Reference no: EM132371264

Fictitious Case Study 1

Your case study concerns the facts of a fictitious criminal case described in the assignment document below. This case presents several crimes against persons. You will be creating a prosecution case and a defense for FIVE of the crimes, so select FIVE crimes that show not only an actus reus and mens rea for a particular crime, but also present possible defenses to the crime. You should read through the facts several times and then complete the case study as instructed below. Make sure to apply not only what you are learning in this lesson, but also what you have learned in prior lessons.

Facts for the Case Study:

Freda, her husband Frank, and Freda's two children by a prior marriage, Fred, age 10, and Fiona, age 19, live next to a river that often floods when it rains. Last weekend, while Frank was out of town, it was raining for the fifth straight day. The river was beginning to overflow its banks, and Freda locked her two children in the basement of the family house because, despite Freda's warnings to her children that the river was about to overflow, both children continued to run outside into the rain when Freda was not looking. Fred had always been a daredevil, and Fiona had some mental disabilities and always did what her younger brother did. Although Freda ignored the cries of her children in the basement throughout the weekend, she did leave sandwiches inside the basement door at least three times during the weekend.

Frank arrived home Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. during a terrible rain storm. Freda was taking a bubble bath, and Frank heard noises coming from the basement. When Frank opened the basement door, he found Fred passed out and Fiona huddled in a corner crying. Frank called 911, and Fred was taken to the local hospital by the Red Cross Ambulance. Fiona refused to go to the hospital in the ambulance, so Frank agreed to drive Fiona to the hospital in his car.

Before leaving for the hospital, and with Fiona looking on, Frank threatened to kill Freda, and Freda tried to hit Fred over the head with the waste basket. Fred slapped Freda across the face so hard that Freda fell to the floor and cracked her head against the bathtub on the way down. After Freda dropped to the floor, neither Fiona nor Frank did anything to help Freda, even though blood continued to flow onto the floor from the back of Freda's head. As Frank and Fiona were leaving, Fiona screamed at Freda, "It serves you right, you witch!" Fiona is quite attractive and her stepfather Frank has been having sex with her since she was age 16. Although Fiona is frightened around Frank, she tries to act very brave and brazen. Frank has continued to give gifts to Fiona to encourage her to continue having sex with him.

Before Frank and Fiona left the house, the police arrived to investigate and found Freda in a coma on the bathroom floor. Meanwhile, due to a traffic jam, the ambulance transporting Fred took a detour and raced onto the Interstate with its siren going, but without using turn signals. Just as the Red Cross Ambulance, driven by Roger, entered the interstate, it was hit by a tractor trailer, driven by Pete, who was employed by the ABC Trucking Company. The ambulance swerved over an embankment, and Fred was killed instantly. Pete, Roger, and the ambulance attendants survived.

Instructions for Completing the Case Study:

Your case study will consist of three sections as described below. Complete each section as instructed.

The Prosecutor's Case: For the first part of the case study, you are acting on behalf of the state. You are the prosecutor. After reading the facts for the case study, identify at least FIVE crimes that you would charge various people with having committed. As part of your identification, you should discuss the actus reus and mens rea for each crime and why you believe they have been satisfied by the facts. You should also discuss other circumstances, causation, if any, and bad results, if any, that apply for each crime. Remember there may be more than one party to a particular crime.

The Defense: For the second part of the case study, you are acting on behalf of the defendant. You are the defense attorney. Present at least ONE defense for each of the FIVE charges made by the prosecutor. Explain why you believe these defenses apply to each charge.

The Judgment: For the final part of the case study, you are acting on behalf of the court. You are the judge. Decide how you would rule on each of the FIVE charges - guilty, not guilty, or some other ruling. You must state one ruling for each charge and provide a brief justification for your verdict.

Your case study should be professional. Spelling, grammar, word usage, and punctuation count. Use headings to differentiate the three sections for the case study. Include any assumptions you have made in your case study.