FYLSX Criminal Law: Homicide 4

Question 1

Under the common law, 'malice aforethought' can be established by which of the following states of mind?

Accepted Answer

Intent to kill or cause serious bodily harm, depraved heart, or felony murder

Answer

Common law malice aforethought encompasses four types: intent to kill, intent to inflict serious bodily harm, extreme recklessness (depraved heart), and felony murder.

Question 2

Dale sets a trap intending to seriously injure his neighbor. The neighbor dies from the injuries. Dale is most likely guilty of:

Accepted Answer

Murder, because intent to cause serious bodily harm is malice aforethought

Answer

Intent to inflict grievous bodily harm is one form of malice aforethought, so causing death with such intent constitutes murder even without an intent to kill.

Question 3

For the 'cooling off' doctrine in voluntary manslaughter, courts examine:

Accepted Answer

Both whether the defendant actually cooled off and whether a reasonable person would have

Answer

The cooling off doctrine uses both a subjective element (did defendant actually cool off?) and an objective element (would a reasonable person have cooled off?), and if either is met, the heat of passion defense fails.

Question 4

Under the Model Penal Code, 'extreme mental or emotional disturbance' (EMED) differs from common law heat of passion in that:

Accepted Answer

EMED allows a broader range of triggering circumstances and applies a subjective standard

Answer

The MPC's EMED defense is broader than common law heat of passion—it does not require the provocation to come from the victim and uses a more subjective standard for reasonableness.

Question 5

A co-felon is shot and killed by police while the other felon flees. Under the proximate cause theory of felony murder, the surviving felon:

Accepted Answer

Is liable because the death was a foreseeable result of the dangerous felony

Answer

Under the proximate cause theory, a felon is liable for any death that is a foreseeable result of the dangerous felony, including deaths caused by police or resisting victims.

(FYLSX) Baby Bar Exam Practice Test

(FYLSX) Baby Bar Exam Practice Test

FYLSX Criminal Law: Homicide 4