[HARVARD - CRIMINAL LAW - JAN 2000] ++

[김흥한]

CRIMINAL LAW, SECTION IIC
Professor Parker

Distributed Monday, January 10 between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. in Ropes Gray Lobby
Due Monday, January 10 to be turned in between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. in Ropes Gray Lobby

January 10, 2000



This is an open book exam. You may refer to any materials you have brought with you.

You must answer two questions. In grading, weight will be allocated between them as follows: 50% for Question I and 50% for Question II.

Your answer to each question should be around 1500 words. If you are using a word processor, please print the word count at the end of each answer. Otherwise, please write your estimated word count at the end of each one.

Because this is an 8-hour, take-home exam, you should not have to shoot from the hip. Take time to think and organize. Then, write as clearly and concisely as possible. Try to show me that you have mastered the course, that you can break down problems of criminal law analytically and that you have thought deeply and systematically about these problems.

Good luck.

QUESTION I

(50%)

Suggested Length: Around 1500 Words



"She’s a notorious paranoid," said the Ames City Chief of Detectives. "But," he added, "we’d better play along with her -- or else we’ll get caught in her web ourselves." Pausing, he looked sympathetically at Detective Langdell. "That’s where you come in," he concluded.

The Chief was talking about Clara Clark, the richest, most reclusive citizen of Ames City, who lived by herself in a vast penthouse overlooking the city harbor. Actually, she didn’t live "by herself." For in the penthouse there were also two maids, two cooks, a nurse and a handyman. Over the years, Clark had often called the Chief to report "plots" against her and to demand immediate help. On one occasion, she had claimed that enemies were shooting laser beams through her window; on another, that they were pumping poison into her air conditioning; and on another, that they kept stealing her eyeglasses. Each time, the Chief had expressed concern and, with a groan, had gone through the motions of a response. The reason was that Clara Clark was simply too prominent and too wealthy to be ignored, much less dismissed.

Recently, Clark called to report that one of her servants was trying to scare her to death. Someone, she claimed, was leaving cloves of garlic for her -- on her breakfast tray, on her dressing table, on her wheelchair, on her pillow. "Whoever it is," she said, " is telling me I’m a vampire. Next thing, there’s going to be a stake in my heart." As usual, the Chief rolled his eyes. But then he saw an opportunity to put a stop to the old woman’s calls. He said to Detective Langdell: "I am putting you over there. She’s agreed to send one cook on vacation and take you on as an undercover replacement for a week. I’ve promised her that you’ll look out for cloves of garlic. Make it seem like a serious investigation. But when you find nothing, confront her and try to get her to stop bothering us. Report to me each night by phone. I know this won’t be fun. But if you get the job done, there’ll be something in it for you." Langdell nodded. She had applied for a promotion; she needed the higher salary to support her disabled son; and she saw this as her chance.

Langdell’s first report to the Chief was straightforward. She said she’d found no garlic in the kitchen or anywhere else. (Clark had, of course, banned it.) But she had not been able to search the bedrooms of the various servants. For they seemed as paranoid as their employer. They kept their rooms locked at all times. All she could do was hang around in the shadows and peek in for a moment as they opened their doors. She had, in this manner, spotted one "suspicious" thing -- a brown paper grocery store bag on a bureau in one bedroom, the one belonging to George Griswold, the handyman. But that was all. And she had another worry. In her hasty acceptance of the undercover job, she had neglected to mention that she was inexperienced in the kitchen. She was concerned she might make a mistake in preparing Clark’s food the next day. The Chief laughed off her fear. "Keep up the good work," he said.

Langdell’s second report evinced distress. Her cooking had been presented to Clara Clark for the first time. Clark had spat it out, shrieking that Langdell was trying to poison her. She had tried to apologize. But her apologies had elicited more abuse. "The woman’s a witch," she said. Again, the Chief advised her to settle down and get to the business of checking out the locked bedrooms. Of course, he also had to field a call from Clara Clark that night. He assured Clark that Langdell was not a poisoner. "I’ll give her two more days," Clark angrily announced.

Langdell’s third report exuded despair. Not only had Clark continued to shriek wild charges against Langdell and other servants -- but a clove of garlic had actually shown up floating in her wine glass! What was worse, there had been a note under the glass. Printed on it were these words: "Vampire! Your Time Has Come!" This had driven Clark to a crescendo of hysterical abuse. The servants shared in the panic. Langdell was at the end of her rope. She said: "The woman’s a monster. I admit I hate her. I can’t help sympathizing with whoever is after her. Maybe I should be relieved from this assignment." The Chief responded: "Stop that sort of talk. The garlic and the note are probably a bad joke. But time is of the essence now. Smoke out the troublemaker. Any chance of a promotion depends on it. Do it. Do it fast. Goodbye."

The next night, there was no report by phone. Instead, a fire alarm was received from the penthouse. Arriving with the fire fighters were police officers, including the Chief. They found the place filled with thick smoke. Flames were consuming curtains and upholstery in the huge living room at one corner of the penthouse. At the opposite corner was Detective Langdell, pounding on Clara Clark’s bedroom door. "It’s locked. She won’t come out!" Langdell cried. "Unlock the door. You’re safe now," called out the Chief. "Never!" croaked Clara Clark. One of the fire fighters axed down the door. He pulled out a desperately coughing Clark. As later examination showed, she had come very close to choking to death on the smoke in her room.

"It’s time for your final report," the Chief said to Langdell, once he had escorted her from the hall and sat her down in the kitchen. Langdell gasped out the following story: "It was what you said in our last conversation. You told me to do it fast. You told me to ‘smoke out’ the troublemaker. That gave me the idea. The way to get the others to open their bedroom doors and leave them open -- so I could go inside -- was to start a little fire in a waste basket in the living room after they’d gone to bed. That’s what I did. It worked. When the alarm went off, all the servants rushed out and down the fire stairs. I ran down the hall to look in their rooms. I looked in Griswold’s first. I saw the grocery bag on his bureau. I went in and found the garlic in the bag. But by the time I found it, the fire had spread to the curtains. I thought I was sure to die. I tried to rescue Clark. But I didn’t have a key to her room. I didn’t have any tools to jimmy the door. She refused to open it." Grimly, the Chief said: "You’re through as a cop. Give me your badge and the garlic cloves." Morosely, Langdell took the garlic from her pocket and handed it, along with her badge, to the Chief.

But that was not the end. Clara Clark has demanded that George Griswold and Detective Langdell be prosecuted. The officials of Ames City are, as usual, inclined to comply with her wishes.

Imagine that you are a law student taking an exam. You are asked to sketch arguments and counter-arguments that might arise with respect to the following problems:

(1) Problems of Substantive Criminal Liability.

(Assume for the moment that all evidence is admissible.)

(a) George Griswold: Is there a good case against him for attempted murder or for conspiracy to murder?

(b) Detective Langdell: Is there a good case against her for complicity in attempted murder or for conspiracy to murder?

(2) Problems of Admissibility of Evidence.

(a) The Garlic: Is the garlic admissible against Griswold or Langdell at trial?

(b) Langdell’s "Reports": Are Langdell’s reports (including the last one) to the Chief admissible against her or Griswold?



QUESTION II

(50%)

Suggested Length: Around 1500 Words



Answer either (A) or (B):



(A) Throughout the semester, Professor Parker asked how criminal law might be transformed if it were to take seriously the idea of evil: evil actions and evil actors. He went so far as to suggest that reconstruction of the law around the idea of evil -- as opposed to the idea of "blame" based on awareness, foresight and choice -- could enable development of a better understanding of its purpose and a limitation of its overextended scope. He suggested that such a reconstruction might, therefore, help stop the disintegration of "the rule of law" in criminal law and might even make of criminal law a means of stopping the disintegration of society as a whole. Professor Parker meant these suggestions to apply to issues covered in both halves of the semester.

Now that you have had the opportunity to review the whole course, please analyze and eval‎uate his suggestions. In doing so, please discuss specific legal issues addressed in both halves of the semester. Be sure to consider counter-arguments to your own views.

(B) In the last class, Professor Parker suggested using the criminal law to ask actors to "take" responsibility for behavior -- rather than simply to ask whether they "were" responsible for it. He had, in fact, made similar suggestions during discussions of what individuals and police officers "should" and "could" be expected to do in certain sorts of trying and/or disabling circumstances as well as during discussion of the role of counsel in the adversary system. The question is: To what extent were these suggestions in tension with another of the themes of the course -- his warnings about the risks of "excessive aspirationalism" in criminal law?

Now that you have had the opportunity to review the whole course, please answer this question. In doing so, please discuss specific legal issues addressed in both halves of the semester. Be sure to consider counter-arguments to your own views.

END OF EXAM