Criminal Law
The Criminal Law domain tests offense elements and defenses as they exist in Chapter 14 of the General Statutes and in North Carolina common law, plus the classification rules (felonies A–I; misdemeanors A1, 1, 2, 3) that drive sentencing.
Core rules
- Murder. G.S. 14-17 first-degree murder requires premeditation and deliberation, lying in wait, poison, torture, or a killing during an enumerated felony (arson, rape or a sex offense, robbery, kidnapping, burglary) or another felony committed with the aid of a deadly weapon. Second-degree murder is an unlawful killing with malice but no premeditation; a death during a non-enumerated felony is second-degree felony murder. Voluntary manslaughter negates malice via heat of passion on adequate provocation.
- Larceny. Trespassory taking and carrying away of another's personal property with intent to permanently deprive. Class H felony above $1,000 (G.S. 14-72); misdemeanor at or below.
- Burglary. North Carolina keeps the common law elements: first-degree burglary needs a breaking and entering, at nighttime, of another's dwelling, with intent to commit a felony inside, and the dwelling occupied or the intruder armed. Second-degree burglary drops the occupancy/arming element.
- Self-defense. G.S. 14-51.2–51.4 eliminate any duty to retreat in one's home or any place lawfully occupied, but the defense is unavailable to an aggressor or a felon. Deadly force is presumed reasonable against someone unlawfully and forcefully entering a home.
Worked example
A shopper conceals $1,300 of tools, walks past the registers, and is stopped in the lot. The taking is trespassory (no consent), asportation is satisfied by slight movement, and the intent existed at the taking: felony larceny. At $900 the same facts are misdemeanor larceny; if a clerk were shoved aside for the bag, the charge becomes robbery.
Traps
- Assuming any felony supports first-degree felony murder - the catch-all requires a deadly weapon.
- Treating voluntary intoxication as a complete defense; it only negates specific intent.
- Extending stand-your-ground to an aggressor.