***USE Vermont Statutes***
Mission: Given the scenario, you must identify the laws and statutes that apply to each party, in this case. Describe which laws are applicable to each involved party, and what their level of responsibility is – for example if there is essentially no good defense then say so; if there is an excellent defense due to a commonly known rationale that we covered in the course, bring it up.
Hints: Don’t forget to consider things like lesser included offenses not being brought if there is a more egregious offense present; you can mention them (and it’s a good idea to show off your brain) but don’t hesitate to mention the exclusion because of them being lesser included. Things like accomplice liability, degree of involvement, culpability, degree of injury, custody during an interview, search and seizure…. all natures of things are present here.
This should be a sizable work product – we’re looking for 3 pages as a target. If you go big, that’s fine. If you find yourself with a 1-page response, you’re probably missing something. Lay it out, explain it all, justify your positions.
Remember, this should be 3+ pages, well documented, fully articulated.
Who? What? No WAY!
Case Summary:
James found Michael’s checkbook on the sidewalk outside of a bank, and instead of bringing it inside, he decided that he was going to make some money on it instead. James wrote out some checks to himself, signed Michael’s name on them, went into the bank and cashed them. Michael was nowhere to be found and the checks had only an account number on them as they were initial issue checks for a new account.
As James is walking out of the bank, Michael is just pulling back into the parking lot looking for his lost checkbook. He sees James and recognizes the checkbook – it’s in a cover he got for the occasion emblazoned with his initials and monogram. He confronts James, sees the money in his hand and calls his friend Andrew out of the car. He tells Andrew, “Let’s show this guy what crime is all about.” He asks Andrew to “peep” for him because he’s going to “whoop some white collar [expletive deleted]” and Andrew agrees to act as a lookout.
As Andrew is watching out for bystanders, Michael grabs James in a headlock and drags him behind a nearby bush. Michael punches and kicks James repeatedly in the head and face to the point that James loses consciousness. Michael takes back his checkbook, takes the money that James got from the bank, and also takes James’ wallet, cellular phone, and gold necklace. He shows Andrew what he has gotten, and the two jump into the car and flee, with Andrew driving. Andrew is given the gold necklace as payment for acting as a lookout.
Andrew wears the necklace for a period of weeks and then decides that he no longer likes it. He sells it to Bobby online using a local online swap/trade service. Bobby pays $20 for the necklace and wears it happily – for one day. Then he notices some blood on it, becomes suspicious and calls the police. The police inform Bobby, who had no prior knowledge or suspicion of the item, that the necklace was stolen a few weeks prior.
They inform him that he is not in the video surveillance of the item being stolen, and ask him who he got it from. He leads them back to Andrew and provides sworn and recorded testimony against Andrew. Andrew is in turn questioned, and confesses fully to his involvement. He admits that he knew that the assault would happen as soon as Michael asked him to be his lookout and that he was paid with the necklace. He gives a full statement and confession to the investigators and leads them to Michael.
Michael is located at his home and voluntarily surrenders the wallet and cell phone that he took from James. His hands and toes are still bruised from the incident, and he allows investigators to photograph him. His sneakers still have blood on them, which is later determined by the lab to be James’. He confesses fully to the incident, stating that he wasn’t angry, he just wanted James to “know what it’s like” to be stolen from.
As Michael is taking the wallet out of his pocket on the sidewalk where he is talking to investigators, his stash of cocaine (1/8th ounce or “8 ball”) falls from his pocket and lands on the ground. He looks at it, looks at the police, and says – “you’re not going to take that away, are you?”
The police then arrest…
Your answer starts here. Remember:
- List who gets arrested and for what. List who doesn’t.
- Identify the laws and statutes that apply to each party in this case.
- Describe which laws are applicable to each involved party.
- What is their level of responsibility?
- What is a good defense?
- Is there no good defense?
- Explain, articulate, and support your positions.
