QUESTION 1
Doug worked at ABC, Inc., until he was fired for tardiness. When he left, Doug hid the
laptop computer the company had let him use in his briefcase and took it with him.
The next day Violet, Doug’s former manager at ABC, Inc., discovered the laptop was
missing. Violet telephoned Doug and told him that she planned to call the police about
the missing laptop. Doug apologized and pleaded with Violet not to call the police and
said he would meet with her to return the laptop. Before his meeting with Violet, Doug
slipped a pistol into his pocket.
At the meeting with Violet, Doug explained that he took the laptop because the
company had never paid him what he was worth and urged her not to call the police.
Violet disagreed with Doug’s claim that he was underpaid and called the police. Doug
took out the pistol and shot Violet in the chest. Although she didn’t die, Violet was
rendered unconscious. Doug dragged Violet outside and put her in the trunk of his car.
He then drove out of town and dumped Violet by the side of the road.
Violet was in a coma for six months, but died after her husband took her off life
support.
Doug can be charged with larceny, battery, and murder. The mental state required for involuntary
manslaughter is criminal negligence, and the facts indicate that Doug acted with greater mental culpability
(deliberation or recklessness).
Larceny is the wrongful or trespassory taking and carrying away of tangible personal property of another
with intent to permanently deprive the other of the property according to the article 624 of the codice
penale.
Here, Doug’s hiding the laptop in his briefcase, and carrying it away was wrongful or trespassory. Although
as an employee of ABC Doug had been permitted to use the laptop, after he was fired and told to leave,
that permission expired. By hiding the laptop, he undercuts any claim that he might have somehow been
entitled to take it. The element of intent to permanently deprive applies to the time of the taking and
carrying away.
Battery (article 582) is an unlawful application of force to another person resulting in either bodily injury or
an offensive touching. A battery need not be intentional, and may be the result of recklessness or criminal
negligence. In common law, a battery that results in serious bodily injury is aggravated battery.
Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Malice aforethought exists if the
defendant has the intent to kill, or the intent to inflict great bodily injury, or if he acts with reckless
indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life, or if the killing is done in the course of the
commission of a felony. Intentional use of a deadly weapon gives rise to a permissive inference of intent to
kill.
Here, the fact that Doug concealed a pistol in his pocket suggests that he planned and intended to kill Violet
if he could not talk her out of calling the police. A person acts recklessly when he consciously disregards a
substantial or unjustifiable risk that a certain result will follow, and this disregard constitutes a gross
deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would use under similar circumstances. By
shooting Violet in the chest with a pistol, Doug consciously disregarded the risk that she would be killed.
Doug worked at ABC, Inc., until he was fired for tardiness. When he left, Doug hid the
laptop computer the company had let him use in his briefcase and took it with him.
The next day Violet, Doug’s former manager at ABC, Inc., discovered the laptop was
missing. Violet telephoned Doug and told him that she planned to call the police about
the missing laptop. Doug apologized and pleaded with Violet not to call the police and
said he would meet with her to return the laptop. Before his meeting with Violet, Doug
slipped a pistol into his pocket.
At the meeting with Violet, Doug explained that he took the laptop because the
company had never paid him what he was worth and urged her not to call the police.
Violet disagreed with Doug’s claim that he was underpaid and called the police. Doug
took out the pistol and shot Violet in the chest. Although she didn’t die, Violet was
rendered unconscious. Doug dragged Violet outside and put her in the trunk of his car.
He then drove out of town and dumped Violet by the side of the road.
Violet was in a coma for six months, but died after her husband took her off life
support.
Doug can be charged with larceny, battery, and murder. The mental state required for involuntary
manslaughter is criminal negligence, and the facts indicate that Doug acted with greater mental culpability
(deliberation or recklessness).
Larceny is the wrongful or trespassory taking and carrying away of tangible personal property of another
with intent to permanently deprive the other of the property according to the article 624 of the codice
penale.
Here, Doug’s hiding the laptop in his briefcase, and carrying it away was wrongful or trespassory. Although
as an employee of ABC Doug had been permitted to use the laptop, after he was fired and told to leave,
that permission expired. By hiding the laptop, he undercuts any claim that he might have somehow been
entitled to take it. The element of intent to permanently deprive applies to the time of the taking and
carrying away.
Battery (article 582) is an unlawful application of force to another person resulting in either bodily injury or
an offensive touching. A battery need not be intentional, and may be the result of recklessness or criminal
negligence. In common law, a battery that results in serious bodily injury is aggravated battery.
Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Malice aforethought exists if the
defendant has the intent to kill, or the intent to inflict great bodily injury, or if he acts with reckless
indifference to an unjustifiably high risk to human life, or if the killing is done in the course of the
commission of a felony. Intentional use of a deadly weapon gives rise to a permissive inference of intent to
kill.
Here, the fact that Doug concealed a pistol in his pocket suggests that he planned and intended to kill Violet
if he could not talk her out of calling the police. A person acts recklessly when he consciously disregards a
substantial or unjustifiable risk that a certain result will follow, and this disregard constitutes a gross
deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would use under similar circumstances. By
shooting Violet in the chest with a pistol, Doug consciously disregarded the risk that she would be killed.
