Criminal Law (U.S.) MCQ Questions Answers

1. ________ describes the order of authority within a police department.

2. A police initiated arrest is called a ________ arrest.

3. The younger a juvenile is when first charged with a violent crime, __________.

4. Conspiracy means ____ committing a criminal act.

5. In many states, ________ principles are used to interpret many legal issues.

6. Generally, bloodstain diameter ________ as height increases.

7. Two recent periods of large-scale bureaucratic expansion were ________.

8. In rochin v. california, the supreme court ruled that the suspect could not be tried because _____.

9. When taking medication, you should always __________.

10. Under negligence, a person is liable only for ________ events.

11. Grand juries in texas are composed of __________ members.

12. A(n) _____ contract is stated in oral or written words.

13. In a unilateral contract, the consideration for a promise is ______.

14. The citizens of ________ are most likely to participate as campaign volunteers during an election.

15. The average winning margin in house elections is ________ percent.

16. The alien and sedition acts likely violated the constitution's prohibitions against __________.

17. The ________ party originated from internal mobilization.

18. The ______ rule forbids the introduction in trial of any piece of evidence obtained illegally.

19. Commercial speech is an example of _____ speech.

20. The most cited reason why rape victims do not report crimes is ________.

21. Criminal liability is the degree of ________ assigned to a defendant by a criminal court.

22. Reserved powers are given to the ________ by the constitution.

23. Courts of general jurisdiction are also known as ______ courts.

24. _____ is defined as type of weapon that can cause substantial harm and death; may be chemical, radiological, or nuclear weapon.

25. _____ is crime of betraying one’s country by providing damaging, classified government information to enemies of the country. It is the only crime explicitly referenced in the U.S. Constitution.

26. Is terrorism intentional actions taken by an individual or group, with the objective of destabilizing a government or political action, typically through the creation of fear and violence?

27. _____ is known as crimes that involve either wrongdoing by public officials (e.g., bribery) or crimes committed against the state (e.g., espionage).

28. _____ is defined as case involving U.S. citizen who while employed as a contractor for the National Security Agency, downloaded and disseminated thousands of classified documents to news agencies, revealing C.I.A.’s wide-spread surveillance of U.S. citizens.

29. _____ is federal Act passed in 1940 that banned teaching and advocacy designed to cause the overthrow of the U.S. government.

30. Is sedition common law offense that prohibits teaching or advocating the overthrow of government?

31. _____ is known as the offense of lying while under oath.

32. _____ is defined as criminal offense that involves the intentional disruption of the effective operation of the justice system. It may involve interfering with the work of law enforcement officers, prosecutors, or judicial officials.

33. _____ is criminal actions designed to cause widespread harm, destruction, and fear that take place primarily outside of the United States.

34. Is espionage a serious federal offense involving spying against one’s country?

35. _____ is known as criminal actions designed to cause widespread harm, destruction, and fear that take place primarily within the United States.

36. _____ is defined as an offense by a public official, such as a judge, police officer, or elected official, which involves a violation of the public trust. Examples include the offenses of bribery, perjury, and official misconduct.

37. _____ is when someone attempts to persuade a public official to make a favorable decision in exchange for a gift, money, or other favor.

38. Is victim impact statement federal and state rules that A statement prepared by a crime victim that is submitted to a judge before he sentences the defendant. In this statement, the victim may share her feelings about the case, including the pain and suffering the crime caused her and her family, her anger toward the offender, and the punishment she believes the court should impose?

39. Is sentencing guidelines federal and state rules that determine the factors that will impact the sentencing calculation?

40. _____ is known as rationale for punishment, premised on belief that in order for society to heal from an offense, the offender must be punished.

41. _____ is defined as an approach to punishment that requires that the offender and victim have a direct conversation and input in the case resolution, including the appropriate punishment for the crime, with an eye toward victim healing and justice.

42. _____ is offender payment to crime victim, for example, replacement cost of stolen items.

43. Is rehabilitation approach to punishment that seeks to identify causes of offending and implement programmatic solutions, such as counseling, job training, and education?

44. _____ is known as punishment that involves a public announcement of an offender’s crime, such as requiring a thief to wear a sign that reads, “I’m a thief.”

45. _____ is defined as sentence offender completes without serving time in prison or jail, often accompanied by conditions such as community service, reporting to a probation officer, and obeying the law. Offender may avoid prison so long as she does not violate conditions of parole.

46. _____ is a penal institution that confines individuals as punishment for a criminal conviction.

47. Is parole the early release of a prisoner granted by a state board for good behavior during incarceration. Prisoners granted parole remain under the supervision of state officials and must abide by certain conditions. If any conditions are violated, parole may be revoked and the offender will be returned to prison?

48. Is mandatory minimums state and federal sentencing schemes that impose a minimum length of prison time an offender is required to serve. Limits judicial discretion?

49. _____ is known as a correctional facility, run by a city or county, where people are typically held following an arrest and prior to trial.

50. _____ is defined as punishments, prohibitions, and limitations that are triggered by a felony conviction but are not part of the official punishment imposed by the justice system. Examples include restrictions on voting, employment, education, and housing.

51. _____ is sentencing scheme that allows criminal justice officers to exercise discretion in determining the length of an offender’s sentence.

52. Is incarceration punishment following a conviction that requires that the offender to serve time in prison or jail?

53. _____ is known as a rationale for criminal punishment that focuses on placing offenders behind bars so that they cannot more commit crime.

54. _____ is defined as punishment, typically combined with electronic monitoring, that requires the offender to stay within specific geographical confines, for a specified period of time.

55. _____ is punishment for criminal conviction that requires an offender to pay a fee to the state.

56. Is federal crack cocaine law law passed in 1986 punished the possession and sale of crack cocaine 100 times more severely that the possession and sale of powder cocaine. In 2010, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reduced this disparity from 100:1 to 18:1?

57. _____ is defined as u.S. constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment for someone convicted of a crime.

58. _____ is a rationale for criminal punishment premised on belief that people are discouraged from committing crime because they are punished or because they observe that other people who commit crime are punished.

59. Is determinate sentencing a sentencing system that applies strict guidelines to determine which sentence shall apply in a particular case, with the goal of achieving uniformity across cases?

60. _____ is known as when a person who has been convicted of a crime is subject to oversight by a state or federal corrections agency, including jail, prison, probation, or parole.

61. _____ is defined as the imposition of the death penalty as punishment for the commission of certain crimes, most often for various forms of murder.

62. _____ is a requirement that an offender move from a particular geographical area as punishment for a crime.

63. Is voluntary intoxication a defense that involves the defendant voluntarily ingesting alcohol or some mind-altering drug and claiming that he could not formulate the required mens rea for the crime. It is rarely permitted as a defense, but states that do allow the defense permit it only in cases involving specific intent crimes?

64. Is syndrome defenses defenses that involve the defendant claiming that he should not be held criminally responsible because he was suffering from some recognized condition that prohibited him from either controlling his behavior or forming the requisite mens rea for the specific crime. Syndrome defenses are usually partial defenses?

65. _____ is known as an insanity test in which the defendant is not held criminally responsible for his acts if his unlawful act was the product of mental disease or defect.

66. _____ is defined as a group of symptoms that some women experience one to two weeks before their menstrual cycles. When used as a defense, the defendant claims that she should not be held liable because she was suffering from PMS at the time of the offense.

67. _____ is a syndrome involving the defendant having seen or experienced some frightening or stressful event that causes him to relive that event through flashbacks and/or nightmares.

68. Is partial defenses defenses that result in a conviction of a less serious offense rather than a total acquittal?

69. _____ is known as an insanity test in which the defendant has to prove that, at the time of the act, he was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as to not know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know what he was doing was wrong.

70. _____ is defined as a special court for juveniles that focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment.

71. _____ is an insanity test that involves a defendant who can tell right from wrong but cannot control his actions because of mental illness.

72. Is involuntary intoxication a defense involving the claim that the defendant should not be held criminally liable because his criminal acts were caused by his unknowing consumption of food or drink that contained alcohol or some intoxicating drug?

73. _____ is known as a defense involving the claim that the defendant should not be held responsible for his criminal acts because he acted as a result of a mental disease or defect.

74. _____ is defined as a common law defense that presumes persons between the ages of 7 and 14 are incapable of committing a crime but permits the state to rebut that presumption by presenting evidence to prove otherwise.

75. _____ is a verdict permitted in some states after the presentation of an insanity defense. It involves the defendant being found criminally responsible for the crime but being given the opportunity to receive treatment for his mental illness, either in a prison setting or in a mental health facility.

76. Is cultural defenses defenses that involve the defendant presenting evidence of his cultural background or beliefs to demonstrate that he lacked the required mens rea for a particular offense. At best, these defenses usually result in a conviction on a lesser offense rather than a total acquittal?

77. Is competency a term that refers to the defendant’s mental condition at the time of the court proceedings, not at the time of the offense. A defendant is not competent and may not stand trial if he is suffering from a mental disability that prohibits him from understanding the proceedings or assisting in his defense?

78. _____ is a two-part trial used in insanity cases in some states that involves a criminal trial with the government assuming the burden of proof in the first part of the trial. If the defendant is found guilty, the defendant assumes the burden of proving insanity in the second part of the trial.

79. Is american Law Institute Model Penal Code test the insanity test that finds a defendant not criminally responsible for his acts if, at the time he committed the acts and as a result of a mental disease or defect, he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law?

80. _____ is known as this case comes before us on appeal by the defendant, James Beeley (Beeley), from a Superior Court jury conviction of breaking and entering . . . and simple assault . . . In this appeal, Beeley avers that the trial justice erred in denying his motions requesting judgment of acquittal and a new trial. We sustain the appeal.

81. _____ is defined as self-defense laws that permit a person to defend himself against a threat using a proportionate amount of force without retreating, even if he could do so safely.

82. _____ is a defense that permits a person to use a reasonable amount of force, even deadly force, to protect himself against the threat of bodily harm. The threat must be imminent and the amount of force used must be proportionate to the threat.

83. Is necessity a defense (also called “choice of evils”) that involves a person claiming that he committed what would otherwise be considered a crime, because acting lawfully under the circumstances would have caused greater harm?

84. _____ is known as a defense that permits police officers and private citizens to use a reasonable amount of force under the circumstances to prevent a crime.

85. _____ is defined as defenses that involve the claim that the defendant should not be held criminally liable because his actions were legally justified under the circumstances.

86. _____ is defenses that involve the claim that the defendant should not be held responsible for his actions because of some circumstance (such as a disease or condition) that prevented him from acting lawfully.

87. Is elements defense a defense that involves challenging the state’s evidence through cross-examination and arguing that the state has not met its burden of proving every element beyond a reasonable doubt. A defendant usually presents this defense, either alone or with an affirmative defense?

88. Is duty to retreat a doctrine in many states that requires a person to retreat from a threat and avoid using force, especially deadly force, if he can do so safely?

89. _____ is known as a defense that involves a person claiming that he committed a criminal act because someone was threatening to seriously injure or kill him if he did not commit that act.

90. _____ is defined as a defense that permits the use of a reasonable amount of force under the circumstances to prevent property from being taken or even to take property back. Deadly force may never be used to protect property.

91. _____ is a defense that permits an individual to lawfully use force in defense of another person.

92. Is defense of habitation a defense that permit the use of deadly force to protect a home or dwelling. Unlike self-defense, the threat need not be imminent or proportionate?

93. _____ is known as a condition suffered by many women who are in abusive relationships. After enduring repeated, unpredictable beatings, these women develop a belief that it would be hopeless to try to escape their situation and remain in the relationships.

94. _____ is defined as a defense involving the defendant presenting evidence in support of a particular defense after the prosecution has rested its case.

95. _____ is an act done consciously and willingly, as opposed to actions taken while a person is unconscious (for example, during a seizure or reflexive act).

96. Is second degree unintentional murder an unintentional killing done with extreme recklessness, also known as “depraved heart” murder. The actor does not intend to kill, but he knows that his actions will create a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death or serious injury?

97. _____ is known as an intentional killing done with malice but without premeditation or deliberation.

98. _____ is defined as an element of voluntary manslaughter. Provocation is behavior by the victim that incites the killer, causing him to kill in the heat of passion.

99. _____ is thinking about a killing ahead of time, turning it over in one’s mind and making a choice to kill.

100. Is murder the killing of a human being with malice aforethought?