Criminal Procedure: Pre-Trial: Assignment

1.
What is the primary distinction between first- and second-degree murder?

2.
What is felony-murder? What is the difference between an assault and a battery?

3.
What does the acronym RICO represent? What are the basic elements of RICO?

4.
What are fighting words? Are they protected by the First Amendment?

5.
What are affirmative defenses? How do affirmative defenses differ from other defenses?

6.
What are the elements of the M’Naghten test for insanity? Irresistible impulse? Model Penal Code?

7.
Ira stabbed his good friend, inflicting a fatal wound. At trial, a psychiatrist testified that Ira could not control his behavior, as he has a brain tumor that causes him to act violently. The doctor also testified that the condition did not impair Ira’s ability to know what he was doing or that it was wrong. Assume that the jury believes the psychiatrist’s explanation. Would Ira be convicted in a jurisdiction that uses the M’Naughten test? The irresistible impulse test? The Model Penal Code? 

8.
Jane was attacked by an unknown man. She was able to free herself and ran to a nearby house, with the man chasing close behind. She screamed and knocked at the door of the house. The occupants of the house opened the door, and she requested refuge. The occupant refused, but Jane forced her way into the house. To gain entry, Jane had to strike the occupant. Once inside, she used the telephone to contact the police, who responded within minutes. At the insistence of the occupants of the house, Jane has been charged with trespass and battery. Does she have a defense? Explain.