Are the Texas definitions of "bodily injury" and "serious bodily injury" so ambiguous as to provide too much discretion to the prosecutor on whether conduct is a felony or a misdemeanor?
What will be an ideal response?
Answers will vary but students might note as follows:
• Prosecutors are supposed to exercise discretion in their jobs.
• Jurors should get to decide whether an injury is so severe as to warrant a prison sentence.
• This is arguably a non-problem as most actions that cause serious bodily injury likely involve use of a deadly weapon, which is clearly covered by the aggravated assault statute.
• The permanent/protracted loss requirement is a valid division.
• The most ambiguous part of the definition is the term "bodily member" in the definition of serious bodily injury. Perhaps the legislature should specify impairment or loss of which bodily members are covered to reduce the arguably unfair elevation to a felony of the dislocated toe and loss of tooth cases.
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All of the evidence so far points to the conclusion—happiness is good for you and those around you. What is "happiness"?
a. A continual high of elation. b. A state of ecstasy. c. An absence of all negative emotions. d. Feeling positive most of the time. e. All are correct
Which of the following people would be placed in Level II of the criminal justice "wedding cake"?
A. A noted celebrity who is arrested for shooting her bodyguard. B. A stranger who uses a weapon to commit violent act. C. An individual who is arrested for public drunkenness. D. A first-time offender who assaults a friend.
Answer the following statement(s) true (T) or false (F)
1. The UCR is a “summary-based system,” meaning these data are a summary, or total count, of crimes based on the reporting agencies. 2. Homicides are less likely to be underreported compared to other crimes counted in the UCR. 3. Compared to other offenses such as forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, homicide offenses are less likely to have details about the incident, such as the victims and/or offenders. 4. SHR collects additional information pertaining to the incident including details of the murder victim and offender, their relationship to one another, the weapon used, and the circumstances in each criminal homicide. 5. The NVSS data is a subset of the General Social Survey (GSS).
In order to establish ________, the Model Penal Code (MPC) requires a person to act with the purpose of promoting or facilitating a crime in order to be held liable as an accomplice by an act of omission.
A. an actus reus B. the agency theory C. mens rea D. a conspiracy