable for crimes committed by principal, but instead for a separate crime of "obstructing justice"
  47. What is required to show duress?
    A defendant's criminal liability (except an intentional homicide) is excused if the crime is committed under the threat of imminent death or bodily harm
  48. What is required to show entrapment?
    • 1) criminal plan originated with the government
    • 2) defendant was not predisposed to commit the crime prior to the contact with the government
  49. What is required to show mistake of fact?
    Reasonable mistake of fact:

    If defendant makes a reasonable mistake of fact or is ignorant of a fact that negates the required mental state for the crime, defendant is not guilty of that crime

    Unreasonable mistake of fact:

    If defendant is mistaken or ignorant of fact, but the mistake is unreasonable under the circumstances, then the mistake is a defense only if the crime is a specific intent crime

    (Mistake of law is not a defense)
  50. What does the 4th Amendment protect against?
    Unreasonable search and seizure
  51. What is included in the 5th Amendment?
    • 1) Privilege against compulsory self-incrimination
    • 2) Prohibition against double jeopardy
  52. What rights are included in the 6th Amendment?
    • 1) Right to a speedy trial
    • 2) Right to a trial by jury
    • 3) Right to confront witnesses
    • 4) Right to assistance of counsel
  53. What does the 8th Amendment protect against?
    Cruel and unusual punishment

    (Covers the death penalty and prisoner rights)
  54. What is the exclusionary rule?
    Someone who has been the victim of an illegal search or a coerced confession can have the product of that illegal search or that coerced statement excluded from any subsequent criminal prosecution
  55. What are the limitations on exclusion?
    1) Does not apply to grand jury proceedings (but a grand jury witness may be compelled to testify based on illegally seized evidence)

    2) Not an available remedy in civil proceedings

    3) To qualify for exclusion, the search must either violate the federal constitution or a federal statute

    4) Not an available remedy in parole revocation proceedings

    5) Does not apply to the use of excluded evidence for impeachment purposes (only defendant's trial testimony can be impeached, not the testimony of other defense witnesses)

    (All illegally seized real or physical evidence may be admitted to impeach the credibility of the defendant's trial testimony)

    6) Not an available remedy for violations of the knock-and-announce rule in the execution of search warrants
  56. What is "The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" doctrine?
    Not only will illegally seized evidence be excluded, but all evidence obtained or derived from police illegality will also be excluded

    (Does not apply to Miranda violations unless the police act in bad faith in obtaining such information)
  57. What are the 3 ways that the government can break the chain between an original, unlawful police action and some supposedly derived piece of evidence? (The 3 Is)
    1) Government could show that it had an independent source for that evidence

    2) The inevitable discovery of the evidence

    3) Intervening acts of free will on part of the defendant
  58. Will a conviction be overturned because improperly obtained evidence was admitted at trial?
    Not necessarily (they will apply the harmless error test)
  59. What test will a court apply on appeal to improperly obtained evidence?
    The harmless error test

    Under the test, a conviction will be upheld if the conviction would have resulted despite the improper evidence
  60. What must an arrest be based on?
    Probable cause
  61. Are arrest warrants generally required before arresting someone in a public place?
    No

    But the non-emergency arrest of an individual in his home does require an arrest warrant
  62. What is required for the police to arrest you and compel you to come to the police station for fingerprinting or interrogation?
    Probable cause
  63. What is a Terry stop?
    When the police briefly detain a person even when they lack probable cause to arrest
  64. What is required to make a Terry stop?
    Reasonable suspicion, supported by articulable facts of criminal activity

    (Reasonable suspicion depends on the totality of circumstances)

    (The police may stop a car if they have reasonable suspicion that the law has been violated, but checkpoint roadblocks are an exception to the rule)
  65. What are the 5 steps for analyzing any search and seizure question?
    • 1) Governmental conduct?
    • 2) Reasonable expectation of privacy?
    • 3) Did the police have a valid search warrant?
    • 4) If the warrant is not valid, does an officer's good faith defense save the defective search warrant?
    • 5) Do any of the exceptions to the warrant requirement apply?
  66. Which individuals' actions can constitute governmental conduct?
    • 1) Publicly paid police (on or off duty)
    • 2) Any private individual acting at the direction of the public police
  67. Do privately paid police actions constitute governmental conduct?
    Not unless they are depotized with the power to arrest

    (Examples of privately paid police are store security guards, subdivision police, or campus police)
  68. When do you have standing to object to the legality of a search?
    1) If you own the premises searched

    2) If you live on the premises searched (whether or not you have ownership interest)

    3) If you are an invited overnight guest at a place

    4) If you own the property seized, you have standing only if you have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the item or area searched
  69. What are the "No Standing" categories?
    (Anything you hold out to the public every day)

    • 1) The sound of your voice
    • 2) The style of your handwriting
    • 3) The paint on the outside of your car
    • 4) Account record held by a bank
    • 5) Monitoring the location of your car on a public street or in your driveway
    • 6) Anything that can be seen across the open fields
    • 7) Anything that can be seen from flying over in the public airspace
    • 8) The odors emanating from your luggage or car
    • 9) Your garbage set out on the curb for collection
  70. What are the 2 core requirements for a facially valid search warrant?
    • 1) Probable cause
    • 2) Particularity
  71. What is the standard for probable cause?
    A fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in the area searched
  72. What is required to satisfy particularity?
    The warrant must state with particularity the place to be searched and the things to be seized
  73. If an officer's affidavit or probable cause is based on informant information, how is its sufficiency determined?
    By the totality of the circumstances

    (An informant's reliability/credibility and basis of knowledge are both relevant in making this determination)
  74. Can a valid warrant partly be based on an anonymous informant?
    Yes
  75. When is a "No Knock" entry permitted in the execution of search warrants?
    (If exigent circumstances exist)

    1) If knocking and announcing would be dangerous, futile, or inhibit the investigation

    2) If knocking and announcing would risk destruction of the evidence (i.e. flushing drugs down the toilet)
  76. If a warrant is not valid, does an officer's good faith defense save the defective search warrant?
    General rule is that good faith reliance on a search warrant overcomes defecs with the probable cause or particularity requirements
  77. What are the 4 exceptions to a good faith reliance on a defective search warrant?
    1) Affidavit is so lacking in probable cause that no reasonable police officer would have relied on it

    2) Affidavit is so lacking in particularity that no reasonable officer would have relied on it

    3) Police officer or prosecutor lied to or misled the magistrate when seeking the warrant

    4) If the magistrate is biased and has therefore wholly abandoned his neutrality
  78. What are the exceptions to the warrant requirement?
    • 1) Search incident to arrest
    • 2) Automobile exception
    • 3) Plain view exception
    • 4) Consent
    • 5) Stop and frisk
    • 6) Evanescent evidence
  79. What are the requirements of the search incident to arrest exception?
    1) Arrest must be lawful

    2) Arrest and search must be contemporaneous in time and place

    3) What can be searched? The person and the areas to which he can reach either to procure a weapon or to destroy evidence

    4) Police may search interior of the auto incident to arrest ONLY IF

    • a) the arrestee is unsecured and still may gain access to the vehicle OR
    • b) the police reasonably believe that evidence of the offense for which the person is arrested may be found in the vehicle
  80. What is the community caretaker exception?
    Justifies a warrantless search if an officer faces an emergency that threatens the health or safety of an individual or the public
  81. What are the requirements of the automobile exception?
    1) Probable cause (only if the police have probable cause before searching anything or anybody)

    If there is probable cause, they can search the entire car, including the entire interior compartment and the trunk.

    Also, if there is probable cause, the police may open any package, luggage or other container which could reasonably contain the item they had probable cause to look for whether that package is owned by the passenger or the driver

    The probable cause necessary to justify the warrantless search of an auto under the automobile exception can arise after the car is stopped. BUT the probable cause must arise before anything or anybody is searched.
  82. What are the requirements of the plain view exception?
    1) Police officer must be legitimately present at the location where he or she does the viewing of the item seized

    2) Must be immediately apparent that the item is contraband or fruit of a crime
  83. What are the requirements of the consent exception?
    For consent to be valid, the consent must voluntary and intelligent

    3P consent: where 2 or more people have an equal right to use a piece of property, either can consent to its warrantless search. However, if both people are present and one person consents to the search and the other does not consent, then the one who does not consent controls.
  84. What is a Terry stop/frisk and what are its requirements?
    1) A Terry stop is a brief detention for the purpose of investigating suspicious conduct

    2) The legal standard for stopping is reasonable suspicion (less than probable cause)

    3) A Terry frisk is a pat down of the outer clothing and body to check for weapons

    4) The justificatio for frisking is concern for officer safety
  85. What is evanescent evidence?
    Evidence that might disappear quickly if the police took the time to get a warrant
  86. When does the hot pursuit of a fleeing felon exception apply?
    If the police are not within 15 minutes behind the fleeing felon, it is not a valid hot pursuit exception

    If the police are in hot pursuit, they can enter anyone's home w/o a warrant, and any evidence they see in plain view is admissible
  87. What are the rules regarding inventory searches?
    Before incarceration of an arrestee, the police may search 1) the arrestee's personal belongings and/or 2) the arrestee's entire vehicle (including closed containers)
  88. What are the rules regarding public school searches?
    1) Public school children engaged in extracurricular activities can be randomly drug tested

    2) Warrantless searches of public school children's effects, such as purses and/or backpacks is permissible to investigate violations of school rules
  89. What is required to show that a school search is reasonable?
    1) It offers a moderate chance of finding evidence of wrongdoing; and

    2) The measures adopted to carry out the search are reasonably related to the objectives of the search; and

    3) The search is not excessively intrusive
  90. Does all wiretapping and eavesdropping require a warrant?
    Yes
  91. What are the exceptions to the eavesdropping rule?
    1) (Unreliable ear) Everybody in this society assumes the risk that the person to whom he is speaking will either consent to the government monitoring the conversation or will be wired and therefore has no 4th Amendment objection on the basis that it was a warrantless search

    2) (Uninvited ear) A speaker has no 4th Amendment right if she makes no attempt to keep the conversation private
  92. What information is required to be given in a Miranda warning?
    1) You have a right to remain silent

    2) Anything you say can be used against you in court

    3) You have the right to an attorney

    4) If you can't afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you if you so desire
  93. What is the trigger that requires Miranda warnings?
    Custodial interrogation
  94. What is the legal standard for custody?
    You are in custody if, at hte time of the interrogation, you are not free to leave (includes your home)

    (Probation interviews and routine traffic stops are not custodial)
  95. What is the legal standard for interrogation?
    Interrogation is defined as any conduct where the police knew or should have known that they might elicit an incriminating response from the suspect

    (Miranda warnings are not required prior to the admissibility of a spontaneous statement)
  96. What are the requirements of a Miranda waiver?
    Must be:

    • 1) Knowing
    • 2) Voluntary
    • 3) Intelligent

    Courts will employ a totality of circumstances test in making this determination
  97. What are the rules regarding the invocation of one's right to remain silent?
    It must be unambiguous

    Police may reinitiate questioning after the defendant has invoked the right to silence if they wait a significant amount of time, the defendant is re-Mirandized, and the questions are limited to a crime that was not the subject of the earlier questioning
  98. What are the rules regarding the invocation of one's right to counsel?
    It must be unambiguous

    If the accused invokes his right to counsel, all questions must cease until (1) the accused is given an attorney or (2) the accused iniitates further questioning
  99. When does the 5th Amendment right to counsel arise?
    When a suspect invokes his Miranda rights and requests an attorney

    It is not offense specific and thus applies to the entire process of custodial police interrogation
  100. What does the 6th Amendment right to counsel arise?
    The 6th Amendment right to counsel is offense specific, meaning counsel would only need to be present if the Defendant were being asked questions about the specific case for which Defendant has retained counsel
  101. What are the 2 substantive bases on which you can attack a pretrial identification technique?
    1) Denial of the right to counsel (post-charge lineups and show-ups give rise to the right to counsel, but no right to counsel when police show a victim or witness photographs)

    2) Denial of due process (when pretrial identification techniques are so unnecessarily suggestive and so substantially likely to produce a misidentification that they deny due process of law)
  102. When is there no right to counsel? (what stages?)
    • 1) Taking of blood samples
    • 2) Taking of handwriting samples
    • 3) Pre-charge lineups
    • 4) Brief recess during questioning at trial
    • 5) Parole and probation revocation proceedings
    • 6) Taking of fingerprints
  103. What is the remedy for an unconstitutional pre-trial identification?
    Exclude the in-court identification unless the State can show it had an adequate independent source for that in-court identification

    (The most common independent source is that the victim or witness had an adequate opportunity to observe the Defendant at the time of the crime)
  104. What are the rules regarding bail procedures?
    • 1) Bail issues are immediately appealable
    • 2) Preventive detention is Constitutional
  105. What are the rules regarding grand jury proceedings?
    1) Exclusion does not apply to the conduct of grand juries. Thus, a grand jury witness may be compelled to testify based on illegally seized evidence.

    2) The proceedings of grand juries are secret. Defendant has no right to appear and no right to send in witnesses.
  106. What is the result of a prosecutor's failure to disclose evidence?
    Whether willful or independent, it violates the Due Process Clause and may be grounds for reversal of a conviction
  107. When will failure to disclose exculpatory information constitute grounds for reversing a conviction?
    1) If the evidence is foreseeable to the defendant; and

    2) Prejudice has resulted, meaning there is a reasonable probability that the result would have been different had the information been disclosed (strongly supported = not prejudicial)
  108. What are the 4 rights a defendant has at trial?
    1) Right to an unbiased judge

    2) Right to jury trial

    3) Right to counsel

    4) Right to confront witnesses
  109. What is required to show bias in a judge?
    Having a financial interest in the outcome of the case or some actual malice against the defendant
  110. When does the right to jury trial attach?
    Anytime the defendant is tried for an offense for which the maximum authorized sentence exceeds 6 months
  111. What are the rules regarding the number and unanimity of jurors?
    1) The minimum number of juror permissible is 6. If a court uses this minimum number of jurors, the verdict must be unanimous.

    (10-2 and 9-3 OK in 12-juror verdict)
  112. What is the cross sectional requirement?
    The right to have the jury pool reflect a fair cross section of the community, BUT no right to have the empanelled jury reflect a fair cross section of the community
  113. What are the rules regarding peremptory challenges?
    A peremptory challenge is a challenge to exclude a prospective juror for any reason whatsoever

    BUT it is unconstitutional for the prosecutor or the defense to exercise peremptory challenges to exclude potential jurors on account of their race or gender.
  114. When does a defendant's right to counsel apply?
    To all critical stages of a prosecution, including trial
  115. What is required to show ineffective assistance of counsel?
    There must be deficient performance by counsel and, but for such deficiency, the result of the proceeding would have been different

    Typically such a claim can only be made out by specifying particular errors of trial counsel
  116. What is required for a defendant to represent himself?
    The waiver of trial counsel must be knowing and intelligent, and he must be competent to proceed pro se

    (A defendant can be found mentally competent to stand trial, yet incompetent to represent himself, as determined by the trial judge's discretion)
  117. What are the rules regarding the right to confront witnesses?
    (Not an absolute right)

    The absence of face-to-face confrontation between the defendant and accuser does not violate the 6th Amendment when preventing such confrontation serves an important public purpose AND the reliability of the witness testimony is otherwise assured.

    A disruptive defendant may be removed from the courtroom, thereby relinquishing his right of confrontaiton
  118. What must a judge specifically address with the defendant on the record if a defendant pleads guilty?
    1) The nature of the charge

    2) The judge must tell the defendant the maximum authorized penalty and any mandatory minimum penalty

    3) The judge must tell him that he has a right to plead not guilty and to demand a trial

    4) All of this must be on the record
  119. What are the four good bases for withdrawing a guilty plea after sentencing?
    1) The plea was involuntary (a plea is not involuntary merely because it was entered in response to the prosecution's threat to charge the defendant with a more serious crime)

    2) Lack of jurisdiction

    3) Ineffective assistance of counsel

    4) Failure of the prosecutor to keep an agreed-upon plea bargain
  120. True or False: Any death penalty statute that does not give the defendant a chance to present mitigating facts and circumstances is unconstitutional.
    True
  121. True or False: There can be no automatic category for imposition of the death penalty
    True
  122. True or False: The state may limit the mitigating factors in its death penalty statute
    False, all relevant mitigating evidence must be admissible or the death penalty statute is unconstitutional
  123. True or False: Only a judge may determine the aggravating factors justifying imposition of the death penalty.
    False, only a jury may determine the aggravating factors justifying imposition of the death penalty.
  124. When does double jeopardy attach?
    1) In a jury trial, when the jury is sworn

    2) In a bench trial, when the 1st witness is sworn

    (Does not generally attach when the proceedings are civil)
  125. When is retrial permitted?
    1) Jury is unable to agree upon a verdict

    2) Mistrials for manifest necessity (medical emergency)

    3) A retrial after a successful appeal is not double jeopardy (But defendant cannot be retried for a more serious offense than he was convicted of at the first trial)

    4) Breach of an agreed upon plea bargain by the defendant
  126. True or False: Two crimes do not constitute the same offense if each crimes requires proof of an additional element that the other does not.
    True
  127. True or False: Being put in jeopardy for a greater offense bars retrial for any lesser included offense
    True, and similarly, if you are first put in jeopardy for the lesser included offense, you cannot later be retried for the greater offense

    Exception: If a Defendant is tried and convicted on a charge of battery, and the victim of the battery later dies due to the injuries, the person can also then be prosecuted for murder
  128. True or False: Double jeopardy does not bar retrial for the same offense by the same sovereign.
    False
  129. Who can invoke the 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination?
    Anyone in any type of case. Anyone asked a question under oath in any kind of case, wherein the response might tend to incriminate him is entitled to a 5th Amendment privilege.
  130. What are the rules regarding the invocation of the 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination?
    1) You must assert the privilege the 1st time the question is asked or you will have waived your 5th Amendment privilege for all subsequent criminal prosecutions

    2) The privilege must be claimed in civil proceedings to prevent the privilege from being waived for a later criminal prosecution

    3) If the individual responds to the questions instead of claiming the privilege during a civil proceeding, he cannot later bar that evidence on Fifth Amendment grounds
  131. True or False: The Fifth Amendment protects citizens from compelled testimony.
    True
  132. True or False: The Fifth Amendment protects citizens from having the government use physical evidence in ways to incriminate them
    False
  133. What are examples of non-testimonial evidence that the prosecution can compel a person to produce?
    • 1) a person's blood sample
    • 2) a person's handwriting sample
    • 3) a person's voice sample
    • 4) a person's hair sample
  134. What test is applied when a prosecutor impermissibly comments on a defendant's silence?
    The harmless error test
  135. What are the 3 ways that the 5th Amendment privilege can be eliminated?
    1) Under grant of immunity

    2) No possibility of incrimination (i.e. if the statute of limitations has run on the underlying crime, you are not entitled to a 5th Amendment privilege)

    3) Waiver (a criminal defendant who takes the witness stand waives the Fifth Amendment privilege as to all legitimate subjects of cross examination)
Author
ngehlawat
ID
156943
Card Set
Criminal Law
Description
Criminal Law
Updated