Criminal Law Basics MCQs
Criminal Law Basics MCQs
Welcome to MCQss.com's collection of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) on Criminal Law Basics. This page is designed to test and enhance your understanding of fundamental concepts in criminal law, legal principles, and the workings of the criminal justice system.
Criminal law serves as a cornerstone of the legal system, defining and regulating behaviors that are considered criminal offenses. By engaging with these MCQs, you will have the opportunity to explore various aspects of criminal law, including the elements of a crime, criminal intent, defenses, and the criminal justice process.
The MCQs cover a wide range of topics, such as the definition of a crime, different types of criminal offenses (e.g., violent crimes, property crimes, white-collar crimes), the principles of criminal liability, and the roles of key actors within the criminal justice system (e.g., law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges).
Studying criminal law basics is essential for anyone involved in the legal field, including law students, paralegals, legal professionals, and individuals seeking a comprehensive understanding of the criminal justice system. These MCQs offer a practical and engaging way to reinforce your knowledge and explore the intricacies of criminal law.
Embark on this journey of Criminal Law Basics and challenge yourself with these MCQs to broaden your understanding of this critical area of law.
1: In criminal law, the role of mens rea is to assign to an offender ______.
A. The amount of punishment they observe
B. The level of responsibility for noncriminal acts
C. The establishment of the contours of legality
D. As a springboard for inchoate crimes
2: Demarcus while playing tag chased his friend Brian into oncoming traffic where Brian was hit by a car. Demarcus’s mens rea was ______.
A. Purposely
B. Knowingly
C. Reckless
D. Negligent
3: Glen tried to pick a pocket that was empty. Glen was charged with attempted theft. In his defense, Glen may raise which of the following defenses?
A. Chain of causation
B. Factual impossibility
C. Legal impossibility
D. Inchoate impossibility
4: Those who help committing or concealing crimes are called ______.
A. Solicitors
B. Principals
C. Accessories
D. Inchoates
5: Rafael thought about killing his neighbor, Doris. One day, Rafael backed out of his driveway without looking and ran Doris over. Rafael cannot be charged with intentional murder because of the following legal requirement is missing ______.
A. Possession as an act
B. Principle of legality
C. Scienter
D. Concurrence
6: Offenders may be found guilty simply by performing the prohibited act in what type of crime ______.
A. Transferred intent
B. Scienter
C. Strict liability
D. Principle of legality
7: Patti asked Paul if he would like to pay for sexual favors, which is the crime of solicitation, but by operation of Wharton’s Rule, Patti and Paul cannot be charged with the following crime ______.
A. Accessory before and after the fact
B. Collusion to commit prostitution
C. Attempt to commit solicitation
D. Conspiracy to commit solicitation
8: To be legally actionable for the harm caused, the proximate cause must be reasonably ______.
A. Unpredictable
B. Unknowable
C. Unplanned
D. Foreseeable
9: Possession crimes can be proven by showing the offender controlled the contraband and did not ______.
A. Enjoy his possession
B. Terminate his possession
C. Exacerbate his possession
D. Personally possess the contraband
10: The law that requires motorists involved in a car accident to stay at the scene until police arrive is an example of a(n) ______.
A. Duty by commitment
B. Duty by statute
C. Assumption of the duty
D. Duty by relationship
11: Which of the following is not legally recognized actus reus?
A. Convulsion
B. Battery
C. Assault
D. Kidnapping
12: The difference between specific and general intent is a “plus” factor that is often defined by what type of desire by the offender to bring about the specific result.
A. Negligent
B. Scienter
C. Objective
D. Subjective
13: A lesser included offense (LIO) is the more serious crime that is naturally a part of the less serious crime, for example, murder is an LIO of battery.
A. True
B. False
14: The status of being a drug addict is a crime.
A. True
B. False
15: Intent to harm someone transfers if the perpetrator misses the original target and harms a bystander.
A. True
B. False
16: _____ is known as one who helped a principal party after the commission of the crime
A. People not places
B. Places not people
C. All of these
D. Accessory after the fact
17: Is accessory before the fact one who helped a principal party plan to commit a crime but who was not present during its commission?
A. False
B. True
18: _____ is defined as a wrongful act; criminal responsibility attaches upon concurrence of actus reus with mens rea (a guilty mind)
A. None of these
B. Actus reus
C. Between consenting adults
D. Between nonconsenting adults
19: _____ is known as voluntary undertaking of a course of action on behalf of someone else, such as a bystander helping an accident victim
A. Assumption of the duty
B. All of these
C. Sentence the defendant to be executed by the state
D. Federal preemption
20: Is attempt an intent to commit a crime, or an act taken to commit the crime, without the crime having been completed?
A. False
B. True
21: _____ is those fact-specific situations that surround a crime (e.g., time of day, age of victim) that may help define the crime and its punishment
A. All of these
B. Separation of powers
C. Indeterminate
D. Attendant circumstances
22: _____ is defined as three-part test: (1) factual cause (but for?); (2) proximate cause (was the harm foreseeable?); (3) intervening cause (is there something external to the offender breaking the causal chain from the offender’s conduct to the ultimate harm?)
A. Causation
B. The lab technician could be an addict
C. None of these
D. Lab results are considered “testimony”
23: Is conspiracy an agreement by two or more people, often accompanied by an overt act, to commit a crime?
A. True
B. False
24: _____ is a set of circumstances from which a jury could infer that an offender had dominion and control over contraband, even if it was not in his physical possession
A. None of these
B. Celebrate
C. Support
D. Constructive possession
25: _____ is defined as a relationship created by contract that defines legal obligations between two or more parties, such as landlord/lessee or employer/employee
A. Motion to suppress
B. All of these
C. Impose a life without parole sentence
D. Duty by contract
26: _____ is known as a legal obligation created by family relationships defined by marriage, birth, or adoption
A. Minimizing, denying, and blaming
B. Duty by relationship
C. A calming honeymoon phase
D. None of these
27: Is duty by statute a legal obligation imposed by law (e.g., remain at the scene of an automobile accident)?
A. True
B. False
28: _____ is each part of a crime—the prohibited act(s) and the required mental state (except for strict liability crimes)—that must be proven to the jury for a finding of guilt
A. Element
B. All of these
C. Second
D. Fifth
29: _____ is defined as the underlying reason for the ultimate harm; “but for” (if not for) this initial act, the harm would not have occurred
A. Factual cause
B. The assistance of counsel
C. None of these
D. The right to self-represent
30: _____ is known as a defense based on the physical impossibility of completing the crime (e.g., it is impossible to pick an empty pocket)
A. Coercion
B. Zealous advocate
C. All of these
D. Factual impossibility
31: Is general intent the taking of action, but not necessarily to bring about a specific result?
A. False
B. True
32: _____ is laws protecting medical workers from personal injury lawsuits when they assist an injured person
A. Overwhelming sense of fear
B. Good Samaritan laws
C. Immediate physical threat
D. None of these
33: _____ is defined as incomplete crimes; attempt, solicitation, conspiracy
A. Embezzlement
B. Inchoate crimes
C. All of these
D. Larceny
34: _____ is known as an independent event that breaks the causal chain between the initial offender’s actions and the ultimate harm suffered
A. All of these
B. Intervening cause
C. A compelling interest
D. The City’s health code
35: Is knowingly mens rea state in which the actor takes certain actions not necessarily to bring about the desired result but with the substantial certainty that such a result will occur?
A. True
B. False
36: _____ is actions that do not constitute a crime under the law
A. The scienter for theft
B. All of these
C. Absolute immunity
D. Legal impossibility
37: _____ is defined as a less serious offense that is included in the charge of a more serious offense (e.g., battery is subsumed under murder)
A. Show-up
B. Reasonable suspicion
C. All of these
D. Lesser included offense
38: _____ is known as a guilty mind; purposefully, knowingly, recklessly, negligently
A. None of these
B. Places not people
C. Mens rea
D. People not places
39: Is merger the combination of lesser offenses into a more serious crime on conviction for the more serious offense (e.g., battery merges into attempted murder)?
A. True
B. False
40: _____ is describes actions that deviate from the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise
A. None of these
B. Charge conference
C. Sentence the defendant to life without parole
D. Negligently
41: _____ is defined as not a basis for criminal liability (e.g., alcoholic)
A. Illegitimate financial gains
B. Illegitimate public goals
C. Personal status
D. None of these
42: _____ is known as the primary criminal actor who orchestrated and committed the crime
A. Invading privacy of information
B. Principal to the crime
C. None of these
D. Enticing financial cybercrimes
43: Is principle of legality government notice of what conduct is criminal by enacting criminal laws?
A. True
B. False
44: _____ is an act from which the harm suffered was a reasonably foreseeable consequence
A. Duration of the suspect’s detention
B. Proximate cause
C. Physical location of the questioning
D. All of these
45: _____ is defined as having a specific intent or a desire to cause a specific result
A. None of these
B. The right to libel and slander
C. Petition the government for redress
D. Purposely
46: _____ is known as manner whereby an actor consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk of harm that his behavior creates; the actor knows of the risk of harm and ignores it
A. Since the case was solved in 2014
B. All of these
C. Recklessly
D. Since the country was founded
47: Is scienter knowledge that an offender must possess to be held criminally responsible for some crimes?
A. True
B. False
48: _____ is the procurement of others to commit a crime. The crime of solicitation is complete when one person entices another to commit a crime, regardless of whether the crime is completed.
A. None of these
B. Solicitation
C. Exculpatory
D. Duality
49: _____ is defined as the intent to bring about a desired result
A. All of these
B. Circumstantial evidence
C. Specific intent
D. Delimit
50: _____ is known as no mens rea required to be punished; guilt attaches when the act is committed
A. A subpoena
B. All of these
C. Strict liability
D. The judge
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Criminal Law Basics MCQs
