On a dark and stormy night, Al, age 13, and Betty, age 15, discussed how great it would be if they had some money to spend on their weekend trip to the beach. They consulted Carl, age 21, knowing that he was very sneaky and knowing he would easily come up with a plan for the money. The three agreed that they would go to the home of their neighbor (Nelly hereafter), take a $2000 vase from the living room, and sell it for $750, leaving them each with $250 dollars. All agreed that Carl would get the vase.

Carl immediately walked to the neighbor's front door and opened the window. Carl crawled in and noticed that the vase was not there. Knowing that he needed something of value, he looked around and noticed a pure gold statue. He picked up the statue, but he was interrupted when Nelly walked down the steps and confronted Carl with a gun. Carl was frightened, and he immediately threw the statue at Nelly's head, but it missed and struck Nelly's husband, Hank, killing him instantly. Carl ran out of the house, but keeping his wits, grabbed an antique candleholder as he fled the scene. Nelly saw that her husband was dead and had a sudden heart attack as a result.

Carl came back to the house and told Al and Betty about the events.

Al decided to sell the candleholder it to a friend named Dave, an antique collector. Al called Dave and set up the place where Dave would meet Al and receive the stolen candleholder. When Al arrived, he noticed that Dave was wearing a significantly expensive watch, more expensive than the candleholder. They exchanged words for a moment, but Al was thinking about how much more money he could get for his vacation if he had Dave's watch. He thought to himself, "I could hit Dave over the head with this candleholder and take the watch, that way we would have more money. No one would miss Dave anyway." As soon as this thought raced through Al's head, he struck Dave with the candleholder. For good measure, he struck Dave again. Dave died instantly. Al left the antique candleholder at the scene but took the watch. Al thereafter returned to meet his friends.

The next day, Al went to a pawnshop and told the dealer that he had this watch to sell. The dealer agreed and gave a check to Al for $300. After leaving the store, Al changed the $300 to $3000 with his pen and cashed it at a local bank.

After splitting up the $3000, Al, Betty, and Carl decided they should leave town and go to the beach, but they had no car. Betty walked to Eric' house, told Eric about the events, and pleaded with Eric to help them by letting them borrow his car (so they could leave town and avoid the police). Eric agreed, but only if Betty would drop off a brown paper package at the home of Eric's former girlfriend, who just broke up with Eric. Betty took the package, which seemed to "tick" as if a clock were inside. Eric said, "I want to kill my ex-girlfriend." Betty replied, "Yeah, I encourage you to do so." Betty did not ask any questions about the package and simply agreed to take it in exchange for the car.

Betty knocked on the door and Eric former girlfriend answered. Betty handed her the package and walked away. On the way back to pick up Al and Carl, Betty could see through the rearview that the home of Eric's girlfriend immediately blew up after Betty dropped off the package. Eric's former girlfriend and her parents were killed.

Undaunted, Betty picked up Al and Carl and headed for the beach. Little did they know the police had found the antique candleholder next to Dave's body. They quickly linked that evidence to Al, Betty, and Carl. There was an immediate APB out, and a patrolling officer (O hereafter) noticed Al, Betty, and Carl in the car ahead. O tried to pull the three over but they accelerated and tried to run over O. Without hesitation, O fired three rounds, striking each person in the head and killing them instantly.

1. What substantive crimes did Carl commit?

2. Which crimes committed by Carl, if any, can be imputed on either Al or Betty? Explain how.

3. What substantive crimes did Al commit?

4. What substantive crimes did Betty commit?

5. Discuss the transaction between Betty and Eric. Any crimes?

6. You are the parents of Al, Betty, and Carl in a wrongful death action against the police department. Did O commit a crime?