Criminal Law Course @ Moritz College of Law

Grades likely to be distributed this week... and...

I hope you all realize that neither your personal worth nor your professional future is determined by how you did on your first set of law school exams.  For a whole bunch of reasons, I encourage all of you not to worry too much about your grades either before or after they get distributed.

I will set up a few specific times for one-on-one exam review in LATE February and LATE March, in part because I think you should review your specific exam performance only when you are in serious gear-up mode for another set of exams.  But before that time I will be available and eager to meet with folks one-on-one to discuss exam performance in general and to explain more fully why your first set of grades have so little to say about either your personal worth or your professional future.

In addition, even for those of you who did not do as well as you hoped or planned, remember that you still have an open invitation to do research work for me this summer if such an opportunity appeals to you.   Further, in these final few days before grades get distributed, I encourage you to use the comments to this post to express your views on the whole exam/grading experience and/or early thoughts about your second semester experiences.

Electronic versions of the two key Ohio revised code handouts...

can be downloaded here:

Download 2010 Ohio liability-MR statutes

Download 2010 version of Ohio homicide statutes

Please use the comments to this post to report any problems accessing these documents or indicating if you want/need me to post any other materials.

Attempt actus reus hypo for consideration and reflection

To facilitate our discussion of the actus reus of attempt liability, below is a list of actions by a (troubled?) young man to get you thinking about where a line should be drawn between "mere preparation" and attempt liability:

Joe McAngryTechieNerd of Columbus truly believes Microsoft (MS) is the root of all evil and he often tells his techie friends that computers and the whole world would be better off with MS and Bill Gates.  After watching a documentary about Oklahoma City Bombing, Joe McAngryTechieNerd does the following:

1. E-mails techie friend saying he wished Bill Gates was dead and MS was bankrupt

2. Posts blog comment that he would love to see MS headquarters blown up

3. Does internet research on location of MS headquarters in Redmond, Washington

4. Does internet research about how often and when Gates still goes to his MS office

5. Does internet research on homemade explosives

6. Rents hotel room for two nights in Seattle

7. Rents Ryder truck for driving to Seattle

8. Drives rented truck to Seattle, checks into hotel, sleeps

9. Drives in morning to Redmond and drives around the MS headquarters repeatedly

10. Parks at MS headquarters, walks around asking employees when Gates is there

11. Returns to hotel room in Seattle, does more internet research on bomb-making, sleeps

12. In morning, buys fertilizer/gas/timer and other ingredients for making bomb at hardware store

13.  Drives again to Redmond, now with bomb ingredients in truck

14. Parks in strategic location on MS headquarters

15. Starts building homemade bomb insider rental truck

16. Waits, watches for Gates to arrive at work

17. Drives past security guard following Gates' car

18. Parks truck right next to Gates car as he pulls into spot

19. Jumps out of truck with remote bomb trigger in hand

20. Runs away planning to push trigger after hiding behind stone wall

 

LIABILITY QUESTIONS

When SHOULD Joe McAngryTechieNerd be deemed guilty of attempted murder?

        -- When could he be deemed guilty at common law?

        -- When could he be deemed guilty under the MPC?

 

POLICING QUESTIONS

When do you want police to intervene?

When do you think the police legally can intervene?

When do you think the police will intervene?

Crim Law exam prep open thread for the long holiday weekend

Congrats to all for getting one exam behind you, and be sure to take some special time for review and reflection on what you did right (and wrong) in the exam preparation and taking process.  Also, be sure to take some deserved time off during the holiday weekend.

On the sad (but reasonable?) assumption that you will not be able to put all future exams out of your mind during the long weekend, I have created this post to provide a forum for questions (and answers?) about our upcoming Crim Law exam.  I expect our exam to be quite similar in style and structure to those I have given in prior years (many of which can be found here and here and here), so you can/should check out past my exams to get a sense of what is on the horizon for you on December 13.

Feel free to ask any and all questions you might have about our final exam in the comments here.  (I will bring any especially important answers into the text of this post or create a new post, if needed).

Class plans for defenses through November

The junior lawyers from the Oliwood firm of Douglas, Aaron, Ber, Man and Associates LLC have made arrangements with potential client Tom Dudley to meet at 1:45pm on Friday, November 12.  That means we will be focused on self-defense doctrines during Tuesday's class (and, as you all surely recall, we do not have class on Thursday, Nov. 11).

For our initial self-defense discussions, be sure to read (and re-read) La Voie and especially Leidholm very carefully.  In addition, to get a running start on Ohio's approach to self-defense, also read ASAP the Ohio Supreme Court's decision in State v. Thomas, which is available in pdf form at this link. (The official cite is State v. Thomas, 77 Ohio St.3d 323, 673 N.E.2d 1339 (1997).)

In addition, for a timely recent story about self-defense issues in Ohio, check out this new piece from today's Columbus Dispatch, which is headlined "Judge says killing wasn't self-defense: Man to appeal over 'castle doctrine'."

We likely will wrap up our self defense discussions on Tuesday, Nov. 16 and cover necessity and duress doctrines in our last two pre-Thanksgiving classes.  Be sure to read accordingly.

A place to get the R&W assignment instructions (and to ask questions)

A helpful student reminded me that I have not yet posted the Small Section Research and Writing Assignment instructions in this space. Thus, I have done so via this post. In addition, I both welcome and encourage student to ask any and all questions about the assignment in the comments to this post. I will try to respond to all question either via this blog on live in class.

Download 2010 R&W Assignment Instructions

Proposed Oliwood rape statute from Senators Coleman, Pullen and Silverblatt (and now ... others)

Reprinted below is the full text of a proposed new rape law drafted by Senators Coleman, Pullen and Silverblatt.  This is the first (and so far only) proposal that has been submitted to me in advance of the Oliwood legislative session scheduled to take place this afternoon at 1:30pm.

Oliwood Rape Statute

213.0 Definitions

1. “Sexual conduct” means vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse, fellatio, and cunnilingus between persons regardless of sex; and, without privilege to do so, the insertion, however slight, of any part of the body into the vaginal, anal, or oral opening of another; or the insertion, however slight, of any instrument, apparatus, or other object into the vaginal or anal opening of the other.
2. “Non-consent” means any verbal or nonverbal indication given by the victim that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the victim does not consent to the engagement of sexual conduct with the offender.

 213.1 Rape

 A person who engages in sexual conduct with any other person is guilty of rape if:

1. the other person expresses non-consent at any time during or immediately prior to the sexual conduct; or
2. the other person is under 11 years old, and the offender is more than 3 years older than the      other person, whether or not the offender knows the age of the other person; or
3. the offender knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the other person’s ability to resist or consent is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition, age, or level of consciousness; or
4. for the purpose of preventing resistance, the offender purposefully and substantially impairs the other person’s judgment or control by administering any drug, intoxicant, or controlled substance to the other person surreptitiously or by force, threat of force, or deception; or
5. the actor knowingly compels the other person by force or threat of force, including but not limited to: threat of death, bodily injury, pain or kidnapping, to be inflicted on anyone

Whoever violates this section is guilty of rape, a felony in the first degree. The prison term to be imposed upon the offender under this section shall be one of the prison terms prescribed in the Model Penal Code Section 6.06(1)

6.06 Sentence of Imprisonment for Felony; Ordinary Terms: A person who has been convicted of a felony may be sentenced to imprisonment, as follows: (1) in the case of a felony of the first degree, for a term the minimum of which shall be fixed by the Court at not less than one year nor more than ten years, and the maximum at not more than twenty years or at life imprisonment...

UPDATE:  As the Speaker soundly suggested, all of the drafters of proposed legislation are urged to add the text of their proposals to the comments (as it appears one group already has done). 

Open thread for Election Day (and Oliwood legislators)

Exciting times today with contested elections all over the place, and with the Oliwood legislature in session to consider proposals to reform the state's rape law.  This post provides an open thread for anyone and everyone eager to raise questions or make comments about any part of today's activities.

Here is one key question for collective consideration that merges today's events:  Have any major contested races in Ohio or elsewhere focused on criminal justice issues and need Oliwood legislators worry about what future political opponents might say about how they respond to proposals to reform the state's rape law?

UPDATE:  Kudos to all the members of the Oliwood legislature for a job well done, especially all of the drafters of proposed legislation. 

As a follow-up to the prior inquiry, I wonder if any of the legislators would have acted/spoken differently if he/she knew that our legislative session was being recorded and streamed/archived on the internet.  That is what all Ohio legislators now know.

Clarification on plans/goals for rape unit and reform role-play

Much to my pleasure, I have heard a number of folks expressing interest in our rape law reform role play, and here I want to provide a little clarification for how we will approach this topic and the role play:

1.  For this Thursday's class, I will provide some common-law background on the history of rape law and modern statutory reforms.  We will conclude with a survey on what we think should comprise the actus reus of the crime of rape.

2.  For this Friday's class, I will report the results of the survey on what we think should comprise the actus reus of the crime of rape.  We will then discuss what we think ought to be the mens rea of rape.

3.  For next Tuesday's class, we will have a legislative session in Oliwood with the goal of enacting a reformed rape provision to improve on the now dated terms of MPC § 213.1 (Rape and Related Offenses).  Given our limited legislative time, our goal is to pass by majority class vote a (simple?) new Oliwood Revised Code § 213.1 provision, which should defines the elements of the worst kind (and only the worst kind) of sexual offense(s) in Oliwood.

To participate effectively, everyone must read pp. 863-871 in our text and be familiar with ORC § 2907.  In addition, it is recommend (but not required) that folks check out other sections of the Rape chapter in the text and this Ohio Journal of Criminal Law article (which is titled "Why the Model Penal Code’s Sexual Offense Provisions Should Be Pulled and ReplacedWhy the Model Penal Code’s Sexual Offense Provisions Should Be Pulled and Replaced").

Those folks volunteering for "role play" credit this time around can/should form committees in order to draft a new Oliwood Revised Code  § 213.1 provision to define the crime of Rape for Oliwood.  Perhaps aided by the provisions of ORC § 2907.2 (Rape), the new Oliwood Rape provision should cover only those offenses that should qualify as a felony of the first degree and thus be eligible for a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under the terms of MPC § 6.06(1).

The rape reform drafts developed by the committee(s) will be the basis for discussion during our Tuesday legislative session.

Specifics for (last?) administration of practice exam(s)

I have reserved Room 354  on Tuesday, October 19 starting at 11:00am for another administration of the practice exam. 

I will plan to give to all those students who show up just the "original" practice exam (the one for which there is a memo reviewing the substance).  But anyone who has already taken the original and now would like to take on a different question should let me know ASAP.  I will happily bring an alternative practice question for those who are gluttons for this kind of practice punishment.