I was entitled to act this way
True/False: For self-defense under the MPC, both a subjective and objective belief that it was necessary to to use force.
FALSE, the MPC only requires a subjective belief.
True/False: Duress is a defense of justification.
FALSE, duress is a defense of EXCUSE.
What is the majority rule for entrapment?
It is a subjective approach that focuses on D’s predisposition to commit the crime. It is a defense of excuse.
True/False: Diminished capacity is a mental abnormality that rises to the level of insanity to negate the mens rea required for a general intent crime.
FALSE: Diminished capacity is a mental abnormality short of insanity to negate the mens rea required for a specific intent crime.
The Joker runs up on Batman while he is in an alley. The Joker pulls out a knife and tries to stab Batman. Batman summons his Batmobile and shoots his bazooka at the Joker, killing him instantly. The city of Gotham was tired of vigilante justice, so they charged him the Joker's homicide. Was Batman justified in using self-defense?
Self-Defense Basic Considerations:
1. Necessity
2. Proportionality
3. Objective/Subjective Components of D's Belief
4. Duty to Retreat? (Analyze both CL and MPC)
5. Withdrawal
No, if you are the aggressor, you do not have the right to self-defense. HOWEVER, if you communicate to the combatant that you are withdrawing, you can develop a right to self-defense that was not initially present.
True/False: If a reasonable legal alternative is available for the defendant, necessity (or "choice of evil") defense is available to the defendant.
FALSE, If a reasonable legal alternative is available for the defendant, necessity (or "choice of evil") defense is not available to the defendant.
What is the minority rule for entrapment?
It is an objective approach that focuses on the government's conduct. Sometimes government conduct is just too offensive to tolerate.
True/False: It is constitutional to place a person who is not competent at bar.
False, under the Due Process Clause of the 5th and 14th Amendments, it "shocks the conscious" to place at the bar a person who has no moral agency, who has no idea what is going on, cannot appreciate that a trial is going on, and is unable to interact with an advocate.
While asleep in his home, Homer Simpson heard a noise in the kitchen. He saw the Duff man ransacking his fridge for the last of Homer's Duff beer. Homer told the Duff man to leave. The Duff man became agressive and pulled out a gun. Homer defends himself and ends up killing the Duff man. Homer was charged with homicide. During the trial, the judge instructs the jury on the Castle Doctrine. The judge tells the jury that Homer needed to retreat before using deadly force to defend himself. Is this jury instruction correct?
No, the Castle Doctrine does not require a person to retreat when they are in their own home.
True/False: One is justified in using reasonable force when one reasonably believes that their property is in immediate danger of an unlawful trespass or taking and that the use of such force is necessary to avoid the danger.
True :)
Is necessity a defense for those engaging in indirect civil disobedience (violating the law or interfering with a government policy that is not itself the object of protest)?
No, necessity is a defense for individuals engaging in direct civil disobedience. Direct civil disobedience involves protesting the existence of a law by breaking that law or by preventing the execution of that law in a specific instance in which a particularized harm would otherwise follow.
In Massachusetts, is entrapment a question for the jury?
Yes, in MA, entrapment is always a jury question.
True/False: Diminished capacity is a policy choice and allowed as a defense by states to avoid unjust impositions of the death penalty.
True, it is a device that states adopt to reduce an offense downward: from a specific intent crime to a lesser included offense that generally sets forth a general intent crime.
While performing at Coachella, Kid Cudi had a schizophrenic episode and threw his twenty-pound microphone stand at a fan's head, killing them instantly. He was charged with homicide. During the trial, Kid Cudi stated that during his hallucination, Scott Mescudi had told him to throw the stand at the fan because they were going to shoot him with a bazooka. Kid Cudi stated that he knew he should not have thrown the microphone stand, but was fearful that the fan would shoot him. Under the irresistible impulse test, is Kid Cudi likely to be convicted of homicide?
Not likely. Under the irresistible impulse test, the defendant may have known right from wrong or knew what he was doing, however, due to mental illness, he was irresistibly compelled to do what he knew was wrong. Here, Kid Cudi is schizophrenic and was instructed by a hallucination to throw the microphone stand. While Kid Cudi may have known that he should not have thrown the microphone, his schizophrenic episode made him irresistibly compelled to throw the stand at the fan.
(IDK if this answer is right, lol its just my opinion.)
What are the common law elements for Defense of Others?
True/False: Threats made to a defendant asserting a defense of duress must be explicitly made.
False, threats can be implicitly or explicitly made to the defendant.
True/False: Under the minority rule, entrapment is a defense of justification.
False, under the minority rule, entrapment is a defense of public policy.
What is the burden of proof for defendants asserting an insanity defense in Massachusetts?
In Massachusetts, the defendant only has the burden of production. He only needs to provide a scintilla of the evidence. The government then has the burden to disprove the lack of criminal responsibility beyond a reasonable doubt.
In which of the following scenarios would someone be considered to be in duress?
1. A teenager sets fire to a woody area behind his school because his friends dared him to.
2. A taxi driver is held at gunpoint by bank robbers and is told to drive them away from a bank they just robbed.
3. A woman steals baby formula from a liquor store because she can't afford to buy some for her newborn infant.
4. A child cleans their room because their parents said they'd teach them a lesson if they didn't clean.
2. A taxi driver is held at gunpoint by bank robbers and is told to drive them away from a bank they just robbed.
Which types of defense can an accomplice piggyback off of?
Defenses of justification.
True/False: The defendant bears the burden of proof when asserting a defense of duress.
True, duress is an affirmative defense. Therefore, requiring the defendant to shoulder some burden in raising this defense is constitutionally permissible. Facts to establish the defense of duress are usually within the defendant's knowledge.
Which approach does the MPC favor?
The minority, objective approach.
What are the four approaches/concepts of Insanity? Define each.
1. M'Naughten: Due to mental illness, D did not understand the nature or qualify of his act or he could not distinguish right from wrong.
2. Irresistible Impulse: Maybe the defendant knew right from wrong or knew what he was doing, however, due to mental illness, he was irresistibly impelled to do what he knew was wrong.
3. MPC Lack of Criminal Responsibility: D lacks criminal responsibility when due to mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct OR to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.
4. Durham Product Rule: D is not guilty of his otherwise criminal act was a product of mental disease or defect.
True/False: A defense of imperfect self-defense will lead a defendant to be acquitted.
False, a defense of imperfect self-defense is when the defendant has an actual subjective belief that they are in apparent immediate danger of death or serious bodily harm from the assailant. Therefore, imperfect self-defense serves only to negate the element of malice required for a conviction of murder and will a murder offense to manslaughter.