KY Bar Criminal Law and Procedure 3

Question 1

A defendant, enraged upon finding his spouse in bed with another person, immediately kills the other person. In Kentucky, this evidence of extreme emotional disturbance (EED) most likely:

Accepted Answer

Reduces murder to first-degree manslaughter under KRS 507.030

Answer

In Kentucky, an intentional killing committed under extreme emotional disturbance for which there is a reasonable explanation is first-degree manslaughter rather than murder.

Question 2

Police obtain a facially valid warrant based on an affidavit later found to lack probable cause, and they execute it in objective good faith. Under United States v. Leon, the seized evidence is:

Accepted Answer

Admissible under the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule

Answer

Leon holds that evidence obtained in objectively reasonable reliance on a facially valid warrant is not subject to exclusion even if the warrant is later invalidated.

Question 3

A getaway driver waits outside while his accomplice robs a store and unexpectedly shoots the clerk dead. Under the majority felony murder approach tested on the bar, the driver is:

Accepted Answer

Guilty of murder, because the killing occurred during and in furtherance of an inherently dangerous felony

Answer

Under felony murder, all participants in an inherently dangerous felony are liable for killings committed in furtherance of the felony, regardless of individual intent to kill.

Question 4

A grand jury indicts a defendant based partly on hearsay evidence. The defendant moves to dismiss the indictment. The motion should be:

Accepted Answer

Denied, because an indictment may rest on evidence that would be inadmissible at trial

Answer

Under Costello v. United States, a facially valid indictment may be based on hearsay or other evidence inadmissible at trial.

Question 5

In Kentucky, a person commits first-degree robbery under KRS 515.020 when, in the course of committing theft, he:

Accepted Answer

Uses or threatens physical force while armed with a deadly weapon, causes physical injury, or uses a dangerous instrument

Answer

First-degree robbery requires theft accomplished by force plus an aggravator: a deadly weapon, a dangerous instrument, or physical injury to a non-participant.

(KY Bar) Kentucky Bar Exam Practice Test

(KY Bar) Kentucky Bar Exam Practice Test

KY Bar Criminal Law and Procedure 3