Crime Statistics + Classifications
Which system surveys victims to estimate crimes, including those never reported to police?
NCVS
What do we call the person who directly commits a crime?
Principal
What Latin term refers to the guilty act?
Actus Rea
What defense involves using reasonable force to protect yourself from an imminent unlawful attack?
Self Defense
What is the name of the doctrine that may provide special protections for someone defending themselves in their home?
Castle Doctrine
Under the traditional FBI UCR system, what category included serious crimes such as murder, robbery, and burglary?
Part 1 Offenses
What is the unlawful entry into a building with the intent to commit a crime inside called?
Burglary
What Latin term refers to the guilty mind or required criminal mental state?
Someone commits a crime after being threatened with immediate death if they refuse. What defense might they raise?
Duress
What is the name of a law that generally allows a person who is lawfully present in a location to use justified force without first retreating, when its conditions are met?
Stand Your Ground
A person plans to commit a robbery but is arrested before completing it. What general category of crime can include attempts and conspiracies?
Inchoate Crimes
What is the difference between murder and manslaughter?
Murder generally involves a more culpable mental state, such as intent or malice, while manslaughter generally involves a less culpable form of killing.
A person intends to damage a car and deliberately smashes its windshield. What criminal law concept requires the guilty mind and guilty act to coincide?
Concurrence
Someone breaks into an empty cabin during a blizzard to avoid freezing to death. What defense might apply?
Necessity
What insanity rule established a test to identify if defendants understand the difference between right and wrong at the time of a crime?
M'Naghten Rule
What is the main difference between a felony and a misdemeanor?
felony is generally more serious and carries a potential sentence exceeding one year; misdemeanors generally carry shorter maximum jail sentences. Exact rules vary by jurisdiction.
A person hides a friend from police after learning that the friend committed a robbery. What is this person potentially considered?
Accessory after the fact
A driver runs a red light and strikes a pedestrian. What element asks whether the driver's conduct actually caused the injury?
Factual causation
A person takes someone else's identical-looking jacket, honestly believing it is their own. What defense might this support?
Mistake
Which historical insanity test focuses on whether the criminal act was the product of a mental disease or defect?
Durham Rule
A person commits an offense that involves causing another person's death. What broad category of crime does this fall under?
Homicide
Someone knowingly drives the getaway car during a planned bank robbery. What role might that person play in the crime?
Accomplice
A person carelessly starts a small fire. A firefighter responds and is injured in an unusual, unforeseeable accident unrelated to the fire itself. Which element would a court examine to determine whether the person can legally be held responsible for the injury?
Proximate Causation
Police repeatedly pressure a person who was initially unwilling to commit a crime until the person finally agrees. What defense might the person argue, depending on the circumstances?
Entrapment
What does a verdict of “guilty but mentally ill” generally mean?
The defendant is found guilty, while a qualifying mental illness is recognized under the jurisdiction's law.