Congress passed a bill prohibiting the president from granting a pardon to any person who had not served at least one-third of the sentence imposed by the court which convicted that person. The President vetoed the bill claiming that it was unconstitutional. Nevertheless, Congress passed it over the President’s veto by a two-thirds vote of each house.

This act of Congress is:

A. Constitutional, because it was enacted over the President’s veto by a two-thirds vote of each house.

B. Constitutional, because it is a necessary and proper means of carrying out the powers of Congress.

C. Unconstitutional, because it interferes with the plenary power of the President to grant pardons.

D. Unconstitutional, because a presidential veto based upon constitutional grounds may be overridden only with the concurrence of three-fourths of the state legislatures.

In a criminal prosecution for a robbery which took place on June 1, the defendant took the stand and denied that he had committed the crime. On cross-examination, the defendant was asked if he had assaulted a police officer on December 1.

Upon objection, the trial judge should rule the question:

A. Inadmissible, because prior bad acts can only be proven by extrinsic evidence.

B. Inadmissible, because it is not relevant on the issue of the defendant’s credibility.

C. Admissible, because the prosecution may inquire into specific instances of conduct on cross-examination.

D. Admissible, because it lays the foundation which is necessary before the act may be proven by extrinsic evidence.

A driver takes his new sedan on a test drive. The new car features a car phone that records telephone conversations at the driver’s option. During the test drive, the sedan driver places and records a call to his friend, using his new car phone. As the sedan driver rounds a curve on the road, he remarks to his friend, “There is a large truck with license plate number 789123H which is about to force a jeep off the road.” Subsequently, the jeep was forced off the road by the truck, and the jeep driver was injured. The truck continued on its way without stopping.

The sedan driver assisted at the accident scene and permitted the investigating police officer to listen to the recorded telephone conversation and to make a copy of it on her portable tape recorder. The jeep driver traced the owner of the truck through the license plate number and brought suit against the truck driver for her injuries.

At the trial, the sedan driver is called as a witness by the plaintiff (the jeep driver). Although he testifies generally about the accident, he cannot remember the license plate number of the car.

The plaintiff then calls the officer, who establishes the circumstances under which she recorded the sedan driver’s conversation with his friend and then proposes to play for the jury that portion of the recording dealing with the license plate number.

The trial judge should rule that the playing of the recording is:

A. Admissible only as a past recollection recorded.

B. Admissible only as a present sense impression.

C. Admissible either as a present sense impression or a past recollection recorded.

D. Inadmissible, unless the original tape from the sedan is offered into evidence.

Natural gas is graded on the number of units of energy it produces upon combustion on a scale of one to 100. The higher the rating, the more heat is produced by a given quantity of gas. On November 15, a gas company agreed to sell 1,000,000 cubic feet of liquefied natural gas with a rating of 100 on the natural gas heat content index to an electric company for a total price of $750,000. The gas was to be delivered in liquefied form in five lots of 200,000 cubic feet at a time, because the utility’s storage capacity was limited to 300,000 cubic feet of gas. The five lots were to be delivered no later than March 1, and were to be used by the electric company to generate electrical power. Payment was to be made as follows: $250,000 on January 15, $150,000 on February 15, and $350,000 on March 15.

When the 190,000 cubic feet were delivered on January 25, the electric company discovered that it only rated 90 on the heat content index, which meant that it would take more gas to generate the same amount of electricity than gas with a rating of 100. The electric company needed some gas immediately, and it accepted 100,000 cubic feet of the shipment, which it used over the next month to produce electricity. The only effect of using it was that the cost of producing the electricity was higher because the heat content of the gas was low. In a suit by the gas company against the electric company for its action in rejecting the other 90,000 cubic feet of gas:

A. The gas company would prevail because the electric company waived the nonconformity when it accepted part of the shipment.

B. The gas company would prevail because the electric company had no right to reject any of the gas under the circumstances.

C. The electric company would prevail because the shipment was nonconforming in heat content.

D. The electric company would prevail because shipment was nonconforming in quantity.

A fertilizer company had used bagged manure for many years to supplement the compost it prepared at its warehouse site in the suburbs for sale in its statewide retail outlets. Eventually, though, it became apparent to the fertilizer company that using bagged manure was too expensive and inefficient. Therefore, they stopped using bagged manure and began to receive manure in bulk shipments.

The plaintiff purchased the home next to the fertilizer company’s compost plant during the time it was using bagged manure. The plaintiff’s home used to be the fertilizer company’s headquarters before their expansion, and is the only residence in the area. The plaintiff never even knew the purpose of the plant until the fertilizer company began to receive the manure by truckload. Since then, at least two truckloads of manure pass the plaintiff’s house daily. The noxious odor in the immediate vicinity of the plant, including the plaintiff’s yard, is always noticeable and almost intolerable on warm days.

If the plaintiff asserts a claim against the fertilizer company based on nuisance, will the plaintiff prevail?

A. Yes, unless the fertilizer company’s methods are in conformity with those in general use in the industry.

B. No, if using bagged manure would substantially increase the fertilizer company’s costs.

C. No, unless the manure dust interfered unreasonably with the use and enjoyment of the plaintiff’s property.

D. No, because the fertilizer company is not required to change its industrial methods to accommodate the needs of one individual.

An investor dies survived by her husband, two daughters, and two grandchildren (the children of her deceased son). She was the sole record owner of a piece of property located in a jurisdiction which has abolished the doctrine of the destructibility of contingent remainders. Her will, which was executed when all three of her children were alive, leaves the property “to my husband for life, then to my children. However, if any one of my children predeceases my husband, then to his or her issue.” The residuary legatee is the landowner’s sister. The husband renounced his interest in the property in accordance with the law of the jurisdiction shortly after the investor’s death.

What is the state of the title to the property after the husband’s renunciation?

A. The sister, the investor’s residuary legatee, takes a life estate, and the doctor, the dentist, the golfer and the gymnist have a vested remainder in equal shares.

B. The sister, the investor’s residuary legatee, takes a life estate; the two daughters each have an undivided one-third interest in a vested remainder; and, the two grandchildren each have an undivided one-sixth interest in a vested remainder.

C. The two daughters and the two grandchildren are tenants in common in equal shares.

D. The two daughters each have an undivided one-third interest, and the two grandchildren each have an undivided one-sixth interest, all as tenants in common.

Company designed and built a processing plant for the manufacture of an explosive chemical. Engineer was retained by Company to design a filter system for the processing plant. She prepared an application for a permit to build the plant’s filter system and submitted it to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). As required by DEP regulations, Engineer submitted a blueprint to the DEP with the application for permit. The blueprint showed the entire facility and was signed and sealed by her as a licensed professional engineer.

After the project was completed, a portion of the processing plant exploded, injuring Plaintiff. During discovery in an action by Plaintiff against Engineer, it was established that the explosion was caused by a design defect in the processing plant that was unrelated to the filter system designed by Engineer.

In that action, will Plaintiff prevail?

A. Yes, if Engineer signed, sealed, and submitted a blueprint that showed the design defect.

B. Yes, because all of the plant’s designer are jointly and severally liable for the defect.

C. No, because Engineer owed no duty to Plaintiff to prevent the particular risk of harm.

D. No, if Engineer was an independent contractor.

A particular piece of land is described in a deed as being “that parcel of land being 80 acres which is the north half of the northwest quarter of Section 5″ with a reference to the geographical survey. There is only one median line and one base line in the relevant area.

This description is:

A. Insufficient because no reference is made to the median line and the base line.

B. Sufficient without any additional data.

C. Sufficient only if the boundary lines of the property are also described.

D. Sufficient only if the geographical survey is recorded with the deed.

Young is an assistant professor at a state university law school. He has a one-year nonrenewing teaching contract. After an assistant professor has taught for five years pursuant to such one-year contracts, the policy of the university is to grant tenure. After three years, the university, without holding a hearing on the matter, decided not to renew Young’s contract. Which of the following is the best statement of his rights against the university?

A. He has no right to a hearing because the administrative burden in providing a hearing is more substantial than any property rights which have been adversely affected.

B. He has no right to a hearing because no statute, rule, or policy secures him a right in continued employment.

C. He has been denied due process because he has a continuing property right in teaching.

D. The failure to renew his teaching contract is an attack on the property interest which he has in his reputation, and he has therefore been denied due process.

A dog owner owned a mongrel of little monetary value. One day, the dog disappeared, and the owner placed the following advertisement in the newspaper: “I will pay $500 to anyone who returns my dog.” A man found the dog the next day. Knowing to whom the dog belonged, the man took the dog home, intending to return it that night. Before he returned the dog, the man read the dog owner’s advertisement in the newspaper.

Assuming that the dog owner’s advertisement was an offer, the man who found the dog:

A. Can recover $500, as he has accepted the offer.

B. Can recover $500 if he returns the dog to the dog owner.

C. Cannot recover the $500, even if he returns the dog, because he did not have knowledge of the offer when he found the dog.

D. Cannot recover the $500, even if he returns the dog, because he did not have knowledge of the offer when he found the dog.