FYLSX Criminal Law Elements & Defenses 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which doctrine allows conspirators to be held liable for crimes committed by co-conspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy?
- Pinkerton doctrine (Correct answer)
- Wharton's Rule
- Merger doctrine
- Complicity per se rule
Correct answer: Pinkerton doctrine
Under Pinkerton v. United States, a conspirator is vicariously liable for substantive crimes committed by co-conspirators if those crimes were foreseeable and in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Question 2: Carl is charged with arson after burning down a building he mistakenly believed was unoccupied. At common law, arson requires:
- Burning any structure with intent to defraud an insurer
- Malicious burning of the dwelling house of another (Correct answer)
- Burning any building with reckless disregard of risk
- Intentional setting of fire to any personal property
Correct answer: Malicious burning of the dwelling house of another
Common law arson is the malicious burning of the dwelling house of another; burning one's own property or non-dwelling structures was not arson at common law.
Question 3: Wharton's Rule provides that conspiracy cannot be charged when:
- The conspirators are immediate family members
- The target offense necessarily requires the participation of two or more people (Correct answer)
- One of the alleged conspirators is a government agent
- The agreement was not reduced to writing
Correct answer: The target offense necessarily requires the participation of two or more people
Wharton's Rule bars a conspiracy charge when the target crime by definition requires two participants (e.g., bigamy, dueling, adultery).
Question 4: Voluntary intoxication may be a defense to which category of crime?
- General intent crimes only
- Specific intent crimes only (Correct answer)
- All crimes because it negates mens rea
- No crimes because self-induced intoxication is per se reckless
Correct answer: Specific intent crimes only
Voluntary intoxication can negate the specific intent required for crimes like first-degree murder or larceny, but it is no defense to general intent crimes.
Question 5: Eve stabs Victor after Victor secretly added a drug to her drink that caused her to hallucinate an attack. Eve's best defense is:
- Self-defense
- Involuntary intoxication (Correct answer)
- Insanity under M'Naghten
- Diminished capacity
Correct answer: Involuntary intoxication
Involuntary intoxication (intoxication without the defendant's knowledge or consent) can operate as a complete defense to all crimes if it negates the required mens rea.
Question 6: The defense of duress requires that the defendant acted under:
- An honest and reasonable belief in the need to protect property
- An immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm leaving no reasonable escape (Correct answer)
- Any coercive pressure from a third party
- Fear of economic ruin if he did not comply
Correct answer: An immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm leaving no reasonable escape
Duress requires an imminent, unlawful threat of death or serious bodily injury to the defendant (or immediate family) with no reasonable opportunity to escape.
Question 7: Greg receives stolen goods knowing they are stolen. He is guilty of:
- Larceny by trick
- Receiving stolen property (Correct answer)
- Robbery
- Embezzlement
Correct answer: Receiving stolen property
Receiving stolen property requires knowingly receiving goods that have been stolen with intent to permanently deprive the owner.
FYLSX Criminal Law Elements & Defenses 3
Which doctrine allows conspirators to be held liable for crimes committed by co-conspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy?