Thirsty for Criminal Law Trivia this Thursday?

Earlier this week, I was asked to provide a criminal law case update to a group of attorneys. I started the session by giving them a quiz, which I thought could go one of two ways. Possibly, they’d know all the answers and tune me out for the next hour. On the other hand, maybe they’d have some uncertainty, and some interest, and would tune in to see what the court said. Fortunately, on Tuesday, the latter sentiment prevailed.

Given that our readers are voracious consumers of criminal law, I thought you might enjoy taking the quiz and seeing what you know – or don’t – about recent decisions from the appellate courts. Interest piqued? Try your hand at answering the questions below.

1. An officer receives an anonymous tip that a suspicious white male with a gold or silver vehicle is in a parking lot at nighttime walking around a closed business. Businesses in that area have been broken into in the past. An officer sees a black male in a silver car in the parking lot. Does she have reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle to investigate?
   1. Yes
   2. No

2. An officer runs the tags on a vehicle that drives past him on the roadway. He discovers that the vehicle is registered to a male with a suspended license. He stops the vehicle. When he approaches the driver’s side door, he immediately sees that a woman is driving the car. May he ask the woman for her driver’s license?
   1. Yes
   2. No

3. An officer sees two men (A and B) walking on a sidewalk in a high-crime area around 2 a.m. It is snowing and no one else is out walking. The officer stops her car, approaches the men and asks their names. A states his true name. B initially gives a false name. The officer asks where they are going, and their answers are vague. A asks the officer if she will give them a ride home. The officer says she will. As the three approach her car, the officer tells A and B that police procedure requires that she search them before they get in. B runs away. Do these facts provide the officer with reasonable suspicion to seize A?
   1. Yes
   2. No

4. Police receive an anonymous call to 911. The caller states that a black male wearing a red shirt and black pants just placed a handgun in the waistband of his pants while at a specified gas station. An officer goes to the gas station and sees a man in the parking lot who matches the description. Do these facts provide the officer with reasonable suspicion to stop the man?
   1. Yes
   2. No

5. Three detectives conduct a knock and talk at this house. They stop their patrol car in the driveway beside the house.

May two of them stand by the garage door while the other detective knocks on the front door?

A. Yes

B. No

6. Officers find marijuana stems and rolling papers in the defendant’s trash along with mail addressed to the residence. Does this information provide probable cause to support a search warrant to search the home for evidence of marijuana possession?
   1. Yes
   2. No

7. Defendant hires a person to kill his wife and gives him details on how to carry out the crime, including his wife’s morning schedule. The defendant is arrested shortly after the meeting. Has the defendant committed attempted murder?
   1. Yes
   2. No

8. A confidential informant purchases drugs from the defendant at his home on one occasion. Are these facts sufficient to support a conviction for maintaining a dwelling for the keeping or selling of drugs?
   1. Yes
   2. No

9. A gives B money to purchase drugs. B doesn’t get the drugs and doesn’t return the money. A goes to B’s house to confront her and get his money back, barging into the house and threatening B with a gun. A leaves without any money. Has A committed attempted armed robbery?
   1. Yes
   2. No

10. Is the Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines clause an incorporated protection applicable to the States under the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause?
    1. Yes
    2. No

Want to know the answers?  Click here. If you got them all right, use the comment feature to brag.

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