SC Bar Multistate Bar 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A buyer and seller signed a written contract for 500 widgets at $10 each. Before delivery, they orally agreed to reduce the quantity to 400. The seller delivered 400 widgets, and the buyer refused them, demanding 500. Under the UCC, is the oral modification enforceable?
- Yes, because UCC modifications need no consideration
- No, because contract modifications always require new consideration
- No, because the contract as modified is for $4,000 and must satisfy the Statute of Frauds (Correct answer)
- Yes, because oral modifications are always valid between merchants
Correct answer: No, because the contract as modified is for $4,000 and must satisfy the Statute of Frauds
UCC modifications need no consideration, but the contract as modified is for $500 or more, so the modification must satisfy the Statute of Frauds to be enforceable.
Question 2: A man broke into a house at night intending to retrieve a television he honestly believed was his. He was charged with burglary. What is his best defense?
- He lacked the intent to commit a felony inside because he believed the property was his (Correct answer)
- Mistake of law excuses the breaking and entering
- Burglary cannot be committed against personal property
- The house was not a dwelling at common law
Correct answer: He lacked the intent to commit a felony inside because he believed the property was his
An honest belief that property is one's own negates the specific intent to steal, defeating the felonious-intent element of burglary.
Question 3: At trial, a witness cannot remember details of an accident she once recorded in a memo written shortly after the event. Her memory is not refreshed by reviewing it. How may the memo's contents be presented under the recorded recollection exception?
- It is inadmissible because the witness is available and testifying
- It is admissible only if the witness authored it during the accident itself
- It may be read into evidence but not received as an exhibit unless offered by the adverse party (Correct answer)
- It is admitted as an exhibit for the jury to take into deliberations
Correct answer: It may be read into evidence but not received as an exhibit unless offered by the adverse party
Under FRE 803(5), a recorded recollection may be read to the jury but may be received as an exhibit only if offered by the adverse party.
Question 4: Congress passed a statute stripping federal courts of jurisdiction to hear challenges to a particular immigration policy, while leaving state courts available. A challenger argues the statute is unconstitutional. What is the strongest counterargument supporting the statute?
- The statute violates separation of powers per se
- Federal question jurisdiction is constitutionally mandatory
- Only the Supreme Court can limit lower court jurisdiction
- Congress has broad power under Article III to define and limit lower federal court jurisdiction (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Congress has broad power under Article III to define and limit lower federal court jurisdiction
Because Congress created the lower federal courts, Article III gives it broad authority to define and restrict their jurisdiction.
Question 5: A store customer slipped on a banana peel that was black, flattened, and gritty. In a negligence action against the store, why is the peel's condition significant?
- It shifts the burden of proof to the store under res ipsa loquitur
- It establishes negligence per se
- It proves the store had actual knowledge of the hazard
- It supports an inference that the peel was on the floor long enough for the store to have constructive notice (Correct answer)
Correct answer: It supports an inference that the peel was on the floor long enough for the store to have constructive notice
A deteriorated condition suggests the hazard existed long enough that reasonable inspection would have discovered it, establishing constructive notice.
Question 6: A tenant with two years remaining on a lease transferred "all my remaining interest" in the premises to a friend. The friend stopped paying rent. Can the landlord recover rent directly from the friend?
- Yes, but only if the landlord consented to the transfer
- No, because the friend never signed the lease
- Yes, because the transfer was an assignment creating privity of estate between landlord and friend (Correct answer)
- No, because only a sublease creates liability to the landlord
Correct answer: Yes, because the transfer was an assignment creating privity of estate between landlord and friend
A transfer of the tenant's entire remaining interest is an assignment, placing the assignee in privity of estate with the landlord and liable for rent.
Question 7: Police obtained a warrant to search a house for stolen jewelry. While searching a dresser drawer, an officer found a bag of illegal drugs and seized it. Was the seizure lawful?
- No, because plain view applies only to items visible from outside the premises
- Yes, because any evidence found during a warranted search is admissible
- No, because the warrant listed only jewelry
- Yes, because the drugs were in plain view during a lawful search of a place where jewelry could be hidden (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Yes, because the drugs were in plain view during a lawful search of a place where jewelry could be hidden
Under the plain view doctrine, officers may seize obviously incriminating items discovered while lawfully searching areas within the warrant's scope.
SC Bar Multistate Bar 3
A buyer and seller signed a written contract for 500 widgets at $10 each.
Before delivery, they orally agreed to reduce the quantity to 400.
The seller delivered 400 widgets, and the buyer refused them, demanding 500.
Under the UCC, is the oral modification enforceable?