MPTC CRIMINAL LAW QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
They interfere with social order or violate common morals, values, norms or customs of
decency - Answer -Crimes against the public are considered harmful to society
because
The public at large - Answer -The victim for most crimes against the public is
• gambling
• prostitution
• disorderly conduct
• weapons offenses
• drug and alcohol crimes - Answer -Common crimes against the public include
False statements, inconsistent statements and false statement in a document - Answer
-three types of perjury
Accepting a bribe - Answer -(1) a public employee may never, with corrupt intent;
(2) ask, demand or agree to receive anything of value;
(3) in exchange for an official favor, fraud on a public agency or promising to take any
action or official inaction
Corrupt intent - Answer -a direct or indirect offer to provide something of value for
official action or inaction. Commonwealth v. Qualter, 19 Mass. App. Ct. 970 (1985)
Direct evidence - Answer -directly links a person to a crime and without the need of any
additional evidence or inference.
For example, a video recording of offender robbing the convenience store while holding
a gun.
Circumstantial evidence - Answer -relies on an inference to connect a conclusion of
fact
Physical evidence - Answer -tangible and may be direct or circumstantial
Includes objects, property or items seized at crime scenes or during searches
Testimonial evidence - Answer -evidence that may be direct or circumstantial. It
includes first-hand statements made by victims, witnesses, suspects or police.
• statements made directly to police
• spontaneous utterances overheard by witnesses
, • written statements
• interview and interrogation recordings - Answer -Examples of testimonial evidence
can include
Spontaneous utterances - Answer -out-of-court statements uttered during the heat of
the moment while under stress or excitement.
These negate premeditation or fabrication and tend to qualify, characterize, or explain
an underlying event.
Testify about what the witness said to him or her, even if the witness did not testify at
trial. - Answer -If the spontaneous utterance hearsay exception applies, an officer could
Exculpatory evidence - Answer -refers to evidence and/or statements which tend to
clear, justify or excuse a defendant from alleged fault or guilt. Police and prosecutors
are obligated to disclose this evidence to the defense.
Relevant and reliable - Answer -For evidence to be admissible in court, it must be
Relevant - Answer -evidence is ______________ if it has any tendency to make a fact
more or less probable than it would be without the evidence
(1) Evidence must tend to prove or disprove a particular fact, and
(2) The particular fact must be material to an issue of consequence in the case -
Answer -The concept of relevancy has two components which are
Reliability - Answer -means the evidence has not been tampered with and in
substantially the same condition as evidence originally seized by police when presented
in court
Chain of custody - Answer -To prevent loss, destruction, tampering and contamination,
physical evidence must be collected and packaged properly using a reliable
(1) Date, time and location evidence was seized
(2) Name of officer who seized evidence
(3) All dates and times evidence were received or transferred to another person
(4) Names of all people who came in contact with evidence
(5) Full description of evidence for positive identification - Answer -Best practices for
chain-of-custody include documenting
They interfere with social order or violate common morals, values, norms or customs of
decency - Answer -Crimes against the public are considered harmful to society
because
The public at large - Answer -The victim for most crimes against the public is
• gambling
• prostitution
• disorderly conduct
• weapons offenses
• drug and alcohol crimes - Answer -Common crimes against the public include
False statements, inconsistent statements and false statement in a document - Answer
-three types of perjury
Accepting a bribe - Answer -(1) a public employee may never, with corrupt intent;
(2) ask, demand or agree to receive anything of value;
(3) in exchange for an official favor, fraud on a public agency or promising to take any
action or official inaction
Corrupt intent - Answer -a direct or indirect offer to provide something of value for
official action or inaction. Commonwealth v. Qualter, 19 Mass. App. Ct. 970 (1985)
Direct evidence - Answer -directly links a person to a crime and without the need of any
additional evidence or inference.
For example, a video recording of offender robbing the convenience store while holding
a gun.
Circumstantial evidence - Answer -relies on an inference to connect a conclusion of
fact
Physical evidence - Answer -tangible and may be direct or circumstantial
Includes objects, property or items seized at crime scenes or during searches
Testimonial evidence - Answer -evidence that may be direct or circumstantial. It
includes first-hand statements made by victims, witnesses, suspects or police.
• statements made directly to police
• spontaneous utterances overheard by witnesses
, • written statements
• interview and interrogation recordings - Answer -Examples of testimonial evidence
can include
Spontaneous utterances - Answer -out-of-court statements uttered during the heat of
the moment while under stress or excitement.
These negate premeditation or fabrication and tend to qualify, characterize, or explain
an underlying event.
Testify about what the witness said to him or her, even if the witness did not testify at
trial. - Answer -If the spontaneous utterance hearsay exception applies, an officer could
Exculpatory evidence - Answer -refers to evidence and/or statements which tend to
clear, justify or excuse a defendant from alleged fault or guilt. Police and prosecutors
are obligated to disclose this evidence to the defense.
Relevant and reliable - Answer -For evidence to be admissible in court, it must be
Relevant - Answer -evidence is ______________ if it has any tendency to make a fact
more or less probable than it would be without the evidence
(1) Evidence must tend to prove or disprove a particular fact, and
(2) The particular fact must be material to an issue of consequence in the case -
Answer -The concept of relevancy has two components which are
Reliability - Answer -means the evidence has not been tampered with and in
substantially the same condition as evidence originally seized by police when presented
in court
Chain of custody - Answer -To prevent loss, destruction, tampering and contamination,
physical evidence must be collected and packaged properly using a reliable
(1) Date, time and location evidence was seized
(2) Name of officer who seized evidence
(3) All dates and times evidence were received or transferred to another person
(4) Names of all people who came in contact with evidence
(5) Full description of evidence for positive identification - Answer -Best practices for
chain-of-custody include documenting
