VT Bar Criminal Law and Procedure 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A police officer stops a vehicle for speeding and smells marijuana. Under current Fourth Amendment doctrine, what may the officer do?
- Search the entire vehicle based on probable cause from the smell alone (Correct answer)
- Search only the passenger compartment incident to arrest
- Detain the occupants until a warrant is obtained
- Issue a citation and leave without searching
Correct answer: Search the entire vehicle based on probable cause from the smell alone
Under United States v. Ross, probable cause to search a vehicle (including a marijuana odor) allows a full search of the vehicle and any containers within.
Question 2: What distinguishes voluntary manslaughter from murder?
- Voluntary manslaughter requires premeditation
- Voluntary manslaughter occurs when a killing results from adequate provocation that causes sudden heat of passion before cooling off (Correct answer)
- Voluntary manslaughter has a lower intent requirement than murder
- Voluntary manslaughter applies only to domestic situations
Correct answer: Voluntary manslaughter occurs when a killing results from adequate provocation that causes sudden heat of passion before cooling off
Voluntary manslaughter reduces murder to manslaughter when the defendant acted in the heat of passion caused by legally adequate provocation with insufficient time to cool off.
Question 3: Under the Double Jeopardy Clause, which of the following is NOT barred?
- Retrial after acquittal on the same charge
- Prosecution by both state and federal government for same conduct (Correct answer)
- Retrial after conviction on the same charge is reversed on appeal for insufficient evidence
- Punishment twice for the same offense by the same sovereign
Correct answer: Prosecution by both state and federal government for same conduct
The dual sovereignty doctrine allows both state and federal governments to prosecute a defendant for the same conduct without violating double jeopardy.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes the insanity defense under the M'Naghten test?
- The defendant lacked the ability to conform conduct to the law
- The defendant did not know the nature of the act or did not know it was wrong due to a mental disease (Correct answer)
- The defendant acted under an irresistible impulse
- The defendant had a diminished capacity at the time of the offense
Correct answer: The defendant did not know the nature of the act or did not know it was wrong due to a mental disease
The M'Naghten test focuses on whether, due to a mental disease, the defendant did not know the nature and quality of the act or did not know it was wrong.
Question 5: When is a warrantless arrest lawful for a misdemeanor?
- Whenever the officer has reasonable suspicion
- Only when the misdemeanor is committed in the officer's presence (Correct answer)
- When the officer has probable cause regardless of presence
- Only with exigent circumstances
Correct answer: Only when the misdemeanor is committed in the officer's presence
At common law and in most states, a warrantless arrest for a misdemeanor is only lawful when the misdemeanor is committed in the officer's presence.
Question 6: A defendant charged with robbery claims self-defense. What must the prosecution prove to rebut this claim in most jurisdictions?
- The defendant started the altercation
- The defendant's belief in the need to use force was unreasonable
- The prosecution must disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt (Correct answer)
- The defendant had a duty to retreat
Correct answer: The prosecution must disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt
Once self-defense is raised, the prosecution generally bears the burden of disproving it beyond a reasonable doubt to obtain a conviction.
Question 7: What is required to establish accomplice liability?
- Mere presence at the scene of a crime
- Aid, abet, or encourage the principal with intent that the crime be committed (Correct answer)
- Knowledge that a crime is being committed
- Prior agreement to participate in any criminal act
Correct answer: Aid, abet, or encourage the principal with intent that the crime be committed
Accomplice liability requires that the defendant affirmatively aided, abetted, or encouraged the principal and did so with the intent that the underlying crime be committed.
VT Bar Criminal Law and Procedure 3
A police officer stops a vehicle for speeding and smells marijuana.
Under current Fourth Amendment doctrine, what may the officer do?