Reference no: EM133023506

Assessment Task Case Study

Section 1 - Assessment Task Overview and Description

This is an individual assessment task and is to be completed outside of class hours. You are required to answer questions about the Case Study to demonstrate your understanding of investigative and adjudicative processes in the Victorian criminal justice system and specialist courts.

Your case study responses must be well written, structured and referenced as described in the Diploma of Justice home page CANVAS shell
Your response is to total 1000 words+/-100 words.

Case Study Scenario:

At 10.00 pm on 05/01/2020, Leanne ran out of petrol whilst she was driving along High Street Preston. She left her car on the side of the road and walked back to a petrol station that she had driven past a few kilometres back.

On her way to the petrol station, Leanne realises that she has left her purse in the car, rather than turning back to get it she decides that she will continue to the petrol station.

When she arrives at the petrol station the attendant is in a heated discussion with an angry customer and after observing the situation for a few minutes Leanne decides that he is too busy to assist her so she grabs one of the spare fuel cans (which are conveniently located at the front of the store), fills it up and walks back to her car, all un-noticed by the attendant

The petrol station closes at 11.00 pm and when the attendant is balancing the register for the night, he realises that there is a fuel purchase that was not paid for. He immediately reviews the CCTV that relates to the time of the unpaid fuel purchase and realises what Leanne has done.

He immediately contacts his local Police Station and reports the incident.

The next day, the police attend at the petrol station and speak to the attendant. He gives the police as much information as he can but as he was distracted by the irate customer cannot give much information about the incident. He can provide police with a print out from the register which shows that 5 litres of petrol was taken totalling $12.50 but were not paid for. The Register print-out shows that petrol was taken out at 10.38 pm. He is also able to show police a similar fuel can to the one that was taken. He advises the police that this sells for $12.95.

Police view the CCTV footage from the night before and can clearly see Leanne enter the petrol station, take the fuel can and take the fuel without making any attempt to pay for it. They take a copy of the CCTV footage and return to the station where they log it into evidence and forward it to the Forensic department to see if they can enhance the image of Leanne's face.

Three weeks later the report comes back from the forensic department. They have been able to somewhat enhance Leanne's face but also note in the report that as the attendant leaves for the night, a vehicle drives into the petrol station, and then drives off again. They have been able to enhance the image of the driver and have also managed to obtain the vehicle registration from the CCTV. Although not neither are very clear images, there appear to be similarities between the driver of the vehicle and the person who took the petrol.

Police run a search in the LEAP database for the registration number and note that the vehicle is registered to Leanne Smith of 8 Jones Street Sunshine. A further search shows that Leanne has six priors for theft, two for burglary and three for deception, the most recent being from December 2018, where she stole $67 worth of groceries from Coles.

Police attend at Leanne's address later that day. Upon arrival, they see the vehicle from the CCTV footage is parked in the driveway of the premises. They knock on the door and a male answers. The Police ask to speak to Leanne concerning an alleged incident last week. The male appears to be intoxicated and tells the police ‘Leanne is not home and don't come snooping around here without a warrant'. Leanne hears the commotion and comes to the door.

Leanne is an Aboriginal woman, she is 25 years old, unemployed and is in an on-again-off-again relationship with her partner, Peter. Leanne is an alcoholic and currently living in public housing.

The police question her about the incident on 05/01/2020 and she advises the police that she had taken the fuel and forgot about paying for it. She said she had no money in her wallet anyway.

Leanne is later charged by the police and bailed to appear at court later that month.

Case Study Questions:

1. Identify the offence(s) that Leanne is charged with.

2. Identify the Act and Section(s) the offence(s) relate to.

3. Provide a brief overview of the law enforcement agency and explain their role and powers of investigation and jurisdiction in this scenario.

4. Identify the investigative techniques. List them and provide a brief explanation of each investigative technique.

5. Explain how the law enforcement agency detected the crime.

6. Explain which Act and Section give the law enforcement agency the powers to arrest Leanne?

7. If the law enforcement agency was required to return with a search warrant as per the ‘request' of the man that answered Leanne's door,' explain under what Act and Section would they make the application?

8. Explain the grounds for the warrant.

9. Explain who the law enforcement agency would apply for a warrant.

10. Explain the court that Leanne would be summonsed to appear before.

11. Explain which division of the court Leanne may appear before.

12. Explain why Leanne would appear before that division of the court.

13. Could Leanne have her case heard by a Judge and Jury? Why/Why not? If yes, explain how this would come about.

14. Explain what the maximum penalty is for this offence.

15. Explain the sentencing principles that must be considered by the Magistrate for sentencing Leanne.

Assessment Task 2

1 Identification of the offence(s) that Leanne is charged with

2. Identification of the Act and Section(s) that the offence(s) relate to

3. A brief overview of the law enforcement agency and an explanation of their role and powers of investigation and jurisdiction in the scenario

4. Identification of the investigative techniques and a brief explanation of each investigative technique

5. A clear explanation of how the law enforcement agency detected the crime

6. A clear explanation of the legislative act and section that gives the law enforcement agency the powers to arrest Leanne

7. Identification of the legislative act and section the investigative agency would refer to in the warrant if they were required to return with a search warrant

8. A clear explanation for the grounds of the warrant

9. A clear explanation of who the law enforcement agency would apply to for a warrant

10. A clear explanation of the court that Leanne would be summonsed to appear before

11 A clear explanation of which division of the court Leanne may appear before

12 A clear explanation as to why Leanne would appear before that division of the court

13 A clear explanation as to whether Leanne could have her case heard by a Judge and jury and a further explanation as to how this could come about

14 A clear explanation of the maximum penalty for the offence committed by Leanne

15 A clear explanation of the sentencing principles that must be considered by the Magistrate for sentencing Leanne

Attachment:- Case study.rar