FYLSX Criminal Law Elements & Defenses 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Dan sets a trap in his backyard intending to kill any trespasser who enters. A child trespasses and is killed. Dan is most likely guilty of:
- No crime, because trespassers assume the risk
- Murder, because deadly mechanical devices cannot substitute for the privilege of self-defense (Correct answer)
- Manslaughter, because the child was a trespasser
- Assault only, because the child actually entered
Correct answer: Murder, because deadly mechanical devices cannot substitute for the privilege of self-defense
Under the spring-gun rule, a landowner may not use deadly mechanical devices to protect property because the defense of self-defense requires a human present who reasonably fears imminent harm.
Question 2: Which element distinguishes larceny from embezzlement?
- The value of the property taken
- Whether the defendant had lawful initial possession of the property (Correct answer)
- Whether the victim consented to the taking
- Whether the defendant intended to return the property
Correct answer: Whether the defendant had lawful initial possession of the property
Embezzlement requires that the defendant lawfully possessed the property before converting it, whereas larceny involves a trespassory taking from the outset.
Question 3: Ann is charged with attempt. The prosecution must prove she had:
- The specific intent to commit the target crime and a substantial step toward it (Correct answer)
- The general intent to act dangerously and proximity to the crime scene
- Knowledge that the act was illegal and preparation beyond mere thought
- Purpose to commit any felony and an overt act in furtherance
Correct answer: The specific intent to commit the target crime and a substantial step toward it
Criminal attempt requires specific intent to commit the underlying offense and a substantial step (beyond mere preparation) in furtherance of that intent.
Question 4: Bob takes his neighbor's bicycle believing it is his own. He is charged with larceny. What is his best defense?
- Consent
- Claim of right / mistake of fact (Correct answer)
- Necessity
- Entrapment
Correct answer: Claim of right / mistake of fact
A genuine claim of right (honest belief of ownership) negates the intent to steal, which is required for larceny.
Question 5: Under the M'Naghten test, an insanity defense succeeds when the defendant:
- Acted under an irresistible impulse caused by mental disease
- Did not know the nature of the act or did not know it was wrong (Correct answer)
- Lacked substantial capacity to conform conduct to the law
- Suffered from a severe mental disorder at the time of the act
Correct answer: Did not know the nature of the act or did not know it was wrong
M'Naghten focuses solely on cognitive incapacity: the defendant either did not know what they were doing or did not know it was wrong.
Question 6: Felony murder liability requires that the underlying felony be:
- Any misdemeanor elevated to a felony by prior convictions
- Inherently dangerous and independent of the killing itself (Correct answer)
- Committed with premeditation
- Carried out with a dangerous weapon
Correct answer: Inherently dangerous and independent of the killing itself
Most jurisdictions require the predicate felony to be inherently dangerous and, under the merger doctrine, not to merge into the homicide itself.
Question 7: A defendant charged with burglary broke into a home at noon. At common law, she is:
- Guilty, because she broke and entered a dwelling
- Not guilty, because common law burglary required entry in the nighttime (Correct answer)
- Guilty if she had any felonious intent, regardless of time
- Not guilty only if she lacked the intent to commit a felony inside
Correct answer: Not guilty, because common law burglary required entry in the nighttime
Common law burglary required breaking and entering a dwelling house of another in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony therein.
FYLSX Criminal Law Elements & Defenses 2
Dan sets a trap in his backyard intending to kill any trespasser who enters.
A child trespasses and is killed.
Dan is most likely guilty of: