Case Brief Paper PDF

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Full case brief for assignment. Dr. Beard...

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Criminal Law-245-02 Case Brief Case Briefing Assignment – you will be required to prepare a legal case brief. Every brief should include, at a minimum, the facts of the case, the legal issue, the legal principle applied in the case, the holding and reasoning of the majority, and a summary of any concurrences and dissents. Your brief should not exceed 600 words, excluding concurrences and dissents. The case brief will be selected from our previous class discussions or a leading case decided by the State or United States Supreme Court. It is important to note that you must explain the significance of the ruling by the Court. The brief will be worth 50 points. Accordingly, your brief should be able to identify or incorporate at least three (3) subject matters from the list below assigned during coursework, such as the concept of punishment, burden of proof, beyond a reasonable doubt and/or criminal defenses applicable to this particular case. Students should be able to establish the terminology associated with the criminal case and how to consider a crime thoroughly in terms of its elements. This is to say that the case brief should include what criminal law statute was violated?, the elements necessary to establish a violation of a particular criminal law(s)statute, defenses to crimes, criminal sanctions, constitutional limits on criminal law and the entrepreneurial mindset as applied to an issue in criminal law. Finally, you should prepare a PowerPoint detailing your case brief with the last slide discussing your opinion about the conclusion/decision of the Court via video (agree or disagree supported by evidence). Subject-Matters: 

Explain the concept of punishment.

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Define the concepts of mens rea and actus rea/reus

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Explain what is meant by “reasonable doubt”. Differentiate “inference,” “mandatory presumption requiring some

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evidence in rebuttal,” “mandatory presumption shifting the burden of proof,” reasonable doubt, and “conclusive presumption” 

Discuss some of the limitations of criminal law.

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List the elements of the insanity defense. Discuss the defenses of infancy, intoxication, duress, necessity,

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entrapment, and excessive government involvement. 

Explain the elements of self-defense and related defenses.

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Explain the concept of “attempt”.

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Examine the scope of one’s accountability for the criminal acts of others.

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Discuss the crime of conspiracy.

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Discuss how criminal law applies to corporations.

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Explain know the elements of the crime of homicide.

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Examine the concept of causation in criminal law. List the elements of the crime of rape.

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List the elements of the crimes of battery, assault, aggravated assault and battery, mayhem, and kidnapping.

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List the elements of the crime of larceny.

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Explain the types of larceny. Discuss the elements of the crime of obtaining property by false

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pretenses. 

Explain the elements of the crimes of forgery, receiving stolen goods, robbery, extortion, burglary, and arson.

Students’ assessment: 1. Should demonstrate an understanding of the case, and purposes of the case; 2. Should demonstrate an understanding of the general principles of criminal law, elements of crimes, criminal defenses, parties to crime, types of crimes, and constitutional limits on criminal law; 3. Should examine legal case studies within the court system by utilizing legal rules to solve legal problems; and 4. Should articulate an issue in criminal law. How to Brief Cases To fully understand the law with respect to criminal law, you need to be able to read and understand court decisions. To make this task easier, you can use a method of case analysis that is called briefing. There is a fairly standard procedure that you can follow when you “brief” any court case. You must first read the case opinion carefully. When you feel you understand the case, you can prepare a brief of it. Although the format of the brief may vary, typically it will present the essentials of the case under headings such as those listed below.

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Citation. Give the full citation for the case, including the name of the case, the date it was decided, and the court that decided it. Facts. Briefly indicate (a) the reasons for the lawsuit; (b) the identity and arguments of the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s), respectively; and (c) the lower court’s decision—if appropriate. Issue. Concisely phrase, in the form of a question, the essential issue before the court. (If more than one issue is involved, you may have two—or even more—questions here.) Decision. Indicate here—with a “yes” or “no,” if possible—the court’s answer to the question (or questions) in the Issue section above. Reason. Summarize as briefly as possible the reasons given by the court for its decision (or decisions) and the case or statutory law relied on by the court in arriving at its decision. Tennessee v. Garner Case

Facts: On an October evening in 1973, Memphis police officers responded to a burglary call. One of the officers went to the back of the house and saw a fleeing suspect — 15-year-old Edward Garner. Garner ran across the yard and stopped at a chain-link fence. With a flashlight, the officer could see that Garner was likely unarmed. The officer told Garner to stop. Garner, however, began to climb the fence. The officer then shot Garner, striking him in the back of the head. He died shortly thereafter. Tennessee statute (and Memphis Police policy) at that time allowed a police officer to use deadly force against a fleeing suspect. Neither the Memphis Police Firearms Review Board nor a grand jury took any action in the case. Procedural History: Garner’s father filed an action, under 42 U.S.C. 1983, in Federal District Court. Garner’s father alleged violations of Garner’s constitutional rights. The District Court found that the Tennessee statute, and the officer’s actions, were constitutional. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari. Issue: Is it constitutional to use deadly force against an unarmed felon who is fleeing? Held: No! The Judgment: Court of Appeals judgment is affirmed.

Rule of Law or Legal Principle Applied: Deadly force may not be used against a fleeing suspect unless such force is necessary to prevent the suspect’s escape and there is probable cause to believe that the suspect presents a serious threat to the officer or others. Reasoning: 

Stopping a suspect with deadly force is a Fourth Amendment “seizure.”

As a threshold matter, apprehending a suspect by deadly force is a “seizure” under the Fourth Amendment. The Court noted that deadly force is obviously the most intrusive type of seizure possible because the suspect’s life is in jeopardy. Accordingly, the Court must balance the suspect’s Fourth Amendment rights with the Government’s justification for intruding on those rights. 

Government’s use of deadly force is not justified when a fleeing suspect is unarmed.

The Court noted that Garner was unarmed. It concluded that, under the totality of the circumstances of the case, the Government was not justified in using deadly force against the unarmed Garner. The Court cautioned that the use of deadly force against a fleeing suspect is not always unconstitutional. Such force can be used if there is probable cause that the fleeing suspect poses a serious threat to the officer or others. Significance: Tennessee v. Garner has served as an important guide to law enforcement. It states that a fleeing suspect must present a significant threat before an officer can use deadly force. In addition, the case is an important guide to courts. The case reinforces the notion that courts should take account of the “totality of the circumstances” in reviewing Fourth Amendment cases.

Tips on Presentation Think of this as a visual version of your paper. The presentation should include: a short intro, a brief description of the facts of the case, issue(s), and ruling coupled with the inclusion of issues discussed in class, and an interpretation of the decision. The presentations should be no more than 5 to 10 minutes long. That’s not much time. Plan on needing about 1 minute per slide, i.e., 6 slides. The trick to giving good presentations is distilling your information

down into a few bulleted lists, diagrams, tables and graphs. You don’t want to be rushed while presenting. During your college career, you have been asked to present your academic work in the classroom. Two types of talks are common in academia: presentations in the classroom and Honors Thesis presentations. However, learning to present your work is an important academic exercise because it allows you to share your research, ideas, and arguments with your classmates and instructor. It also invites critical engagement with your work, which in turn enables you to improve your writing and thinking. Because many presentations include visual elements (e.g. Power Point), this handout offers guidelines for converting a written paper into a talk and creating visual material that is appropriate for your topic.

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General tips: Many classes in college require a lengthy research paper, and you may be asked to present your research to your classmates before you have to turn in your final paper. This is a great opportunity to receive feedback and to polish your argument for the final submission. However, the following question usually arises: How do I summarize a 2 to 3-page paper for a 5 minute talk? TALKING WITH NOTES: It is imperative that you create a document that clearly and equally divides your introduction and thesis, your main points of evidence, and your conclusion. Practice your talk! Moreover, it means that you will have to pick major points instead of incorporating everything you have written. Duke Writing Studio 2

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READING THE PAPER: It takes about 2 to 2.5 minutes to read one page (double-spaced, 12 point font). This paper is to be heard, not read! When you are preparing your draft for the presentation, keep in mind that your audience, and as such, your ideas need to be clear and to the point, and organized in a way that makes it possible for your audience to follow you.

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Incorporating slides: A successful visual presentation should be in sync with the spoken part of your presentation. You can coordinate your talking/reading points with your visual presentation by marking your paper whenever you will show a next slide.

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SPELL CHECK! It is very easy to overlook typos when you integrate visuals, but the audience members can see them. A typo can undermine your whole professional demeanor. Be sure to proofread.

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Give your audience time to look at the slide. Do not hastily move on. You may have looked at your slides many times, but your audience needs time to absorb them and understand each slide.

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It is therefore important to begin preparing your presentation well in advance and avoid last minute additions.

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Practicing your presentation: It will make you more confident, as you will become intimately familiar with the major terms you are using and your own writing and thinking style. The more you practice, the easier it will be to look up at your audience, showing them that you care about having their attention. The more engaged an audience member is, the more successful your presentation will be.

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GROUP PRESENTATIONS: If you are presenting with a colleague, practicing and designing the talk together will ensure that you are on the same page with your co-presenter. The combination of your parts should be seamless and consistent.

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Last Tip: Remember that many people get nervous before a talk, even those who have done it many times. Some things may be out of your control. Try to have fun no matter what!...