As some of my readers may be aware, I've been spending the summer preparing to take the New York Bar Exam. The stress and difficulty of this process is not a proper subject for a post on this blog, however I would like to share one sample multiple choice question which I encountered today in the course of my practice test-taking. This is a question that is supposed to prepare test-takers for the Multistate Bar Examination, or MBE, which is the second day of the bar exam in many states:
Gorby wanted to kill Yeltsin in the most horrible manner possible. He knew that Yeltsin had difficulty sleeping and took medication which nearly rendered him (Yeltsin) unconscious during the night. Gorby decided to burn down Yeltsin's house as Yeltsin slept, and seized his opportunity one night after they had finished playing chess. Yeltsin had taken his medication and was sleeping deeply.(c) Kaplan / PMBR
Gorby got a coffee cup, filled it with lighter fluid, lit a cigarette, and put the cup underneath Yeltsin's bed with the burning cigarette balanced on the cup's edge. Gorby knew that as the cigarette burned, it would tip and fall into the cup of lighter fluid, setting the bed on fire. Gorby then left the house. The igniter worked just as Gorby had planned, except that Yeltsin's housekeeper smelled the smoke and called for help before the bed could ignite.
Yeltsin was killed by the toxic fumes emitted by the burning lighter fluid, but there was no other damage to Yeltsin's home except the blackening of the ceiling of the bedroom from the dense smoke.
If Gorby is prosecuted for arson of Yeltsin's house, he should be found... [multiple choice options omitted]
8 comments:
Uh, so what's the right answer?
OK, I was going to leave the multiple choices out to avoid the ire of PMBR, who guard their intellectual property fiercely, but here they are:
(A) Guilty, because Yeltsin's home was burned during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony.
(B) Guilty, because the ceiling was blackened by the smoke from the burning lighter fluid.
(C) Not guilty, because there was insufficient damage to the structure of the house.
(D) Not guilty, because Gorby did not have the specific intent to burn down the house.
This is actually a pretty easy question, especially compared to some of the ones dealing with property, mortgages and rules of evidence.
By the way, the correct answer is C.
That is amazing.
Kristy, it is certainly amazing in some sense, but to be honest, I'm sort of ashamed to admit I'm seeking to become part of a profession which has people go through a day of such questions as a hazing ritual. When are you coming back Stateside?
Absurd in a Kharmsian way :) Also, I wonder if you're using a pre- or post-Litvinenko poisoning edition...
There is much that is absurd about the bar exam. Today I found myself wishing I could take my camera in to photograph the scene at the test-taking center.
As for the timeliness of the question, I think they recycle some of these questions from years past or use mock/practice questions written years ago, so although the books are all brand-new, some of the questions start to show their age after awhile. Or perhaps this reveals that the last time most Americans paid attention to Russia was in 1990-92.
Anyway, poisoning is not a fact pattern commonly tested on the bar exam (I guess it could be a battery, or a homicide if the person dies (manslaughter or murder, depending on the level of intent or recklessness), or attempted murder if intent could be shown).
My answer would have been D, because the intention was killing Yelstin, not burning the house. Although I'm not a Criminal Lawyer, I would say Gorby should be charged anyway, and the charges against him would be preterintentional murder.
I wish you luck on your Bar Test, future colleague.
All the best from Peru.
That's simply bizarre.
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