Practice Test Flashcards
7 cards from real Multistate Bar Exam practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Practice Test flashcards as text
A statute makes it a crime to 'knowingly possess a firearm with an obliterated serial number.' The defendant claims he did not know the serial number was obliterated. What mental state must the prosecution prove?
Answer: The prosecution must prove the defendant knew the firearm had an obliterated serial number
When a statute uses 'knowingly,' the MPC and most courts require the prosecution to prove the defendant was aware of each material element, including the obliteration of the serial number.
A homeowner hires a contractor to build a deck. The contractor negligently constructs a defective railing. A guest of the homeowner falls through the railing and is injured. Under respondeat superior, is the homeowner liable?
Answer: No, because the contractor is an independent contractor, not an employee
Respondeat superior does not extend to independent contractors; an employer is generally not liable for the torts of an independent contractor unless an exception such as non-delegable duty applies.
Congress passes a law prohibiting states from enacting any regulations governing the disposal of nuclear waste. A state thereafter enacts such regulations. Are the state regulations valid?
Answer: No, because Congress has expressly preempted the field of nuclear waste regulation
Under the Supremacy Clause, when Congress expressly preempts a field, state laws in that field are void regardless of the state's police power interest.
An adverse possessor has openly, continuously, and exclusively used a neighbor's land for 9 years in a jurisdiction with a 10-year statute. The original owner conveys the land to a bona fide purchaser. Does the clock reset?
Answer: No, because adverse possession runs against successive owners and the statute does not reset on transfer
Adverse possession runs against the land and not just the person; transferring the land to a new owner does not restart the statute of limitations, and the adverse possessor's period of possession tacks against all successive owners.
A plaintiff's attorney wants to call the defendant as a witness in the plaintiff's case-in-chief. Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, can the plaintiff's attorney use leading questions when examining the defendant?
Answer: Yes, because the defendant is a hostile witness or adverse party, permitting leading questions
Under FRE 611(c), a party may use leading questions when examining a witness who is an adverse party or identified with an adverse party, without needing to establish hostility.
A debtor files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. A creditor holds a security interest in the debtor's car that was perfected 80 days before the bankruptcy filing. The trustee seeks to avoid the lien as a preference. Is the lien avoidable?
Answer: Yes, because the lien was perfected within 90 days before filing
Under 11 U.S.C. § 547, a trustee may avoid a transfer (including perfection of a security interest) made within 90 days before the bankruptcy petition while the debtor was insolvent, as a preferential transfer.
A city ordinance prohibits all door-to-door solicitation without a permit. A religious group challenges the ordinance as a violation of the First Amendment. What is the most likely outcome?
Answer: The ordinance is unconstitutional if it gives officials unbridled discretion to deny permits
The Supreme Court in Watchtower Bible & Tract Society v. Village of Stratton held that permit requirements for door-to-door solicitation are unconstitutional when they vest officials with discretion to deny permits without clear standards.