Bar Exam — Criminal Law & Procedure (MBE subject) flashcards
10 of 80 cards free to study here · 9 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys
Black-letter criminal law and procedure: homicide, theft and other crimes, inchoate crimes, accomplices, mens rea and omissions, defenses and burdens, and Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendment rules with common-law vs MPC notes. Not affiliated with or endorsed by NCBE.
Learn deck · part of Bar exam (MBE subjects) · written against: NCBE MBE subject matter outline, edition dated 11/16/20; Supreme Court decisions through the October 2024 Term. Updated 2026-10-10.
Study the free sample
10 cards from the deck as they are. Flip, rate yourself, filter by topic; your progress stays in this browser.
Tap the card or press Space to flip
The 10 sample cards as a list
-
Which mental states satisfy malice aforethought for common-law murder?Intent to kill, intent to inflict serious bodily injury, reckless indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life (depraved heart), and intent to commit a qualifying felony (felony murder). Any one of the four, with an unlawful killing, is murder.Homicide › Murder
-
To scare passengers, D fires a rifle into the side of a moving passenger train and kills a rider he did not see. He did not intend to hit anyone. Is it murder?Yes — depraved-heart murder: a killing caused by conduct showing extreme, conscious disregard of a very high risk to human life. Intent to kill is unnecessary when the risk is this obvious and unjustified.Homicide › Murder
Watch out: the MPC treats this as murder too: recklessness manifesting extreme indifference to human life. -
D takes his neighbor's bicycle without permission, intending to return it the next day; the next morning he decides to keep it. Is D guilty of larceny?Yes — under the continuing trespass doctrine, a wrongful taking without intent to steal becomes larceny when the taker later forms the intent to permanently deprive. Larceny is the trespassory taking and carrying away of another's personal property with intent to permanently deprive.Other Crimes › Theft Offenses
-
D shoots V intending only to wound him seriously; V survives. Can D be convicted of attempted murder?No — attempt requires the specific intent to bring about the completed crime, so attempted murder requires intent to kill. Intent to cause serious bodily harm or extreme recklessness would support murder if death resulted, but not attempted murder.Inchoate Crimes › Attempt and Solicitation
Watch out: attempt also needs a substantial step (MPC) or dangerous proximity to success (common law), beyond mere preparation. -
D stands silently on the sidewalk watching a friend break into a car; D gave no help or encouragement. Is D an accomplice?No — mere presence at a crime scene, even with knowledge, does not make one an accomplice. Accomplice liability requires aiding, counseling or encouraging the principal with intent that the crime be committed; an accomplice is then guilty of that crime and, in many jurisdictions, other foreseeable crimes.Parties › Accomplice Liability
-
What are the four MPC culpability levels, from most to least culpable?Purposely (conscious object), knowingly (aware the result is practically certain or the circumstance exists), recklessly (conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk) and negligently (should have been aware of such a risk). Recklessness requires actual awareness; negligence does not.General Principles › Mens Rea
-
Police inspect trash bags a homeowner left at the curb for pickup. Is that a Fourth Amendment search?No — a search occurs only when government intrudes on a reasonable expectation of privacy or physically trespasses on a person, house, paper or effect to gather information. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in trash left for collection, open fields, or what can be seen from public places or public airspace.Fourth Amendment › Searches and Warrants
-
A police officer stops a driver for speeding and asks, "Have you been drinking?" without Miranda warnings. Is the answer admissible?Yes — Miranda warnings are required only for custodial interrogation, and an ordinary traffic stop is not custody. Custody means a reasonable person would not feel free to leave and the setting carries the coercive pressures of a station-house interrogation.Fifth Amendment › Miranda and Confessions
-
After D is indicted, police place an informant in his cell who deliberately draws out incriminating statements. Are the statements admissible?No — once the Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches at the start of formal adversary proceedings (indictment, information, formal charge or arraignment), the government may not deliberately elicit statements without counsel or a valid waiver. Before charges, an informant's questioning does not violate Miranda or the Sixth Amendment.Sixth Amendment › Counsel · Confrontation and Identification
-
What are the main punishments the Supreme Court has held categorically cruel and unusual?Death for crimes committed under 18, for intellectually disabled or presently incompetent offenders, and for non-homicide crimes against individuals; life without parole for juvenile non-homicide crimes; and mandatory life without parole for any juvenile.Eighth Amendment › Punishment
Watch out: an accomplice in a felony murder who did not kill may be executed only if he intended a killing or was a major participant showing reckless indifference to life.
Unlock the whole deck
You are studying a free 10-card sample. All 80 cards of Bar Exam — Criminal Law & Procedure (MBE subject), the other 10 Bar exam (MBE subjects) decks, and spaced-repetition scheduling are built into Willys. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.
In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.
More Bar exam (MBE subjects) decks
← All Bar exam (MBE subjects) decks, with the study guide and topic outline.
About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Checked against the Model Penal Code (reference only; no wording reproduced), the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court holdings (public domain).
These are independent study notes written for Willys. They are not official exam material, may contain mistakes, and are no substitute for your course, your teacher or the exam owner's own publications. Found an error? Tell us — corrections ship as a new version of the deck.
Not legal advice. These cards prepare you for the bar exam's multistate subjects; they state general rules tested on the exam, not the law of any particular jurisdiction, and the law changes.
MBE® is a registered trademark of the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse this product.
Use of these pages is covered by our Terms of Use.