Diet Coke Esq.
← All attack sequences Attack Sequences · Criminal Law & Procedure

Criminal Law & Procedure—MBE Attack Sequences

Step-by-step attack sequences for each Criminal Law & Procedure sub-topic, ordered most-tested-first. Run the sequence, lock the key rules, then drill the matching flowchart.

Where the points are

The zones this subject leans on hardest, and the traps that catch people.

Most tested
Homicide (murder, the manslaughter categories, and felony murder), the other crimes and their intent levels, accomplice liability, and the procedure amendments—Fourth (search and seizure, warrant exceptions), Fifth (Miranda, self-incrimination), and Sixth (right to counsel).
Classic traps
Specific vs. general intent and how it interacts with defenses; merger; when Miranda actually applies (custody plus interrogation, both required); standing to challenge a search (reasonable expectation of privacy); the difference between the Fifth and Sixth Amendment right to counsel and when each attaches.
  1. Homicide
  2. Crimes Against Persons & Property
  3. Inchoate Crimes & Accomplice Liability
  4. Defenses
  5. Fourth Amendment: Search & Seizure
  6. Fifth & Sixth Amendments: Confessions & Counsel
1

Homicide

Attack sequence

  1. Start with murder Unlawful killing with malice aforethought: intent to kill, intent to inflict serious bodily injury, depraved heart, or felony murder.
  2. Felony murder A death proximately caused during a dangerous felony (burglary, arson, rape, robbery, kidnapping).
  3. Voluntary manslaughter Murder mitigated by adequate provocation (reasonable person loses control, no cooling off) or imperfect self-defense.
  4. Involuntary manslaughter An unintentional killing by criminal negligence or during an unlawful act that is not a felony-murder predicate.
  5. Degrees First degree needs premeditation and deliberation; other malice killings are second degree.
▶Walk the Homicide flowchart →
2

Crimes Against Persons & Property

Attack sequence

  1. Persons Battery (harmful/offensive contact), assault (attempted battery or fear of imminent battery), kidnapping, false imprisonment, rape.
  2. Larceny Trespassory taking and carrying away of another's property with intent to permanently deprive, formed at the time of taking.
  3. Robbery Larceny from the person or presence by force or intimidation.
  4. Embezzlement vs false pretenses Embezzlement = fraudulent conversion of property already in lawful possession; false pretenses = obtaining title by a false statement of fact.
  5. Larceny by trick Obtaining possession (not title) by a false representation.
  6. Burglary and arson Burglary = breaking and entering the dwelling of another with intent to commit a felony inside; arson = malicious burning.
3

Inchoate Crimes & Accomplice Liability

Attack sequence

  1. Solicitation Enticing another to commit a crime with intent that it be committed; merges into the completed crime.
  2. Attempt Specific intent plus a substantial step; legal impossibility is a defense, factual impossibility is not; merges.
  3. Conspiracy Agreement to commit a crime plus (majority) an overt act; does not merge; each conspirator is liable for foreseeable crimes in furtherance.
  4. Withdrawal Not a defense to conspiracy itself but cuts off liability for later crimes if communicated to all.
  5. Accomplice Aiding or encouraging with intent that the crime be committed; liable for the planned crime and foreseeable ones.
4

Defenses

Attack sequence

  1. Self-defense Reasonable belief of imminent unlawful force; deadly force only against a threat of death or serious injury.
  2. Defense of others Same right the third person would have.
  3. Duress Coercion by threat of imminent death or serious harm, but never a defense to murder.
  4. Intoxication Voluntary intoxication negates only specific intent; involuntary intoxication is a broader defense.
  5. Insanity Under M'Naghten, a disease of the mind so that the defendant did not know the nature of the act or that it was wrong.
5

Fourth Amendment: Search & Seizure

Attack sequence

  1. Government conduct The Fourth Amendment reaches only government action.
  2. Reasonable expectation of privacy + standing The defendant must have a privacy interest and standing to object.
  3. Warrant A search is presumptively unreasonable without a warrant based on probable cause and particularity.
  4. Warrant exceptions Search incident to arrest, automobile, plain view, consent, stop and frisk, hot pursuit, and exigent circumstances.
  5. Exclusionary rule Illegally obtained evidence and its fruits are suppressed, subject to independent source, inevitable discovery, and good faith.
▶Walk the the 4th Amendment flowchart →
6

Fifth & Sixth Amendments: Confessions & Counsel

Attack sequence

  1. Miranda trigger Warnings are required before custodial interrogation.
  2. Custody and interrogation Custody = significant deprivation of freedom; interrogation = words or acts likely to elicit an incriminating response.
  3. Waiver and invocation A waiver must be knowing, voluntary, and intelligent; invocation of counsel or silence must be clear and stops questioning.
  4. Fifth Amendment counsel Once counsel is invoked, all interrogation must cease.
  5. Sixth Amendment counsel Offense-specific right that attaches at formal charges.
  6. Voluntariness A confession coerced by police conduct violates due process regardless of Miranda.
▶Walk the Miranda flowchart →

A study aid in my own words, not legal advice—always confirm against your bar's materials.