LLM Criminal Law & Procedure 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial is assessed using which multi-factor balancing test?
- Terry balancing test
- Barker v. Wingo four-factor test (Correct answer)
- Mathews v. Eldridge test
- Brady materiality standard
Correct answer: Barker v. Wingo four-factor test
Barker v. Wingo established a four-factor balancing test examining length of delay, reason for delay, defendant's assertion of the right, and prejudice to the defendant.
Question 2: Under the MPC, the defense of duress is available when a defendant commits a crime because of a threat of:
- Economic harm to immediate family members
- Unlawful force that a person of reasonable firmness could not resist (Correct answer)
- Any physical harm regardless of its severity
- Imminent arrest by law enforcement
Correct answer: Unlawful force that a person of reasonable firmness could not resist
MPC § 2.09 permits a duress defense when the actor is coerced by unlawful force that a person of reasonable firmness in his situation would have been unable to resist.
Question 3: Brady v. Maryland requires the prosecution to disclose evidence that is favorable to the accused and:
- Requested by the defense in a pretrial motion
- Material to either guilt or punishment (Correct answer)
- Exculpatory only, not merely impeaching
- First discovered after trial
Correct answer: Material to either guilt or punishment
Brady mandates disclosure of evidence favorable to the accused that is material to either guilt or punishment, regardless of the good faith of the prosecution.
Question 4: Which standard governs whether a defendant's guilty plea is constitutionally valid under Boykin v. Alabama?
- The plea must be knowing, intelligent, and voluntary (Correct answer)
- The plea must be corroborated by independent evidence of guilt
- The defendant must waive all post-conviction remedies in writing
- The plea must be made after full discovery
Correct answer: The plea must be knowing, intelligent, and voluntary
Boykin requires the record to affirmatively show that a guilty plea was made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily, with the defendant aware of the rights being waived.
Question 5: For accomplice liability, most jurisdictions require the defendant to have aided the principal with:
- General knowledge that a crime might occur
- The purpose of promoting or facilitating the offense (Correct answer)
- Reckless disregard for the consequences of assistance
- Negligence equivalent to the principal's mental state
Correct answer: The purpose of promoting or facilitating the offense
Accomplice liability typically requires that the defendant intentionally assisted with the purpose of facilitating or promoting the commission of the crime, not merely knowledge.
Question 6: Double jeopardy's same-elements test from Blockburger v. United States is satisfied (permitting separate prosecutions) when:
- Each offense requires proof of a fact that the other does not (Correct answer)
- The offenses arise from the same criminal episode
- The prosecutor charges crimes in the alternative
- The statutes carry different maximum penalties
Correct answer: Each offense requires proof of a fact that the other does not
Under Blockburger, two offenses are different for double jeopardy purposes if each requires proof of at least one element the other does not.
Question 7: In a federal criminal trial, venue must be laid in the district where:
- The defendant was arrested
- The offense was committed (Correct answer)
- The grand jury convened
- The defendant resides
Correct answer: The offense was committed
Article III, Section 2 and the Sixth Amendment both require that federal criminal trials be held in the state and district where the crime was committed.
LLM Criminal Law & Procedure 3
The Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial is assessed using which multi-factor balancing test?