IL Bar Criminal Law and Procedure 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Illinois law, what is the statute of limitations for most Class 2 felonies?
- 1 year
- 2 years
- 3 years (Correct answer)
- 7 years
Correct answer: 3 years
Illinois generally imposes a 3-year statute of limitations for most felonies, with longer periods for specific offenses like sexual assault and murder.
Question 2: A police officer conducts a stop-and-frisk of a pedestrian based on specific articulable facts. The required legal standard under Terry v. Ohio is:
- Probable cause
- Preponderance of the evidence
- Reasonable articulable suspicion of criminal activity (Correct answer)
- Mere hunch or intuition
Correct answer: Reasonable articulable suspicion of criminal activity
Terry stops require reasonable articulable suspicion — specific, objective facts that a crime is afoot — a standard lower than probable cause.
Question 3: Under Illinois sentencing law, a Class X felony carries a mandatory minimum sentence of:
- 1 year
- 3 years
- 6 years (Correct answer)
- 10 years
Correct answer: 6 years
Illinois Class X felonies carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 6 years and a maximum of 30 years imprisonment, with no possibility of probation.
Question 4: Accomplice liability in Illinois holds a person accountable for another's criminal conduct if the person:
- Was present during the crime
- Knew the principal intended to commit a crime
- Solicited, aided, abetted, agreed to, or attempted to aid another in planning or committing the offense (Correct answer)
- Benefited from the crime after the fact
Correct answer: Solicited, aided, abetted, agreed to, or attempted to aid another in planning or committing the offense
Under 720 ILCS 5/5-2, accountability attaches when a person solicits, aids, abets, agrees, or attempts to aid another in the planning or commission of an offense with the intent to promote or facilitate it.
Question 5: A defendant invokes the right to remain silent during a custodial interrogation. Police resume questioning two hours later. Under Berghuis v. Thompkins, this is:
- An automatic Miranda violation requiring suppression
- Permissible if the defendant later waives Miranda rights by making uncoerced statements (Correct answer)
- Prohibited once any indication of silence is given
- A constitutional violation only if the defendant requested an attorney
Correct answer: Permissible if the defendant later waives Miranda rights by making uncoerced statements
Berghuis held that an unambiguous invocation is required to cut off questioning, and a subsequent uncoerced statement can constitute an implied waiver of Miranda rights.
Question 6: Illinois recognizes the affirmative defense of self-defense. The defendant's belief that force was necessary must be:
- Objectively reasonable and subjectively held (Correct answer)
- Subjectively held regardless of objective reasonableness
- Supported by expert testimony
- Based on prior contact with the attacker
Correct answer: Objectively reasonable and subjectively held
Illinois self-defense requires that the defendant both subjectively believed force was necessary and that this belief was objectively reasonable under the circumstances.
IL Bar Criminal Law and Procedure 3
Under Illinois law, what is the statute of limitations for most Class 2 felonies?