Reference no: EM133301428

Questions

1. You are a former governor with a penchant for hunting moose. Unbeknownst to you, someone gets your neighbor very drunk, ties moose antlers to his head, and places him on your property. It is dark; you see antlers and think, DINNER! You fire wounding the man before you realize your prey is not quite as tasty as you thought. What defense could you use?

2. You own a store. A robber enters the store, e draws a gun, and demands cash. He looks away for a moment. You pull your gun out from under the counter. Would you be justified in shooting him now?

a. If instead of shooting him at that point, you tell him to drop his weapon and he makes a move that you interpret as preparing to fire, would you be justified in shooting him now?

b. If instead of him making a move to shoot, he turns to run out the door, would you be justified in shooting him now?

3. You ask a co-worker to borrow his truck to move some items on the weekend. You have never been to his house. He says he will call and give you all the details. He leaves a message on your answering machine with directions, the address, and says the keys will be under the floor mat. Unfortunately, the message with the return phone number and the address is slightly garbled. You persevere. You go to the address you think is correct, go in the garage, and find a truck. It is unlocked, the keys are under the floor mat, and off you go. A few minutes later, a policeman pulls you over and charges you with auto theft. What defense could you use?

4. This chapter briefly described how consent may be a defense to some criminal charges, such as an allegation of rape. But in the United States, there are very few instances in which the victim's request to become a victim (i.e., consent to be harmed) will operate as a valid defense. Consider the following example and determine whether you believe consent should be a valid defense: An individual responds to an online invitation to be killed, dismembered, and cannibalized. The gruesome event is videotaped so that authorities have a clear record of both the consent and the specific acts. Should consent be a defense to charges of murder?

5. You find out your girlfriend is pregnant. Embarrassed, you both agree to keep it secret, give birth, abandon the baby, but call the police so it can be adopted. She gives birth in a hotel room. You follow the plan and call the police. By the time the police arrive the baby is dead. They track you both down, separate you, and begin questioning you. You are distraught and tell the whole story. After a break, a policeman comes in and says your partner has accused you of murdering the child. But the policeman says, he thinks, she really did it and if you testify against her, he can get the judge to go easy on you. Meanwhile, your girlfriend has heard a story that is the mirror image. Have the police entrapped either of you?

6. You wake up one morning with a dead body next to you and blood all over the place. You had been drinking the night before, but didn't think you had that much. Since you don't remember murdering anyone, could you use the intoxication defense? What if you found out someone slipped a drug into your drink during the evening, what type of intoxication defense would you use then?

7. You are an attorney who has a client accused of killing his wife's lover after catching them in the act. The prosecution has presented no evidence of premeditation or that your client knew of the relationship prior to the day of the killing. What capacity defense can you use?