Assignment 5 (classes 13, 14 and earlier ones)
There is NO NEED to use case law for this assignment. This is not a research assignment. In this assignment, I am testing your ability to spot issues and apply the criminal laws, as you learned them in this course, to a fact pattern.
For each question:
1- state what the elements of the law is based on the courseware and/or lectures;
2- apply the law to the facts and;
3- draw a conclusion.
Again, there is NO NEED to cite cases and/or statutes for this assignment! There is also no need to “IRAC” each issue. Just answer this as you would a series of exam questions.
Please also note that this includes materials from classes 13 and 14. So you may want to wait until after those classes to complete this assignment.
It was a dark and stormy night and Snow White and three of the seven dwarfs, Happy, Doc and Bashful, were hatching a plan to get back at the Evil Queen for the whole poisoned apple episode. Snow White wants the whole gang to accost the Evil Queen as she is getting home from work and to grab all of her money and then run away.
They all go to the Evil Queen’s house and camp out in her driveway. A while later, the Evil Queen, tired from a long day of doing all sorts of evil things, is driving home. She decides to stop off at a local bar and to let off some steam. She drinks a few shots of vodka and relaxes a bit. The Evil Queen gets drunk. She sees car keys on the counter that she assumes to be her own and takes them. She goes to the parking lot and, because of her state or drunkenness, she mistakenly enters the wrong car. Amazingly, the car she enters happens to be the car for which the keys work. The Evil Queen drives off.
On the way home, the Evil Queen, who has a blood alcohol content that is over the legal limit, loses control of the car and hits a bystander. Meanwhile, Snow White and the dwarfs are getting to be restless. Bashful, who does not like confrontation in any case, decides to go home. By the time the Evil Queen gets home, only Snow White, Happy and Doc are there.
With Doc and Happy hiding in the bushes, Snow White lunges at the Evil Queen and announces, “Give me all your money or I’ll kill you.” The Evil Queen, in a combative mood because of the alcohol in her, takes out a poisoned dagger and says, “I may not have gotten you with the apple, but this will kill you.” Fearing for Snow White’s Life, Happy pulls out his gun and shoots and the Evil Queen, but misses. The Evil Queen then lunges at Snow White. Snow White eludes the stab and pulls out her gun and shoots the Evil Queen and hits her. The Evil Queen survives but sustains severe injuries.
Later, the police come, and Snow White and the dwarfs run away. Snow White visits another dwarf, Grumpy, and tells him the whole story. Grumpy agrees to dispose of the gun and he does so. Eventually, Snow White, Happy, Doc, Bashful, and Grumpy and the Evil Queen are all arrested.
Snow White is charged with attempted robbery.
Snow White and Happy are each charged with attempted murder of the Evil Queen.
The Evil Queen is charged with larceny of the car and assault on the bystander.
Happy, Doc, Bashful and Grumpy are all charged with accomplice liability for the robbery.
The parties employ the following defenses:
– Snow White asserts self-defense for the attempted murder of the Evil Queen.
– Happy asserts “defense of another” against the charge of attempted murder of the Evil Queen.
– The Evil Queen asserts intoxication as a defense to both of the charges against her.
- Finally, Happy asserts that he was only 15 years old at the time of the incident.
In your assignment, please discuss all of the charges against all of the above parties and if the charges will stick. You should also discuss if the defenses raised are valid defenses.
