The scenario in this course is the same crime as in CRJU200. However, there has been a bit of additional information provided, and the deliverables are different, as the focus is on the criminal court procedure and Constitutional rights.
You are a legal assistant at a criminal defense firm. Jeffrey Baker hired your firm to represent him in the death of William Slater. The attorney on the case, Jocelyn Daniels, has asked you to assist her with analyzing her client’s case. These are the facts of the case:
Our client, Jeffrey Baker, owns a bar on Main Street. He was working the night of the incident but also had been drinking heavily. William Slater was a patron in the bar who also had been drinking. Baker bought a drink for Slater, and Slater approached him to shake his hand and say thank you. Baker was speaking with two women at the time and pushed Slater away, telling the bartender just to give Slater another drink and keep him away from him. The bartender gave Slater a shot and told him to stay away from Baker because Baker was drunk and had been drinking double shots of whiskey all night.
Approximately 15 minutes later, there was a commotion at the top of the stairs. Baker said Slater was aggressively approaching the bar to assault him. A bouncer said he observed two of Slater’s friends interlock arms with him to hold him back. Baker shoved Slater with both hands. Slater went backward down the stairs, hitting the ground without touching any of the stairs. He struck the back of his head on the ground, suffering a skull fracture and traumatic brain injury. He was in a coma for over two months before he died.
Baker said Slater attacked him, although there are no witnesses that corroborate his statement. Surveillance video shows Baker shoving Slater down the stairs and Slater hitting the ground.
Upon further investigation, it appears the video surveillance has been tampered with. An anonymous informant notified our office that there were off-duty police officers working as security the night of the incident, which is against department policy, and after the incident occurred, they went into the office where the surveillance is recorded. While the video does show our client shoving Slater down the stairs, there is a portion of the surveillance that is missing shortly before the incident.
Ms. Daniels would like you to write a letter to our client explaining his Constitutional rights throughout the process, as well as the steps of the criminal court process that he will be facing.
Directions
You will start with drafting the introduction and the part of the letter about our client’s Constitutional rights throughout the process and an explanation as to why each of those rights is important. You must use at least one right from each of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. Next, you will draft the part of the letter on the pretrial process, discussing five steps of the process between first appearance and arraignment, including what occurs at each step. One of these must be for the pretrial motion to exclude video surveillance, including the case law allowing us to make such a motion. Then you will complete the letter to our client for Ms. Daniels to sign with five more steps of the process between jury selection and sentencing and the conclusion.
Deliverable Descriptions
Week 5: Introduction and Client’s Rights
· Due by the end of Week 5 at 11:59 pm, ET.
You will begin your letter to the client using the “Portfolio Project Letter Template” provided in Blackboard. Make sure to include the following:
· An introduction paragraph, summarizing the purpose of the letter to the client.
· Explain the client’s Constitutional rights throughout the process and discuss why each of the rights is important.
· Include at least one Constitutional right from each Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment, and explain why the rights are important for the client in his case.
