BROOKLYN LAW SCHOOL
CRIMINAL LAW FINAL EXAMINATION
FALL 2012
PROFESSOR CAPERS
LENGTH: 3 HOURS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Instructions:
1. This is closed-book examination. You may not bring any materials into the exam.
2. This exam consists of 30 multiple choice questions (worth 30 points), and three essay
questions (worth 40 points, 10 points, and 20 points, respectively). You should plan
your time accordingly.
3. For the multiple choice questions, do not assume the existence of facts that are not
stated in the fact pattern that you are provided. Select the best answer to the question.
4. For the essay questions, read carefully and organize your answers before you begin to
write. Organization is more important than length. If there are cases that support
your position, cite them.
GOOD LUCK!
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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
(30 Points)
[Redacted]
2
PART II
Essay Question Instructions
THERE ARE THREE ESSAY QUESTIONS. The first has two parts, worth 30 points
and 10 points respectively, for a total of 40 points. The second essay question is worth 10 points.
The third essay question is worth 20 points. Read each essay question fact pattern thoroughly
before forming your answer. Because your time is limited, you should state the issues you are
considering as precisely as you can. Only discuss issues fairly raised by the given facts.
Where appropriate, discuss the likely resolution of disputed points, and the consequences
of that resolution for the argument. Your objective should be to display reasoning, not bare
conclusion, in the context of the issues raised by the given facts.
Do not restate facts, but refer to relevant facts in the course of stating and analyzing the
issues you have identified. If more facts are needed to resolve an issue raised by the given facts,
state what you would need to know and how it would affect the outcome. Similarly, if further
research is needed, state what you would need to know.
There is no page limit. If you are writing your exam by hand, please write legibly
and on only one side of the bluebook pages. And again, time is limited.
Applicable Law: Assume you are in a jurisdiction that follows the traditional
common law rules we have discussed in class with respect to homicide, with respect to
justification and excuse defenses, and with respect to inchoate crimes (i.e., criminal
facilitation, solicitation, conspiracy, attempt) and with respect to accomplice liability.
However, assume the jurisdiction follows the MPC rules with respect to withdrawing from
a conspiracy and terminating complicity. Assume the jurisdiction follows the proximate
cause rule with respect to felony murder. Finally, assume that a fetus is not a person under
the penal code of your jurisdiction.
Finally, ORGANIZE YOUR ANSWER BY CRIMINAL DEFENDANT IN
ALPHABETICAL ORDER, I.E.:
Angela: [discussion]
Bobbi: [discussion]
Etc.
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ESSAY QUESTION I
DEATH
(Part One, 30 points)
(Part Two, 10 points)
“You can handle another case, right?” your supervisor asks. She doesn’t wait for you to
answer. “Two women waving semi-automatic guns tried to rob Union Bank about a half-hour
ago. A teller was just about to stuff cash into their bags when one of the bank security guards
got overzealous and started firing. Anyway, to make a long story short, the security guard hits
one of the bank customers, a pregnant woman. She’s on life support at the hospital now, but it
looks like she’ll make it. Anyway, in all the confusion, another customer tackles one of the bank
robbers, and the other bank robber gets away. The one in custody has a lawyer and seems
willing to talk. Detective Burke’s going to be working with you on this one. He should be up
here in a minute. The two of you can debrief the robber in custody (Robber # 1).”
A few minutes later, you and Detective Burke enter the “debriefing room.” Sitting at the
table, looking rather forlorn, is Angela (Robber # 1). Next to her is her attorney. It’s Angela
who speaks first. “Look. I’ve already been read my Miranda rights. I’m ready to talk. But on
one condition. I’m not going down for shooting that pregnant woman. That was all that stupid
security guard’s fault. You understand?”
You explain that you can’t make any promises, and that she’s in no position to make
demands, and that if she wants to help herself, she better start singing like a canary.
“You think I was born yesterday. I want some kinda guarantee. Never mind. Whatever.
I’ll tell you everything. I’m sick of this whole thing. So listen up. The whole thing was my
idea. To rob a bank. I’m the one who suggested it to Bobbi. She’s the woman who robbed the
bank with me. First we borrowed some guns from a friend of ours, this guy named Carl.”
“Did you tell Carl what you wanted the guns for?” asks Detective Burke.
“Yeah. We told him we wanted the guns so we could rob a bank. He told us which guns
were best for robbing banks, and we promised to give him a cut of whatever we stole. I mean,
we weren’t really going to share the loot with him, but that’s what he believed. So anyway, we
started scoping out banks. At first we were going to rob Sovereign Bank on Montague Street,
but then I realized Sovereign Bank was too risky, since it probably has surveillance cameras,
tons of security guards, special invisible ink on the money, you know what I mean. So I
switched our focus to a smaller bank, the Union Bank. I also realized we needed help, that me
and Bobbi couldn’t do it by ourselves. So I tried to recruit a couple of my roommates.”
“These roommates have names?” you ask.
“Dirk, Eloise, and Fish. Dirk agreed to be our get-away driver. At first Fish offered to
help us launder money, but then a few days later he chickened out, got cold feet and said he
wanted out. I was like, whatever.”
“What about Eloise?”
“She told us we were crazy as soon as I mentioned doing a robbery. She didn’t want
anything to do with it. So in the end, I suppose it was Dirk, Bobbi and me.”
“So where are your roommates now?”
“Our apartment at 1415 Smith Street, I guess. Knowing them, they’re probably sitting in
front of the television watching football.”
“So what else you got for us?” Detective Burke asks Angela.
“I’ve told you everything.”
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Detective Burke bangs his fist on the table. “Listen, missy. I wasn’t born yesterday.
There’s no way the group of you could have handled this job by yourselves. Now if you don’t
want me to add obstruction charges--”
“Okay, okay. There was somebody else. There’s another reason we picked Union Bank
instead of Sovereign Bank. Bobbi knew someone there: Gina, a bank teller with a small boy.
Bobbi knew the child’s name, where the child goes to school, where the child goes to church, the
whole nine yards. So I called the bank teller, Gina, one night at home and told her that if she
didn’t help us, we’d kidnap her little boy and sell him to a priest we know. That got her
attention. So she helped us.”
“That’s everything?” you ask.
“That’s everything.”
Just then your supervisor walks in. “Look. I’m just going to come out and say this. I
just got a call from the hospital. That pregnant woman died. And so did her fetus. Just wanted
you to know.”
“So what do we do now?” you ask.
Detective Burke stares at you. “I don’t know what you’re doing now, but me and my
boys are going to 1514 Smith Street to round up the rest of this crew.”
Unfortunately, it’s only well after Detective Burke has left that you realize he got the
address wrong….
****
Twenty minutes later, your supervisor barges into your office. “We fucked up.”
“What?”
“A bunch of plainclothes officers went to 1514 Smith Street and broke down the door.
The occupant of the home is Margarita Sanchez, an 83-year old woman from the Dominican
Republic who apparently speaks little English. Anyway, she came out of her bedroom with a
gun and started firing. Apparently she thought the officers were burglars. Who knows. All I
know is she killed two officers before they shot her. She’s alive, and they think she’ll recover. I
just got a call from the Police Commissioner. He wants us to bring murder charges against her.
Murder charges!”
“Is there any good news?” you ask.
“I just switched to Geico car insurance and saved a lot of money? The good news, I
suppose, is that after the mayhem at 1514 Smith Street, Detective Burke looked at his notes and
realized the correct address was 1415 Smith Street. He and some of his guys went there and
found the other participants, and then went and picked up Carl and Gina. Angela, Bobbi, Carl,
Dirk, Eloise, Fish, and Gina are all in custody now. Which means the ball is in your court.”
“What do you mean?”
Project One (30 points)
“I want you to write me a short memo about : i) what charges each of them faces; ii)
what defenses any of them might have; and iii) the likely result. That’s project number one.”
Project Two (15 points)
“Project number two is to help me figure out what we’re going to do about Margarita
Sanchez. The Police Commissioner wants us to charge her with First Degree Murder. I’m
assuming she’s going to claim self-defense, but how should that come out? ”
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ESSAY QUESTION II
LIFE
(10 Points)
[Redacted]
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ESSAY QUESTION III
The Death of Jose Moreno
(20 points)
Well, you’ve done your time working at the New Amsterdam District Attorney’s Office
as a prosecutor, and now you’re ready for something else. A month ago, you left the D.A.’s
Office and became counsel to the State Assembly’s Criminal Law Reform Committee. The goal
is to reform New York’s penal law so that it reduces crime and ensures that punishment is not
excessive.
You’re working for the Criminal Law Reform Committee when the Chief Counsel to
Governor Cuomo storms into your office waving the New York Post. On the cover is a
photograph of a man struggling to pull himself up from the train tracks as an oncoming train
approaches. The caption reads “Deranged Man Pushes 58-Year Old Onto Track; Onlookers Do
Nothing.” You know the story because it was all over the news this morning. You know, too,
that the 58-year old man, Jose Moreno of Queens, New York, never made it out of the tracks.
The subway struck him, killing him instantly. Apparently, the deranged man, who has been
diagnosed with schizophrenia, fled the scene immediately after pushing Jose Moreno. When he
was spotted by a police officer later that day, he took off running again. Luckily the officer
caught him, and he’s now in custody.
Governor Cuomo’s Chief Counsel is staring at you. She says, “This is the problem with
New York. Nobody does anything to help anyone.”
You know this is an exaggeration but you nod anyway.
“So here’s the thing,” the Chief Counsel continues. “The Governor, like everyone else, is
upset. We’re sure that the defendant’s lawyer is going to mount some kind of insanity defense.
Already, the defense lawyer is claiming that his client is schizophrenic and couldn’t control his
impulses, and thus is not guilty by reason of insanity. The Governor wants to know if we’d have
an easier time prosecuting this defendant if New York switched to the M’Naghten rule. That’s
question number one.
Question number two is about all those jerks who watched the whole thing and didn’t lift
a finger to help. Especially the guy who sat there taking photos. Apparently, the photographer is
named Vikram Seth. I’m assuming we can’t charge Vikram Seth under current law in
connection with the death or Jose Moreno, or can we? In any event, it’s about time New York
had a “Good Samaritan” law. I’ve taken a crack at drafting one. Look it over for me and let me
know what you think. If it’s a stupid idea, I want to know that. Of course, if it’s brilliant, I want
to know that too. If you think it should be modified, let me know what you suggest. In any
event, I want something we can use to charge Vikram Seth. Here it is:
It is a felony for any person who knows that another is exposed to grave physical
harm to not give reasonable assistance to the person, unless such assistance is
already being provided to others. The punishment for violating this law shall be
no greater than five years’ incarceration.
Governor Cuomo’s Chief Counsel stares at you. “So can you prepare me a quick memo
letting me know what you think?”
End of Exam
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