Blog

Mickey Spillane intends to kill Mike Hammer. He pulls out his gun (which he believes to be a .357 Magnum), aims it at Hammer, and says, “Prepare to die!” A paper banner reading “bang” pops out and Mickey treats the whole incident as a practical joke, even though he wonders what actually happened to his gun. In a common law jurisdiction, is Mickey guilty of attempted murder?

To what extent has managed care been successful in containing health care costs?

Why do you think the Clinton health reform failed but the Obama health reform succeeded?

A common law jurisdiction defines the crime of extortion as follows: “A public official is guilty of extortion for corruptly receiving an unauthorized fee under color of office.”  Which one of the following statements is not true?

Dave suggested to Fred that they rob a bank. Fred agreed and said that he would go along with Dave when he tries to rob the bank. Unbeknownst to Dave, Fred did not actually want to rob the bank. Rather, he was a member of a terrorist group who wanted to explode a hand grenade in a public place as an act of terror. When Dave asked him to participate in the bank robbery, Fred saw an opportunity to fulfill his goal while having Dave along as an unwitting armed backup. The next day, Dave and Fred approached the bank carrying handguns. Fred also had a hand grenade in his jacket pocket that Dave did not know about. Just as they walked in the bank’s front door with their guns drawn, to Dave’s astonishment, Fred removed the grenade from his pocket, pulled the pin, and threw the grenade into the bank. Both Dave and Fred immediately ran out of the bank. The explosion from the grenade damaged the bank, but did not hurt anyone. Which of the following is the most correct statement about Dave’s criminal liability for attempted bank robbery in a common law jurisdiction?

FACT PATTERN (next 5 questions)A asks B for his help in robbing the FDIC-insured U.R. Safe National Bank.  B agrees to help A rob the bank, and procures guns for each of them, giving A the better of the two guns since A is to be the one who scares the bank customers and employees into compliance with their orders.  Despite the fact that they mutually agreed to arm themselves, they promised each other that should things go wrong, they would surrender rather than kill anyone.  As planned, upon entering the bank, A keeps all the customers and bank employees at bay while B goes into the bank vault with the bank manager to get the loot.  While in the vault, however, B rapes the bank manager.  An off duty security guard comes in from the security entrance to the bank, and hears the bank manager screaming.  He goes into the vault, and witnesses B committing the rape.  B shoots and kills the guard.  A runs in, sees what B has done, turns his gun on B, and says, “Damn it.  Let the woman go.  Drop your gun.”  A then instructed one of the bank employees to call the police.  A kept B at gunpoint while all waited for the police to arrive. A may be properly convicted of solicitation to commit bank robbery. 

Louis was pulled over by Officer Smith for failing to signal when changing lanes.  Because this is such a minor offense, Louis assumed he was pulled over because he had a bumper sticker on his car that read “KAP:– Kill All Police.” KAP was a radical organization dedicated to the eradication of police forces everywhere.  When an additional police squad car pulled up, Louis was convinced it was a setup.  Although unarmed, he swung his fist at Officer Smith, striking the officer in the jaw.  Another officer, Officer Jones, saw this, and immediately drew his pistol and shot Louis in the stomach.  Louis then seized Officer Smith’s gun and shot at Officer Jones.  Louis missed, however, and killed an innocent bystander. Louis committed either a battery or aggravated battery against Officer Smith, depending on the grading of the offense in the jurisdiction.

Dr. Connelly, a physician, had sexual intercourse with one of his female patients while in his medical office.  At the time, the patient was legally married to another man. If the patient’s husband found out that Dr. Connelly had sexual intercourse with his wife, got his gun, brought it to Dr. Connelly’s office, and fired upon the doctor at point-blank range thereby killing Dr. Connelly, his best chance at a total acquittal on all potential homicide charges would be:

The dock area around Port Nasty is a rough part of town.  The taverns at the docks are considered pretty dangerous places that cater to ruffians.  Accordingly, locals who are not involved in waterfront activities pretty much avoid these bars.  But, one night during a “beer bust,” a local fraternity visited The Anchor Inn, one of the waterfront taverns.  Karl Heinz, a German seaman, was sitting at the bar watching an international soccer game.  He ordered a Heineken.  Billy Thompson, one of the fraternity guys, heard Heinz’s German accent when ordering the German beer.  He then began making insulting comments about foreigners, paying particular attention to making derogatory comments about Germans.  Upon receiving no reaction from Heinz (who was fluent in English), Thompson sat down at the bar right next to Heinz and said, “You have a lot of nerve, coming over here and drinking your foreign beer in an All-American bar.”  At that, Heinz threw a punch at Thompson’s jaw that knocked Thompson clear to the floor.  Heinz then turned around, ordered another Heineken, and resumed watching the soccer game on the television.  Thompson then reached into his pocket, pulled-out and opened a pocket knife, and charged at Heinz.  The bartender, seeing Thompson’s charging at Heinz, yelled, “Look out!”  Heinz tried to dodge, but he was cut on the forearm by Thompson’s knife.  Heinz immediately drew a small caliber gun and shot Thompson, killing him.  If Heinz is tried for murder, which of the following facts would be the least helpful to his defense?

Roscoe, Eric, and Joey all agreed to hold-up a newsstand.  Roscoe waited in the car on the corner while Eric and Joey approached the stand with knives drawn.  Unbeknown to the three, the newsstand they targeted was owned by a police officer who staffed the stand when he was not on duty.  The off-duty officer at the newsstand gave Eric and Joey all the money in his possession, a sum of approximately $23. But as soon as Eric and Joey turned away, though, the officer reached for a gun, aimed at Eric and Joey, and yelled, “I am a cop. Freeze or I’ll shoot.”  Both men kept running.  The officer fired at them several times.  He intended only to wound them, but instead killed Eric.  Meanwhile, Roscoe had long since become frightened and had fled the scene with the car. Roscoe was later apprehended.  He plans to plead insanity.  In a state that uses the M’Naghten test, what would be the most promising way for Roscoe to frame his plea?