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CHAPTER 6
Question 6–1: Moments after their college football team won a prestigious New Year’s Day bowl game, Arlen and
Woody pushed an old, dilapidated couch into the street in front of their apartment building and set it on fire.
Hundreds of other college students poured into the streets, many of them chanting and yelling and screaming
near or around the flaming couch.
As the flames began to spread from the couch to other trash littering the street, the fire department and the police
arrived at the scene. The firemen extinguished the burning flames, and the police officers arrested a number of
college students who were in the street, chanting around the burning couch.
Arlen and Woody were among those arrested and they were charged with the criminal offense of arson
endangering property. Both of them quickly hired criminal defense counsel who negotiated a plea agreement with
the prosecutor’s office, resulting in pleas of guilty by both Arlen and Woody to the lesser offense of disorderly
conduct.
Ellie and Miranda were also arrested at the scene as both were standing right next to the burning couch when the
police arrived. They were each charged with being accessories to the crime of arson endangering property.
Although each of them has also been offered the chance to plead guilty to the lesser offense of disorderly
conduct, they claim that they did nothing wrong and have declined to consider any plea agreement. Which of the
following is most accurate:
(a) Ellie and Miranda were complicit in the crime of arson endangering property.
(b) Ellie and Miranda were not complicit in the crime of arson endangering property because there is no proof
that they intended to assist another person in committing a crime.
(c) Ellie and Miranda were not complicit in the crime of arson endangering property because there is no proof that
they actively assisted another person in committing a crime.
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(d) Answers (b) and (c) are correct, and answer (a) is incorrect.
Question 6–2: Darius, an undercover agent in his 20’s working in plain clothes for the local police force, was trying
to identify the major narcotics sellers in a high-crime area of the city. He hung out for a few weeks outside a
check-cashing store where a lot of other young, unemployed males roughly his age hung out and began to
befriend them.
Eventually, he asked some of the young men he had met where he could get an “eight ball” (meaning, in that
setting, one-eighth of an ounce of crack cocaine). Reluctant at first to talk to him about it, eventually one of the
young men, Ernesto, told him that he should probably stop by and see DeJuan, who lived three blocks away “in
the gray house on Dinwiddie Street.”
Darius contacted DeJuan and made three different controlled buys of crack cocaine from him. Subsequently,
DeJuan was arrested for sale of narcotics and Ernesto was also arrested as an accomplice in those sales. Which
of the following is most accurate:
(a) Ernesto was complicit in the crime of sale of cocaine.
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(b) Ernesto was not complicit in the crime of arson endangering property because there is no proof that he
intended to assist DeJuan in selling cocaine.
(c) Ernesto was not complicit in the crime of arson endangering property because there is no proof that he
actively assisted DeJuan in selling cocaine.
(d) Answers (b) and (c) are correct, and answer (a) is incorrect.
The following facts apply to Questions 6–3 and 6–4 below:
Kailee and Diem were both accused of shoplifting. They were each arrested when a department store detective
watched the two of them together looking at scarves, and then saw Diem put a Hermes scarf in her purse while
Kailee simply looked around to see if anyone was watching them.
Question 6–3: Diem was tried first and after a three-hour trial, she was acquitted by a jury. Kailee’s defense
attorney has now moved to dismiss the charges against Kailee due to the prior acquittal of Diem, arguing that
since a jury has concluded that no crime was committed, Kailee cannot be tried or convicted for a crime that did
not occur.
Is this a good defense? Assuming that this jurisdiction follows the approach to complicity followed by a majority
of U.S. jurisdictions, which of the following is most accurate:
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(a) This is a good defense for Kailee because Diem was acquitted, hence a jury determined that no crime was
committed.
(b) This is not a good defense for Kailee because her culpability does not depend on Diem’s culpability.
(c) This is a good defense for Kailee because she did not actually take the scarf.
(d) Answers (a) and (c) are correct, and answer (b) is incorrect.
Question 6–4: Kailee was charged with aiding and abetting Diem in the act of shoplifting. Which of the following is
most accurate:
(a) Kailee was complicit in the crime of shoplifting.
(b) Kailee was not complicit in the crime of shoplifting because there is no proof that she intended to assist Diem
in committing the crime.
(c) Kailee was not complicit in the crime of shoplifting because there is no proof that she actively assisted Diem
in committing the crime.
(d) Answers (b) and (c) are correct, and answer (a) is incorrect.
Question 6–5: Vinny runs a pawn shop. He has been arrested as an accomplice in the burglary of three different
residences after the police discovered a number of items stolen from those homes for sale in his store.
Vinny has admitted that when he purchased these items very cheaply from someone he had never met before, he
suspected that they may have been stolen. But he did not know that for sure. He claims not to have known
anything about the burglaries in question.
If Vinny is telling the truth, is he an accomplice in these burglaries? Which of the following is most accurate:
(a) Vinny was complicit in these three burglaries.
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(b) Vinny was not complicit in these burglaries because there is no proof that he intended to assist the burglars in
committing the crimes.
(c) Vinny was not complicit in these burglaries because there is no proof that he actively assisted the burglars in
committing the crimes.
(d) Answers (b) and (c) are correct, and answer (a) is incorrect.
Question 6–6: Claire agreed to work as a “lookout” for Eddie, a marijuana salesman. Claire’s job was simply to sit
on the front stoop of the building where Eddie sold his wares. If she saw a police officer or someone who
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looked like he or she might be an undercover officer coming near the building, she was to bang on a garbage can
lid to alert Eddie inside of the possible danger to him.
Claire did not do a very good job as a lookout. She saw nothing suspicious about the undercover agent who
came to the door, went inside, bought marijuana from Eddie, and then arrested him. As a result, she did not bang
on the garbage can lid. She did nothing.
Is Claire an accomplice in Eddie’s sale of marijuana? Which of the following is most accurate:
(a) Claire was not an accomplice in Eddie’s sale of marijuana because there is no proof that she intended to
assist him in making these sales.
(b) Claire was not an accomplice in Eddie’s sale of marijuana because there is no proof that she actively assisted
him in making these sales.
(c) Claire was an accomplice in Eddie’s sale of marijuana.
(d) Answers (a) and (b) are correct, and answer (c) is incorrect.
The following facts apply to Questions 6–7 and 6–8 below:
David was recruited by some of his friends to take part in a bank robbery. Each of the five young men who
became involved in the bank robbery plot was assigned a specific role to prepare for it. David’s job prior to the
robbery was to scout the scene of the crime and to prepare an accurate drawing of where all of the bank
employees, including the guards, were likely to be sitting or standing on the Tuesday morning when the robbery
was planned to take place. On the day of the robbery, David’s assigned job was to stay in the car during the
robbery and serve as a getaway driver.
David visited the bank half a dozen times in order to figure out where all of the employees were likely to be. He
then put together on his computer a detailed drawing of their likely positions. The other four would-be bank
robbers had different preparatory tasks, and all of them accomplished their assigned jobs and began meeting to
do the actual planning.
Two weeks before the bank robbery was to take place, David began regretting his decision to get involved in the
robbery. As a result, he told the others that he was no longer going to be a part of the crime. Although reluctant at
first to let him leave the group, the rest ultimately agreed when he swore that he would not tell anyone what the
group was up to. The remaining four robbers found another friend to join the group as the getaway driver and the
bank robbery went on just as planned. The group got away with over $24,000 in cash.
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Unfortunately for the new group of robbers, however, their identity was ultimately discovered. They were all
arrested and charged with the crime of bank robbery. One of the robbers decided to plead guilty and cooperate
with the government in exchange for a lesser charge, and that robber informed the authorities of David’s earlier
role in the plot. David has now been charged as an accomplice to bank robbery.
Question 6–7: Without regard to any defense he may have due to his withdrawal from the planning ( see Question
6–8), was David an accomplice to the bank robbery that took place without him? Which of the following is most
accurate:
(a) David was not an accomplice in the bank robbery because there is no proof that he intended to assist the
others in committing this crime.
(b) David was not an accomplice in the bank robbery because there is no proof that he actively assisted the
others in committing this crime.
(c) David was an accomplice in the bank robbery.
(d) Answers (a) and (b) are correct, and answer (c) is incorrect.
Question 6–8: David’s criminal defense counsel argues that even if he was at one time planning to be an
accomplice in this bank robbery, he was nonetheless not guilty when the crime actually occurred as he had
withdrawn from the robbery plan and did not participate in it. Withdrawal from or renunciation of a criminal plan is
recognized as a good defense for an accused in this jurisdiction under the conditions set forth in the Model Penal
Code. Is this a good defense in this case for David? Which of the following is true:
(a) This is a good defense for David in these circumstances.
(b) This is not a good defense for David in these circumstances because his withdrawal was not voluntary.
(c) This is not a good defense for David in these circumstances because his withdrawal was not complete.
(d) None of the above.
The following facts apply to Questions 6–9 and 6–10 below:
Diane agreed to help her daughter, Megan, steal coins from parking meters. Diane would “stuff” the coin slots of
forty or fifty meters so that coins inserted in the slots in those meters would stay flush with the slot and not fall
into a catchment area lower in the meter. Then, a few hours later, after motorists had inserted a number of coins
into these “stuffed
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meters,” Megan would show up and hook and pull the coins out with bent paperclips. She could remove the
coins from a meter in this fashion in less than ten seconds. Diane and Megan shared the proceeds that they
obtained by stealing from these meters.
One afternoon, however, when Megan was retrieving coins from one of the stuffed meters, a motorist returning to
his motorcycle, Bruce, noticed what she was doing and yelled at her to stop, that he was calling the police.
Megan responded, “no, you don’t,” and ran straight at Bruce and hit him on the head with her bag of coins stolen
from prior stuffed meters. The blow to the head knocked Bruce unconscious, although he recovered fully—other
than bruising and a headache—after he regained consciousness.
Question 6–9: Diane and Megan have been arrested and charged with the assault on Bruce. Megan has pleaded
guilty to this charge in exchange for the prosecutor’s agreement to recommend to the sentencing judge that she
receive a suspended sentence. Megan also agreed to reimburse the Parking Authority for all of the money that
she and Diane stole from the parking meters, and to testify against Diane at Diane’s trial for assault.
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Diane claims that she had nothing at all to do with the Megan’s assault on Bruce and wasn’t even present at the
scene when the assault occurred. Is this a good defense for Diane? Which of the following is most accurate:
(a) Diane was not an accomplice in the assault because there is no proof that she intended to assist Megan in
committing this crime.
(b) Diane was not an accomplice in the assault because there is no proof that she actively assisted Megan in
committing this crime.
(c) Diane is guilty of the assault as an accomplice.
(d) Answers (a) and (b) are correct, and answer (c) is incorrect.
Question 6–10: Diane has been charged with the theft of parking meter coins. Megan was not charged with this
crime as part of the same plea agreement outlined above in Question 6–9, as a result of which she pled guilty to
the assault on Bruce. Which of the following is most accurate:
(a) Diane was not an accomplice in the theft because there is no proof that she intended to assist Megan in
committing this crime.
(b) Diane is guilty of the theft as an accomplice.
(c) Diane was not an accomplice in the theft because there is no proof that she was ever present at the scene
when the coins were stolen.
(d) Answers (a) and (c) are correct, and answer (b) is incorrect.
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