Stolen Property Mental State

One of the US Capitol rioters hit a police officer with a flagpole. She tells her defense lawyer that she was doing what, in her mind, then-President Trump commanded her to do. She was trying to "stop the steal," the officer was blocking her way to the Senate chamber, and so she "fought like hell" and used the flagpole to knock him out of her way. She believed, and still believes, that if the Commander in Chief tells you to do something, even assaulting a police officer, "it could not be illegal." Her lawyer nods and says, "If we can convince the jury that you really believed all that, then legally you should be be acquitted of assaulting the officer with the flagpole." Which is the better interpretation of the lawyer's assertion - true or false? Question * options: True False

Bentham proposed that "the more deficient in certainty a punishment is, the severer it should be." Which of the below assertions poses the most potent challenge to Bentham's proposal? Question * options: a) Societies that couple punishment with reintegration, if they exist, may have lower crime rates than those that couple punishment with stigmatization. b) The certainty of punishment tends to have more of a deterrent effect than does severity. c) Not all members of a society reap the same benefits from the "social contract," and therefore cannot be held equally accountable for violating it.

Chad sees another person being violently mugged and does nothing. The victim suffers serious injuries. The level of injury elevates the mugger's criminal responsibility from misdemeanor simple assault to felony aggravated assault. Under the terms of Wis. Stat. Ann. *.* (casebook p. *), of what crime might Chad be convicted? Question * options: a) Misdemeanor failure to aid the victim or report the crime. b) Felony aggravated assault, if he had assumed a contractual duty to care for the victim. c) Misdemeanor simple assault, if he had assumed a contractual duty to care for the victim.