Suspendatur!

This exercise is designed as a review for students taking the basic first year course in criminal law. Suspendatur! (Latin for “let him be hanged”, the final entry in medieval plea rolls in capital cases) is patterned after the familiar game of hangman, in which each wrong answer adds a part to a stick figure on the gibbet. The student must answer multiple choice and true-false questions based on hypothetical situations. Each right or wrong answer provides substantive feedback in what aims to be at least a mildly humorous fashion.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Review Criminal Law issues addressed in the basic first year course in criminal law.
2. Distinguish between manslaughter and murder under common law.
3. Review fact patterns addressing crimes of rape, assault, and incest under the Model Penal Code.
4. Distinguish between reckless homicide and negligent homicide under the Model Penal Code.
5. Distinguish between strong and weak arguments for both the prosecution and the defense.