Crim Law Issue Spotting (overlooked issues) Forum

[croggs]

Hey Guys!

For my Crim. Law final, our professor basically said that spotting an issue, in essay questions, will be worth half of the points and analysis will be for half of the points. I've been trying to think of issues that may be commonly overlooked because they are quite insignificant in relation to the main issue. (Ex. Trespass when burglary (not really sneaky, just saying) or Armed Criminal Action/Unlawful Use of Weapon if someone is using a non-traditional weapon).

It's a pretty broad question, but I'd figure I'd throw it out there for people that are more intelligent than me. If there's even one issue I overlook, and it has 2 degrees, then I would be missing out on a point for spotting each degree and analyzing it. Anyways, figured I'd see if anyone else had any thoughts about an issue that they overlooked in Crim. Law or even suggestions for taking an exam where analysis seems rather insignificant (which seems odd to me).

I might as well post the list of possible crimes we've gone over too. Maybe it will help refresh someone's memory:

Disclaimer: These our offenses for the statutes of our state, not MPC or Common Law. However, most of the elements are fairly similar.


HOMICIDE:
1. Murder (1), (2)
2. Voluntary MS
3. Involuntary (1), (2)
4. Felony Murder
5. Attempted Murder

CRIMES V. PEOPLE:
6. Forcible Rape
7. Statutory Rape (1), (2)
8. Assault (1), (2), (3)
9. Harassment

CHILD:
10. Child Endangerment (1), (2)
11. Abuse of Child

WEAPONS:
12. Unlawful Use of Weapon
13. ACA

KIDNAPPING/FR/FI:
14. Kidnapping, FR, FI

CRIMES V. PROPERTY:
15. Stealing
16. Receiving Stolen Property
17. Robbery (1), (2)
18. Burglary (1), (2)
19. Trespass (1), (2)
20. Arson (1), (2)

INCHOATE OFFENSES:
21. Attempt
22. Conspiracy
23. Accomplice Liability (THEORY)
24. Possession of controlled substance
25. Possession w/ intent to distribute

DEFENSES:
26. Defense of others
27. Defense of property
28. Necessity
29. Insanity
30. Mistake of fact
31. Mistake of law
32. Entrapment
33. Outrageous law enforcement conduct denied by due process
34. Intoxication


Thanks in advance all!

[jess]

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[croggs]

Not sure what your class covered, but:

Defenses: diminished capacity, infancy, duress, self-defense, defense of habitation

Inchoate Offenses: solicitation, innocent instrumentality

Also, what about different tests or limitations for certain crimes? Not sure which are recognized in your state. Also, what about more abstract concepts like specific intent vs. general intent, mens rea, actus reus, causation, legal duty, etc?

We only cover the things that I listed above. It's a mid-tier 2 school, so it's probably less than most people. We focused primarily on specific intent crimes and mens rea. We covered stuff like actus reus, causation, and legal duty/omission in a class a piece. I'm pretty sure MOST of his issues revolve around having the proper mens rea. The acts and results are fairly obvious. I just want to make sure I'm not over looking something as easy as say accomplice liability. I could potentially add a few more counts for the exact same act (potential extra issue +points). I wasn't thinking about trespassing much either, but once I realized I overlooked it, I was able to hone in on it and make a mental note of it.

We don't have any practice exams for the class, and I can't find any exams that have hypos with our state statutes. So, I don't have a good way to check myself. Just figured I'd throw this out there and see if anyone had anything that jumped out to them as a potential sneaky issue given the crimes covered.

Thanks for your input!