Chapter Five
Study Guide
As you read this assigned chapter, answer the following questions:
1. Trooper arrests defendant and is holding defendant to transport him. Trooper is found dead in his car. We know from the facts as developed during the investigation that defendant was handcuffed by Trooper and still had the cuffs dangling when he was found. Evidence was that the defendant could slip his right hand out of the cuff. Is this enough evidence to show that the defendant deliberated upon the matter?
_______________________________________________________
A. If the defendant in the fact pattern above was found guilty of First Degree Murder, what aggravating or mitigating circumstances shall be considered by the Judge or the Jury in assessing the penalty for First Degree Murder?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
B. Please state whether your consider the following aggravating circumstances warranting the death penalty in a First Degree Murder case or mitigating circumstances to be considered by the Jury in the sentencing portion of the trial?
(1) Multiple injuries to the body, including a number of broken ribs, in an attempt to manually strangle the victim, all occurring prior to the two (2) gunshot wounds to the eyes and other post mortem injuries, when combined with mutilation of the body, whether occurring post or pre-mortem.
(2) Evidence showed that the Defendant charged with murder of fellow inmate had substantial history of serious assaultive criminal convictions and that the murder took place in a State Penitentiary.
(3) Execution-style capital murder of a twenty-six year old robbery victim. Evidence was that Defendant killed victim by shoving her down, then chasing her for two and one-half blocks while holding an eight pound iron bar in his hand, after which he beat her repeatedly about the upper-body and head causing her death.
(4) Evidence showed that defendant was twenty years old at the time of the murder, that he had a lack of history of assaultive criminal behavior, and that he was only a minor participant in the crime.
(5) Evidence that person who hired defendant to kill victim was a "mean person" whom defendant feared.
_____________________________________________
2. What charges should be filed in the following situations?
A. D finds E in bed with D's wife. He grabs lamp and hits E, killing him.
__________________________________________________
B. What if in the above fact pattern D goes back to his office, gets a gun and comes back to the house and kills victim?
__________________________________________________
C. What if D goes to next room, gets gun, walks back and kills E in the fact pattern set forth in A. above?
__________________________________________________
D. Two men enter a lounge in St. Louis. One is wearing a ski mask and flourishes what appears to be a weapon. The man in the ski mask ordered the owner of the bar and the waitress to get down. The owner retrieved his .38 caliber pistol from behind the bar and fired upon the intruders. The man in the ski mask was shot four (4) times and fled the bar. The other bad guy was shot once in the head and expired immediately. The man in the ski mask survived and was charged with Second Degree Murder and Attempted First Degree Robbery. The jury subsequently convicted him. Should the man in the ski mask be guilty of Second Degree Murder?
__________________________________________________
E. A and B are in the process of burglarizing X's gas station at night when P, a police officer, comes upon the scene. A and B run into nearby woods with P in pursuit. B accidentally drops a gun he is carrying; the gun discharges and P is killed. Is B guilty of Second Degree Murder?
__________________________________________________
Assuming B is guilty of Second Degree Murder, is A also Guilty?
__________________________________________________
3. Which of the following are more likely to be voluntary manslaughter than murder?
A. B calls D several names that reflect upon D's ethical standards and his mother's reputation. D becomes irate and kills B.
B. B and D are arguing over a place in a theatre line. They agree to settle the matter by fighting it out. During the fight, B is killed.
C. D intentionally stabs B in the leg. The wound proves fatal and D dies.
D. B throws a rock at D and runs away. The rock actually hits D and breaks his nose. The next day, D sees B and kills him.
__________________________________________________
4. D intentionally drops a large rock from a freeway overpass. Distracted by the approaching rock, B loses control of the car on the freeway and is killed in the ensuing crash. What crime is D guilty of?
_______________________________________________________
A. D is cleaning his gun when the telephone rings. He leaves the gun on the table while he goes to the adjoining room to answer the phone. Meanwhile, B, D's four year old son wanders into the room and takes the gun to play with it; it discharges, killing B instantly. Is D guilty of a crime?
__________________________________________________
B. M leaves a party after she had been drinking heavily. Although she is not speeding, she is unable to stop and hits a car that is partly pulled off the road with its emergency flashing lights on. The driver of the car she hits is killed. What additional facts other than M's intoxication are needed in order to convict M of involuntary manslaughter?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
5. Which of the following should be charged as First Degree Assault?
A. Defendant while trying to rob a thrift store pulls a knife and scratches the clerk on the arm demanding money from her. She responded she didn't have any money. Defendant again slashes her with the knife. If Defendant is charged with First Degree Assault, Defendant may be convicted as long as the scar suffered by the clerk is one-sixteenth of an inch by four inches. True or false?
__________________________________________________
B. One of the injuries suffered by victim is an impairment of the jaw which forces victim to have the jaw wired shut and victim is prevented from chewing for six (6) weeks. Is this type of injury enough for First Degree Assault charges against the perpetrator?
__________________________________________________
6. Has an Assault occurred in the following situations?
A. D puts poison in B's drink and B drinks it.
__________________________________________________
B. D points a gun at B and pulls the trigger. Unknown to B, the gun is defective and will not fire. What if D did not know the gun was defective?
__________________________________________________
7. D attacks B as a result of which B's face is severely disfigured. D is charged with First Degree Assault but at the time of D's trial, two years later, B's face is returned to normal. Can D be convicted?
_______________________________________________________
8. B is walking on a street near her home. D grabs her around the neck and while holding a loaded gun to her head, walks her approximately one block to a more isolated location behind a garage where he rapes her. He then left after warning the victim not to leave for ten minutes or he would shoot her. Has defendant committed kidnapping?
_______________________________________________________
A. D enters an office with a stocking over his face and a pistol in his hand and demands the money from the Western Union clerk. The clerk screams and he strikes her in the head with the gun. She tries to run but he strikes her in the head again. The clerk's husband enters the office and is struck twice on the head. Meanwhile, the police arrive. D threatens to kill the two victims if he does not receive a $100,000 and if the police do not do what he said. A police officer entered the building to negotiate, but D refused to let the victims go. Thirty minutes later D surrenders and lets the victims go. Aside from victim's conviction on two counts of assault, he is also convicted of two counts of kidnapping. Are these convictions for kidnapping valid?
__________________________________________________
9. M has custody of his children. F has weekend visitation. F takes the children on Friday but refuses to return the children on Sunday night. F is finally discovered on the following Thursday with the children 300 miles away from M's home, but still in Missouri. Has F committed interference with custody?
_______________________________________________________
A. In this same fact pattern, does F have a defense to false imprisonment?
__________________________________________________
B. While S is walking down a hall in a public building, B moves in front of him and refuses to permit him to proceed. Is B guilty of false imprisonment?
__________________________________________________