GA Bar Multistate Bar 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A defendant is charged with burglary. At common law, which element is REQUIRED to establish burglary?
- Breaking and entering a dwelling at nighttime with intent to commit a felony therein (Correct answer)
- Entering any structure at any time with intent to commit any crime therein
- Breaking into a commercial building with intent to steal
- Trespassing on private property with intent to commit a misdemeanor
Correct answer: Breaking and entering a dwelling at nighttime with intent to commit a felony therein
At common law, burglary requires breaking and entering a dwelling house of another at nighttime with intent to commit a felony therein.
Question 2: Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, which of the following is NOT hearsay?
- A witness testifying about what another person told her about an accident
- A prior inconsistent statement made under oath at a prior proceeding, offered to impeach (Correct answer)
- A business record kept in the ordinary course of business
- A dying declaration offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted
Correct answer: A prior inconsistent statement made under oath at a prior proceeding, offered to impeach
A prior inconsistent statement made under oath at a prior proceeding is classified as non-hearsay under FRE 801(d)(1)(A) when offered to impeach.
Question 3: A landowner grants her neighbor an easement to use a driveway across her land. The landowner later sells the property. Which statement is correct?
- The easement terminates automatically upon sale of the servient estate
- The easement runs with the land and binds the purchaser if the purchaser had notice (Correct answer)
- The easement is personal and cannot bind subsequent owners
- The easement requires re-recording to bind subsequent purchasers
Correct answer: The easement runs with the land and binds the purchaser if the purchaser had notice
An appurtenant easement runs with the land and is enforceable against subsequent purchasers who take with actual, constructive, or inquiry notice.
Question 4: A plaintiff sues a defendant in federal court based solely on diversity jurisdiction. The plaintiff is a citizen of Georgia and the defendant is a corporation incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in Georgia. Is diversity satisfied?
- Yes, because the defendant is incorporated in a different state
- No, because a corporation is a citizen of both its state of incorporation and principal place of business (Correct answer)
- Yes, because the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000
- No, because federal courts cannot hear state law claims
Correct answer: No, because a corporation is a citizen of both its state of incorporation and principal place of business
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1332, a corporation is deemed a citizen of both its state of incorporation and the state where it has its principal place of business, so complete diversity is destroyed here.
Question 5: Under contract law, which of the following constitutes a valid modification of an existing contract for the sale of goods under the UCC?
- A modification supported by new consideration
- A modification agreed to in good faith, even without new consideration (Correct answer)
- A written modification only, regardless of the contract's terms
- A modification made by only one party
Correct answer: A modification agreed to in good faith, even without new consideration
Under UCC § 2-209, a contract for the sale of goods may be modified without consideration if the modification is made in good faith.
Question 6: The police arrest a suspect and immediately begin interrogating him without reading Miranda warnings. The suspect confesses. Under the Fifth Amendment, the confession is:
- Admissible because Miranda only applies to formal arrests in a police station
- Inadmissible because the suspect was in custody and subject to interrogation without Miranda warnings (Correct answer)
- Admissible if the suspect voluntarily confessed
- Inadmissible only if the suspect invoked his right to counsel
Correct answer: Inadmissible because the suspect was in custody and subject to interrogation without Miranda warnings
Miranda warnings are required before any custodial interrogation; failure to provide them renders a resulting confession inadmissible under the Fifth Amendment.
Question 7: A state law prohibits out-of-state corporations from operating within the state unless they pay a special tax not imposed on in-state corporations. Under the Commerce Clause, this law is most likely:
- Valid because states have broad power to regulate local economic activity
- Invalid as a facially discriminatory burden on interstate commerce (Correct answer)
- Valid if the tax revenues are used for legitimate state purposes
- Invalid only if the tax is unreasonably high
Correct answer: Invalid as a facially discriminatory burden on interstate commerce
A state law that facially discriminates against interstate commerce by imposing burdens on out-of-state businesses not borne by in-state businesses violates the dormant Commerce Clause.
GA Bar Multistate Bar 2
A defendant is charged with burglary.
At common law, which element is REQUIRED to establish burglary?