Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) Criminal Law and Procedure Syllabus

Criminal Law and Procedure syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Criminal Law and Procedure in Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Elements and Inchoate Crimes

   4 topics

   • Actus Reus and Mens Rea
     • Voluntary act and omission
     • Common law and MPC mental states
     • Strict liability and concurrence
   • Causation
   • Accomplice Liability
   • Inchoate Crimes
     • Attempt
     • Conspiracy and Pinkerton liability
     • Solicitation and merger
2. 2

   Specific Crimes and Defenses

   4 topics

   • Homicide
     • Common law murder and malice
     • Felony murder
     • Voluntary and involuntary manslaughter
   • Other Crimes Against Persons
   • Property and Theft Offenses
     • Larceny, embezzlement, and false pretenses
     • Robbery, burglary, and arson
   • Defenses
     • Self-defense and defense of others
     • Insanity and intoxication
     • Duress, necessity, and mistake
3. 3

   Police Practices Under the Fourth Amendment

   4 topics

   • Searches and Reasonable Expectation of Privacy
   • Warrant Requirement and Probable Cause
   • Warrant Exceptions
     • Search incident to arrest and automobile exception
     • Plain view, consent, and exigency
     • Terry stop and frisk
   • Exclusionary Rule and Standing
4. 4

   Confessions, Counsel, and Trial Rights

   4 topics

   • Fifth Amendment and Miranda
     • Custody and interrogation
     • Waiver and invocation
   • Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel
     • Attachment and critical stages
     • Effective assistance
   • Identification Procedures
   • Trial Rights and Double Jeopardy

Criminal Law and Procedure flashcards for Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)

19 of 58 cards from the Criminal Law and Procedure deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the two basic components every crime requires, and what does each mean?

   Actus reus (a voluntary physical act or qualifying omission) and mens rea (the requisite guilty mental state). Both must concur, with the mental state causing the act.

2. When does a failure to act (omission) create criminal liability?

   Only when there is a legal duty to act, the defendant has knowledge of the facts giving rise to the duty, and it is reasonably possible to perform. Duties arise from statute, contract, special relationship, voluntary assumption of care, or creation of the peril.

3. List the four common-law mental states and their hierarchy from most to least culpable.

   Specific intent, malice, general intent, and strict liability (no intent). Specific intent requires intent to achieve a particular result; general intent requires only awareness of acting in the proscribed way.

4. Under the Model Penal Code, what are the four levels of culpability?

   Purposely (conscious objective), knowingly (aware conduct is practically certain to cause result), recklessly (conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk), and negligently (should have been aware of such a risk).

5. What is transferred intent and to which crimes does it apply?

   When a defendant intends harm to one victim but harms another, the intent transfers to the actual victim. It applies to homicide, battery, and arson, but generally not to attempt.

6. What are the two types of causation required for result crimes, and how is each defined?

   Actual (factual) cause: 'but-for' the defendant's conduct the result would not have occurred. Proximate (legal) cause: the result is a foreseeable consequence sufficiently related to the conduct to justify liability.

7. How does an intervening cause affect a defendant's liability for the ultimate result?

   A foreseeable (dependent) intervening cause does not break the chain of causation, but an unforeseeable (independent/superseding) intervening cause cuts off liability.

8. Is ordinary medical negligence in treating the victim a superseding cause that relieves the original attacker of homicide liability?

   No. Ordinary negligent medical treatment is foreseeable and does not break the causal chain. Only grossly negligent or intentional malpractice may be superseding.

9. What are the elements of accomplice liability and what crimes is an accomplice responsible for?

   Aiding, counseling, or encouraging the principal with the intent to assist and the intent that the crime be committed. An accomplice is liable for the planned crime plus all other foreseeable crimes committed in furtherance of it.

10. How can an accomplice withdraw to avoid liability for the substantive crime?

    By repudiating prior encouragement before the crime, neutralizing any assistance given (e.g., retrieving materials), or notifying authorities/taking action to prevent the crime—all before the crime is committed.

11. What is the difference between an accessory before the fact and an accessory after the fact?

    An accessory before the fact aids/encourages but is not present at the crime and is treated as an accomplice. An accessory after the fact knowingly assists a felon to escape arrest/conviction and is guilty of a separate, lesser offense.

12. What are the elements of common-law conspiracy, and what is the modern majority twist?

    (1) An agreement between two or more persons, (2) intent to enter the agreement, and (3) intent to achieve the unlawful objective. Modern majority/MPC also requires an overt act in furtherance (mere preparation suffices).

13. What are the elements of attempt, and what defenses are available?

    Specific intent to commit the crime plus a substantial step (majority/MPC) or dangerous proximity (common law) beyond mere preparation. Legal impossibility is a defense; factual impossibility and (at common law) abandonment are not. MPC allows voluntary, complete renunciation.

14. What are the elements of solicitation and what happens upon agreement?

    Enticing, encouraging, or commanding another to commit a crime with the intent that the crime be committed. The crime is complete upon the asking; if the other person agrees, solicitation merges into conspiracy.

15. Which inchoate crimes merge and which do not?

    Solicitation and attempt merge into the completed offense; conspiracy does NOT merge—a defendant can be convicted of both conspiracy and the completed crime.

16. Define common-law murder and identify the four types of malice aforethought.

    The unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Malice exists with: (1) intent to kill, (2) intent to inflict serious bodily harm, (3) depraved-heart (reckless indifference to human life), or (4) felony murder.

17. What distinguishes first-degree from second-degree murder?

    First-degree murder requires premeditation and deliberation (or statutory felony murder); second-degree murder is the default category for all other murders, including depraved-heart and intent-to-cause-serious-bodily-harm killings.

18. What is voluntary manslaughter and what are the requirements for adequate provocation?

    An intentional killing mitigated by adequate provocation (or imperfect self-defense). Provocation requires: a provocation that would arouse sudden passion in a reasonable person, the defendant in fact provoked, insufficient time to cool off, and the defendant in fact did not cool off.

19. Distinguish the two forms of involuntary manslaughter.

    (1) Criminal-negligence manslaughter: killing due to gross/criminal negligence. (2) Misdemeanor manslaughter: killing during commission of a misdemeanor (malum in se) or a non-felony-murder felony.

See more Criminal Law and Procedure flashcards →

Planning Criminal Law and Procedure for Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)

Criminal Law and Procedure (Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)) FAQ