JURI 540 Quiz 4 Defenses
JURI 540 Quiz 4 Defenses
- Barney Fife was patrolling the streets of Mayberry one Saturday afternoon when he was suddenly beset by Opie and his gang of junior thugs. Opie said, “Look, Barney. We’ve got our hands on a shotgun. We’ve hid it, but we know where to find it. If you don’t do as we say, we’ll hunt you down and shoot you.” “Aw come on, guys,” Barney protested. “Don’t do that.” “We will,” asserted Opie, “unless you do what we say and right now!” “Okay, okay,” said Barney. “What do you want?” Opie said, “We want you to knock off the pharmacy. We want ten milkshakes and a bag of Smarties. And make it fast. If you don’t come out in forty-five seconds, we’ll go get our gun and come back shooting.” With Opie and his gang waiting outside, Barney entered the pharmacy, pointed at the gun in his holster, and announced a stick-up. The pharmacist was a strong believer in the Second Amendment, but Barney was quicker on the draw than anyone would have guessed. When the pharmacist went for his twelve gauge shotgun under the counter, Barney drew his gun and shot the pharmacist through the heart. The pharmacist was dead before he hit the floor. The pharmacist’s assistant—not knowing that Barney had only one bullet—was quite happy to fill Barney’s order. Sheriff Andy showed up as Opie and the gang were drinking their milkshakes. He charged Barney, Opie, and the gang with murder and robbery. If the state where Mayberry is located applies Common Law, which of the following is a TRUE statement about Barney’s case?
- The statute provides: “A person is guilty of theft if he obtains or exercises unauthorized control over the property of another with the intent to deprive him thereof permanently.” Spindoni had a few beers one night at a bar. Upon leaving the bar, Spindoni saw a red pickup truck in the parking lot with its door open and the keys in the ignition Spindoni thought, “Wow, I always wanted to test drive a red pickup truck…I’ll return it in the
morning!” Spindoni climbed into the truck, started it, and drove away. Spindoni drove carefully down the highway until he realized that he was tired, and had no idea where he was going. At that point, Spindoni pulled into a rest area, parked the truck, and laid down on the front seat to sleep. The police found him at the rest area and arrested him. Is Spindoni guilty of theft? - The criminal law of the state of New Canada uses the common law elements to define the crime of burglary. There is also a state statute making “flashing” (exposing of sexual parts) a felony. One night, Osborne broke into the house of Heather, a middle aged woman who lives in Osborne’s neighborhood. He entered Heather’s bedroom and opened his trench coat to “flash” at her. Heather screamed and Osborne fled, taking nothing with him from Heather’s home. At the time of the “flashing,” Osborne was wearing “long john” underwear, which were extremely difficult to remove and which Osborne knew he would not have time to remove. Thus he did not in fact actually expose his sexual organs to Heather. Osborne knew about the “flashing” statute, but did not know that actual exposure of sexual organs is an element of the crime of “flashing,” as defined in the New Canada statutes. Can Osborne be convicted of burglary?
- “A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law.” This quotation is basically a statement of the:
- Julia, Stephanie, and Roman agreed to hold up a newsstand attendant. Julia waited in their car around the corner while Stephanie and Roman approached the stand, with knives drawn. The attendant gave them all the money in his possession, a sum of $20. As Stephanie and Roman turned away, the attendant grabbed a gun and fired several times. He intended only to wound Stephanie and Roman but instead killed Roman. Meanwhile, Julia had long since become frightened and had fled the scene with her car. Stephanie plans to plead insanity. In a state that still uses the M’Naghten test, what would be the most promising way for Stephanie to frame her plea?
- Debbie walked into a convenience store with the intent to shoplift some liquor. She went to the liquor aisle, placed a bottle of brandy under her coat, and walked toward the exit door. As she did so, the store clerk noticed Debbie acting suspiciously, and shouted, “Hey, you, stop!” Debbie ran toward the exit door, but the store clerk got there first. The store clerk blocked the door so that Debbie could not leave. Debbie snarled, “Get out of my way, or else!” The clerk replied, “Or else what? I’m not afraid of you!” Debbie pulled the bottle of brandy out from under her coat and held it in front of her. As the clerk reached out to try to grab the bottle of brandy, Debbie pulled it back, dodged around the clerk, and managed to escape out the door. Is Debbie guilty of robbery?
- While walking home one evening, David, an off-duty police officer, was accosted by Donald, a stranger. Donald had been drinking and mistakenly thought David was a man who was having an affair with his wife. Intending to frighten David but not harm him, Donald pulled out a knife, screamed obscenities, and told David he was going to kill him. Frightened and reasonably believing Donald was going to kill him and using deadly force was his only salvation, David took out his service revolver ad shot and killed Donald. David is charged with murder. David’s claim of self-defense should be:
- The statute provides: “Every person who enters any house, room, apartment, tenement, shop, warehouse, store, mill, barn, stable, outhouse or other building, with intent to commit any felony, is guilty of burglary.” Able was hanging out with Baker and Charlie at Baker’s apartment, drinking beer and smoking pot. All three men had thrown their coats on the bed in Baker’s bedroom. Baker and Charlie both fell asleep. Able got up to use the bathroom. As he headed toward the bathroom, Able noticed that the door of Baker’s bedroom was slightly ajar, and a large amount of cash was visible in the pocket of Charlie’s coat. Able quietly snuck into Baker’s bedroom, took the cash from Charlie’s coat pocket, and put it into his own pocket. Able then grabbed his own coat and quickly left the apartment without waking Baker or Charlie. Is Able guilty of burglary?
- 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.
- Smith joined a neighborhood gang. At a gang meeting, as part of the initiation process, the leader ordered Smith to kill Harpo, a member of a rival gang. Smith refused, saying he no longer wanted to be part of the group. The leader, with the approval of the other members, told Smith that he had become too involved with the gang to quit and that they would kill him if he did not accomplish the murder of Harpo. The next day, Smith shot and killed Harpo while he was sitting on his motorcycle outside a restaurant. Smith is charged with first-degree murder. First-degree murder is defined in the jurisdiction as the intentional premeditated killing of another. Second-degree murder is all other murder at common law. If Smith killed Harpo because of the threat to his own life, Smith should be found: