CRJ209 – Criminal Law

Due: by 11:59pm EST on Sunday at the end of Unit 4 Late submissions will not
be accepted.
Midterm-Essay Questions
Your assignment will be to submit your answers to the following five (5) questions.
Please identify which answers are in response to which questions. Please use
information from the readings and resources provided in the first three units of the
course to support your responses.
1. Two well known athletes who are considered the best in the world are about to compete.
Athlete A knows that Athlete B used a substance regularly for two years and stopped a
month ago. Today the drug is illegal. Athlete A goes to the police and reports the
previous illegal activity to get Athlete B jailed to miss the competition and secure a win
for Athlete A without even competing. What are the criminal law implications here and
will Athlete A be successful with the plan? Your answer should list any pertinent rules
and then apply them to the situation. (20 Points)
2. An undercover officer approaches a man in a bar and says, “Can I hire you to kill
someone for me?” The man replies? How much are you paying? The officer responds
$10,000. He gives him the target information and agreed to pay him upon completion.
The target is another police officer. As the man attempts to kill the target, police swoop
in and arrest the would be hit man. Discuss and explain whether this is acceptable or
unacceptable police work. Then, describe what, if any, defenses are available to the hit
man. (20 points)
3. John is driving his sports car on the interstate at 65 MPH, while a friend is hanging onto
the roof of the car. They are allegedly practicing because they both want to be stuntmen.
Of course, the friend looses his grip, falls off the car and is killed. John is arrested and
charged with Involuntary Manslaughter in the death. As John’s attorney, can you explain
how the prosecution will demonstrate his Mens Rea or mental state at the time of the
incident. You may use the Model Penal Code to explain your answer. (20 points)
4. Please provide the list of the core felonies which are 5 felonies against persons and 4
felonies against property. (20 points)
5. Discretion is an important part of the criminal justice system. Please identify those areas
where discretion is used and explain why it is or is not a useful tool. (20 points)
CRJ209 – Criminal Law
Midterm Exam
Students: Be sure to read the criteria, by which your Midterm will be evaluated,
before you write, and again after you write.
Evaluation Rubric for Midterm Essays
The rubric below will be used to evaluate the response for each question posed
above in the Midterm Essay Questions section. Each response will be scored based
on 20 points. The total maximum score for this 5 question Midterm Essay exam is
100 points.