Legal issues
POL329/529—Final—Winter 2015
INSTRUCTIONS
Read the following fact pattern and draft the document requested. Spelling, grammar and organization count. The goal is to demonstrate your grasp of the legal issues involved in the fact pattern. Your essay should be at least four-to-five pages in length, typed in a 12-point standard font, double-spaced with one-inch margins and page numbers. It must submitted to Blackboard byApril 27, 2014 at 11:59 pm. Failure to adhere to the due date will be dealt with as set forth in the syllabus.
FACT PATTERN
Michelle Carter was pulled over by the Spencer City police while turning into her apartment complex one night for having expired tabs on her license plate. After obtaining Carter’s license and registration, Officer Slidell warned Carter to lock her doors and watch out for the youth in the area as they were known “gang bangers” who could hurt her. Carter replied that she was not worried and that she knew them and stated, “they won’t hurt me.”
While pulling up Carter’s information on the computer, Officer Robert Slidellthought he recalled previously arresting Carterfor driving on a suspended license and that she failed to appear for her court date resulting in an outstanding arrest warrant. The computer was acting up, however, so he called into the station to verify this information. While waiting for a replyhe walked back to Carter’s car and asked her to step outside where he patted her down. In the process, Officer Slidell confiscated Carter’s iPhone and approximately one ounce of marijuana. As a result of the marijuana—still illegal in Indiana—he placed her under arrest.
While Officer Slidell was reading Carter her Miranda rights, the county clerk responded regarding the previous arrest warrant stating that it was not Michelle Carter but her twin sister Kelly Carter that had an arrest warrant out for the previous offenses. Nevertheless, Slidell arrested and detained Michelle Carter in his squad car–without finishing reading her Miranda rights—as a result of the marijuana Carter had in her possession.
As theywaitedin the squad car for the tow truck to impound Carter’s car, Officer Slidell scrolled through the texts on the phone. In several of the texts, Officer Slidell saw the abbreviation “CK” which he knew to mean “Crip Killer” or “Blood,” a gang that had a new but strong presence in Spencer City, Indiana. As a result of this andCarter’s earlier statements about the youth nearby, he asked Carter whether she was part of a gang. Carter responded, “Maybe. What’s it to you? You already got me. What does it matter?”
Three hours later, Slidell was back at the station and had some downtime during which he continued looking atCarter’s phone for evidence. Officer Slidell had found several videos of Carter and friends engaging in street fights, pictures of her and others posing with marijuana paraphernaliaas well as Facebook messages from known gang members inquiring about purchasing something from Carter. Slidell believed these messages were drug-related and took screen shots for evidence.
Carter was charged with one count ofpossession of marijuana and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, both felonies in Indiana. At trial, the court allowed the prosecution to admit into evidence the statement made by Carter in the car while waiting for the tow truck as well as the Facebook messages and photos obtained from Carter’s cell phoneover the objection of Carter’s court appointed attorney. Carter was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Carter appealed the ruling all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court which upheld the trial court’s decision to admit the evidence.
Carter is now pursuing her appeal in front of the United States Supreme Court who has agreed to hear her case. You are a clerk for Chief Justice Jay Peterman. Prepare a draft of Chief Justice Peterman’s opinion in the case dealing with the following issues, which were in the petition for certiorari: (a) admissibility of phone evidence at trial; (b) admissibility of statement(s) at trial.Be clear and concise but address the issues fully with respect to each piece of information. Chief Justice Peterman is a tough boss to please.
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Legal issues
In any law court, evidence is viewed to be admissible if it is not prejudicial unfairly, has some indicia reliability and relevant. If it turns out to be irrelevant, the sitting judge or jury hearing the case is supposed to dismiss it. For the relevance part, the evidence must be in a position to disapprove or approve some facts regarding the issues in the proceedings. At the same time, there are various public-policy aspects which bar admission of relevant evidence. On the……………..
MLA
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