Test Yourself this Humpday

My colleagues and I traversed the state last week speaking at fall conferences for various associations. One conference staple is the criminal law case update. I created a criminal law quiz for one such session, and I thought readers might want to try their hand at answering ten criminal law questions recently addressed by the appellate courts. So, here is your quiz:

1. A person calls 911 to report that a small green car, tag number 12345, being driven on Interstate I-40 had nearly run a few vehicles off the road. The caller states that the car ended up in an area known as Sleepy Hollow, hit a car there, and was attempting to leave the scene. An officer travels to Sleepy Hollow, where she sees a car matching this description, backing out of a parking lot. May she immediately stop the vehicle?

 

a. Yes

b. No

 

2. An officer sees the defendant, whom he has cited before for driving while license revoked and for an open container violation, sitting on a front porch drinking a beer at 9 p.m. At 10:30 p.m., the officer sees the defendant purchase a beer from the drink cooler in a nearby gas station and drive away. The officer follows the defendant for two or three blocks and pulls her over. Is this stop supported by reasonable suspicion?

 

a. Yes

b. No

 

3. While standing outside his patrol car, an officer sees a vehicle come down the road and hears the words “mother fucker” yelled in the vehicle. The officer is concerned that the occupants of the vehicle may be involved in an argument. May she stop the vehicle to make sure everyone inside is okay?

 

a. Yes

b. No

 

4. Officers knock on the front door of a suspect’s home. No one comes to the door, but the officers see a curtain move. An officer goes to the back of the home and knocks on the back door. No one answers. As the officer comes back to the front of the house, he smells marijuana and hears a fan loudly blowing from the crawl space. The officer looks between the fan slats and sees marijuana. May a search warrant properly be issued on these facts?

 

a. Yes

b. No

 

5. Officers arrive at an apartment complex to execute a search warrant for Abigail Adams’ apartment. When the officers arrive, Adams’ boyfriend, Brian Bard, is cleaning his car in the street adjacent to the apartment. May officers detain Bard while they execute the search warrant?

 

a. Yes

b. No

 

6. The defendant’s girlfriend turns over a thumb drive to a detective. She tells the detective that the thumb drive contains numerous photos in several files and that one of the photos is an image of her 9-year-old daughter sleeping, exposed from the waist up. She cannot tell the detective precisely which folders on the thumb drive she searched. May the detective search the contents of the thumb drive without a warrant in order to verify the girlfriend’s report?

 

a. Yes

b. No

 

7. An elementary school student writes “BOMB INCOMING” on the wall of the boys’ bathroom at school. The student does not, in fact, know of any plans to bomb the school and has made no such plans himself. Has the student made a false report concerning mass violence on educational property?

 

a. Yes

b. No

 

8. Defendant is treated at the hospital for gunshot wounds he sustained when he tried to rob the victim. The defendant provides another person’s name, date of birth and address. As a result, a warrant for arrest is issued under this false identity. May the defendant properly be charged with identity theft for using identifying information of another person to avoid legal consequences?

 

a. Yes

b. No

 

9. May a certified Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) who did not personally examine the defendant testify as to her opinion about whether the defendant was impaired and by what category of substance based her review of a laboratory analysis of the defendant’s blood, a discussion with the arresting officer, and a review of the officer’s reports?

 

a. Yes

b. No

 

10. Dan Defendant is convicted of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. The charges arose from a single incident in which Dan was stopped by a law enforcement officer for following another vehicle too closely. The trial court enters a separate judgment for each offense. May the trial court assess two court costs?

 

a. Yes

b. No

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