Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) 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 Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Foundations of Criminal Liability

   3 topics

   • Actus Reus and Mens Rea
     • Voluntary acts and omissions
     • Common law and Model Penal Code mental states
     • Strict liability offenses
     • Concurrence and causation
   • Parties and Inchoate Offenses
     • Accomplice and accessory liability
     • Attempt
     • Solicitation
     • Conspiracy and the Pinkerton rule
   • Defenses
     • Justification: self-defense, defense of others, necessity
     • Excuse: insanity tests, intoxication, duress
     • Mistake of fact and law
2. 2

   Substantive Offenses

   3 topics

   • Homicide
     • Murder: malice aforethought and degrees
     • Felony murder
     • Voluntary and involuntary manslaughter
   • Other Crimes Against Persons
     • Battery and assault
     • False imprisonment and kidnapping
     • Rape and sexual offenses
   • Property and Theft Offenses
     • Larceny, embezzlement, and false pretenses
     • Robbery and extortion
     • Burglary and arson
     • Receiving stolen property
3. 3

   Constitutional Criminal Procedure

   4 topics

   • Fourth Amendment
     • Reasonable expectation of privacy and standing
     • Warrant requirement and probable cause
     • Exceptions to the warrant requirement
     • Arrest, stop and frisk (Terry)
   • Confessions and Interrogation
     • Fifth Amendment privilege and Miranda warnings
     • Sixth Amendment right to counsel at interrogation
     • Voluntariness of confessions
   • Exclusionary Rule and Remedies
     • Fruit of the poisonous tree
     • Exceptions: good faith, inevitable discovery, attenuation
   • Trial and Post-Trial Rights
     • Right to counsel and effective assistance
     • Right to jury trial and speedy trial
     • Double jeopardy
     • Burdens of proof and identification procedures

Criminal Law and Procedure flashcards for Uniform Bar Examination (UBE)

19 of 50 cards from the Criminal Law and Procedure deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the two essential components of every crime (besides causation)?

   Actus reus (a voluntary physical act or qualifying omission) and mens rea (the required guilty state of mind), which must concur in time.

2. What qualifies as a 'voluntary act' for actus reus, and what does NOT count?

   A conscious, willed bodily movement. NOT voluntary: reflexes/convulsions, movements while unconscious or asleep, conduct under hypnosis, and bare thoughts.

3. When can a failure to act (omission) satisfy actus reus?

   Only when there is a legal duty to act—arising from statute, contract, special relationship, voluntary assumption of care, or creation of the peril—plus knowledge of the facts and the physical ability to act.

4. List the four common-law (and MPC) mental states from most to least culpable.

   Purposely (intent/specific desire), Knowingly (aware result is practically certain), Recklessly (conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk), Negligently (should have been aware of the risk).

5. Distinguish specific-intent, general-intent, and malice crimes.

   Specific intent: requires an intent beyond the act (e.g., larceny, burglary, assault, attempt). General intent: only intent to do the act (e.g., battery, rape, kidnapping). Malice: reckless disregard of a high risk of harm (common-law murder and arson).

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

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

7. What is the difference between factual cause and proximate (legal) cause?

   Factual (but-for) cause: result would not have occurred but for the defendant's act. Proximate cause: the result is a foreseeable consequence; liability is cut off by unforeseeable, independent intervening causes.

8. How is an accomplice (aider and abettor) defined and what is the required mens rea?

   One who, with the intent that the crime be committed, aids, counsels, or encourages the principal before or during the crime. Mere presence or knowledge is insufficient.

9. For what crimes is an accomplice liable?

   The crime aided AND all other crimes that were the natural and probable (foreseeable) consequences of the conduct aided.

10. What are the four elements of conspiracy at common law and under the modern/MPC view?

    (1) An agreement between two or more, (2) intent to agree, (3) intent to achieve the unlawful objective. Common law needs two guilty minds (bilateral); MPC follows a unilateral approach. Modern majority/MPC also require an overt act.

11. Can a conspirator be liable for crimes committed by co-conspirators? (Pinkerton rule)

    Yes. Under Pinkerton, a conspirator is liable for all crimes of co-conspirators committed in furtherance of the conspiracy and that were reasonably foreseeable.

12. Define the crime of attempt and its two elements.

    A specific intent to commit a crime plus a substantial step (MPC) or an act dangerously close to completion (common law) beyond mere preparation.

13. Is abandonment a defense to attempt?

    At common law, no—once a substantial step/dangerous proximity is reached, abandonment is no defense. Under the MPC, voluntary and complete renunciation is a defense.

14. Define solicitation and what happens if the other person agrees.

    Inciting, requesting, or encouraging another to commit a crime, with intent that it be committed. If the other agrees, solicitation merges into conspiracy.

15. How does merger apply to inchoate offenses?

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

16. State the rule for self-defense using non-deadly vs. deadly force.

    Non-deadly force: may use reasonable force when reasonably believing it necessary to defend against imminent unlawful force. Deadly force: only against a reasonable belief of imminent death or serious bodily harm.

17. What is the majority rule on the duty to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense?

    Majority: no duty to retreat ('stand your ground'). Minority: must retreat before deadly force if it can be done safely, but never from one's own home (castle doctrine).

18. Distinguish the M'Naghten test from the irresistible impulse and MPC insanity tests.

    M'Naghten: due to mental disease, defendant didn't know the nature of the act or that it was wrong. Irresistible impulse: couldn't control conduct. MPC: lacked substantial capacity to appreciate criminality OR conform conduct to law. Durham: act was product of mental illness.

19. Compare voluntary and involuntary intoxication as defenses.

    Voluntary intoxication: defense only to specific-intent crimes if it negates the intent. Involuntary intoxication: treated like insanity and may be a defense to any crime, including general-intent and strict-liability.

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