For Ressearcher_D Only

Lesson Five: Test #5

Section One 20 points

Prepare the Notice of Appeal and the Cover Page for Sam Kant’s appellate brief that was assigned in Lesson Three. The trial court and the correct appellate court should be based on your jurisdiction.

Section Two 5 points

Explain the difference between an external memo of law and an internal memo of law.

Section Three 25 points

Brief any cases that you are planning on citing to in your appellate brief that was assigned in lesson 3. Refer to Statsky Chapter 7 for briefing opinions.

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Ten points

1) Post your responses to Assignment 12.3 , 12.4 , and 12.5 in Chapter 12 of Statsky.

2) List the proper sections of an appellate brief along with a general summary of the content and purpose/goal of each section.

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You can use either WestlawNext or Westlaw Classic to complete this assignment.

Objectives: A simple research process technique.

Directions: Read the following fact patterns

1. Your client, Dreamy McSteamy is a popular motocross driver known far and wide for his long black hair, dangerous dark eyes, and zebra-striped motorcycle emblazoned with a purple number 7. Recently, a movie studio released an animated children’s film featuring a handsome, smooth-talking, purple leopard-spotted motorcycle, with the number 7 prominently displayed on the gas tank. McSteamy wishes to file a claim against the studio on the grounds that the film’s “star” bears an uncanny likeness to McSteamy’s public image, and hence, violates his right of publicity.

i. Locate and correctly cite relevant secondary authority ii. Provide your exact search query – Include database id iii. State the legal issue/s involved after studying the information therein iv. Locate an on point case from an Oklahoma State Court v. Does the case appear to work for or against your client?

2. Fozze Bear, stands convicted for the heinous murder of Miss Piggy. Your supervising attorney is filing an appeal based, in part, on negative comments made by the prosecutor regarding Mr. Bear. Apparently, prosecution referred to the defendant as “evil-doer” and a “son of the Devil” during her closing arguments. On this issue, your office asserts prosecutorial misconduct. The respondent counter-argues that counsel for the defense opened the door to these characterizations when, in his own closing argument, he stated that, “certainly, whoever committed this act is a devil’s spawn.”

i. Locate and correctly cite relevant secondary authority ii. Provide your exact search query – Include database id iii. State the legal issue/s involved after studying the information therein iv. Locate an on point case from the 3rd Circuit of the US Court of Appeals v. Review the Court’s Holdings and the relevant headnote from the opinion. Does the case appear to work for or against your client?

3. Clair DeLoon was one of five current roommates in a house where tenants are continually moving in and moving out. An unknown past tenant vacated the premises, leaving behind a VCR and a collection of campy video tapes, frequently enjoyed by later groups of select tenants. When it came time for Clair to move on to more a more luxurious living space, she took the VCR and tape collection with her. One of the remaining tenants has filed a complaint with the police on the grounds that the items did not belong to Clair. Clair is being charged with theft.

i. Locate and correctly cite relevant secondary authority ii. Provide your exact search query – Include database id iii. State the legal issue/s involved after studying the information iv. Discuss the arguments supporting Clair’s conviction, as well as arguments that can be raised in her defense. v. Correctly cite one case supporting each of the arguments provided above.

 

Questions from TEST 4 for revision because of low grade:

 

Section Four

Please provide answers to Ex. 13.1 on pgs. 633 and 634 in Statsky.

 

(the assignment that was done last week) regarding section 5 of the TEST 20 points

Section Five A) Please state the issues, as they will be raised on appeal. It should reflect the error at law in the court’s conviction of Kant. Look to cases involving your statutory elements to refine the phrasing. The primary issue on appeal is the lack of requisite intent.

B) Secondary authority includes journals and law reviews, encyclopedias, ALR, etc. It does NOT include statutes or case law, even if the case law is merely persuasive. C) Please cite the criminal statute under which Kant would have been charged and list the relevant statutory elements. You have cited a statute from outside your state. In VA, you want to research and apply §18.2-103 D) The case you’ve cited is from AZ and is not mandatory authority in a VA court. Kant is appealing a criminal conviction. Locate, correctly cite and provide a summary of an appellate level opinion from VA that addresses the statute in C above:

Pull up the statute on Westlaw.

See Notes of Decisions [6] Nature and elements of offense; [3] Weight and sufficiency of evidence. Thanks, please place these revisions at the top of your to do list, as this will directly affect your ability to successfully complete Test 5

 

 

http://lscontent.westlaw.com/images/content/WLNCompareWL10.pdf

 

West Law Notes ADDITIONAL TO FINISH TEST 4 REVISON (the assignment that was done last week) regarding section 5:

Westlaw Notes for information

Some Common Database Identifiers:

CA-CS = California Cases (Substitute your state abbreviation)

CO-ST = Colorado Statutes (Substitute your state abbreviation)

NY-ST-ANN = New York Annotated Statutes (Substitute your state abbreviation)

American Law Reports = ALR

American Jurisprudence = AMJUR

American Jurisprudence Legal Forms = AMJUR-LF

Corpus Juris Secundum = CJS

West’s Legal Forms = WEST-LF

Accessing DIRECTORY:

· Note the extensive list of Secondary resources provided through this page.

· Note that clicking on the link provided frequently offers specific categories/topics that may or may not be relevant to your current search.

· Spend time investigating the “All Databases” option

· Note that you may access the “Find a Database Wizard” through this page.

· Utilize this whenever you do not know the correct database identifier

· Also utilize this to locate beneficial resources, of which you may not be aware

· Also utilize this to obtain definitions and gain access to Words and Phrases, which can provide additional search terms, understanding of legal issues, and relevant case law. All cases can lead to additional secondary resources.

Using KEYSEARCH:

· Note that this are arranged by topics and sub-topics. For example, you may easily be able to identify the major topic involved in your issue, but not pinpoint the issue itself. Keysearch allows you to begin there, and narrow it down.

· Note that it may prove extremely beneficial in discovering more effective phrases and terms to use in your Natural Language Queries

· Note that it provides you with a Terms and Connectors Query

· Note that it provides you with the Key Number System which can allow you to further refine your query and the resultant hits

Practical Application

Directory

· Choose your database accordingly. (eg. If you’re searching ALR, you must enter “ALR” in Search these Databases)

· You must select “Natural Language” – Terms and Connectors are the default setting

· Identify your search terms. Consider cause of action terms and phrases; issues; parties; phrases or terms that are likely to narrow down your hits.

· Remember to cartwheel your terms. Remember to use the Thesaurus next to your search box. Remember to look to other areas for additional terms (Keysearch; Words & Phrases, etc)

Keysearch

· Consider your Topic

· Select most appropriate sub-topic

· Remember that sub-topics are further broken down and indicated by a file folder icon

· Select your Source

· Remember that you can access secondary publications here, as well

· Remember that Keysearch provides a terms and connectors search for you, as well

· Note that sometimes the topics and sub-topics here can provide some help in identifying some search terms

 

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