Essay Instructions: Criminal Law Project Description
Project Introduction:
Whether you are pursuing a profession in criminal justice or the paralegal field, each case you will encounter in the real world is unique. It is imperative that you be able to identify the specific fact patterns within each case and apply your knowledge of criminal law to identify specific charges that would apply based on those fact patterns. This project allows you to apply these concepts to a hypothetical bank robbery. You will have a chance to identify the parties to this crime and identify each party’s particular role, either as a principal, as an accessory, or as having no criminal responsibility. You will also determine appropriate charges as well as potential defenses that may be used.
Whether you are a Criminal Justice student or a Paralegal Studies student, you will complete this project. If you are a Paralegal Studies student, be sure to include your completed project in your Paralegal Student Portfolio which you have been developing throughout the program.
Let’s meet Little Louie, Billy Bad Boy, and Vinnie Bagadonuts. They may not be the nicest or the smartest guys in town, but they certainly make criminal law interesting! You will be introduced to these three and see what kind of trouble they are getting into. A Fact Pattern Handout is provided to introduce the characters and the story. Begin the project by reading this case and referring to it as you work through the various elements of application to criminal law.
Course Objectives Tested:
Identify the fundamentals of criminal law.
Identify the criminal act and mental elements in the commission of a crime.
Describe affirmative defenses.
Classify crimes against persons.
Define the essential elements of statutory robbery.
Project Submission Plan:
Project Part Description/Requirements of Project Part
Project Part 1 Tasks:
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Assume that you are in a federal jurisdiction. Develop a list of all relevant facts in this case that might be used for future legal arguments.
Develop a list of all crimes that each person can be charged with.
Project/Portfolio Fact Pattern
Little Louie, Billy Bad Boy, and Vinnie Bagadonuts are all unemployed and broke. Louie dates Wild Wanda, who works as a teller at Commercial Corruption, a local bank. In order to improve their financial situation, Louie, Billy and Vinnie decide to rob the bank. In order to facilitate the crime, they need to procure some items and they need to enlist the assistance of Wild Wanda, Louie’s girlfriend.
In their planning, the three decide that they need to steal two cars, one for a getaway car and the other as a switch car. They also need guns, masks, and a place to launder the money they steal from the bank. Billy Bad Boy knows Smokey, an individual who deals in controlled substances and who can launder the money from the bank for a fee. Smokey agrees to launder the money for a 3% fee.
Vinnie is assigned the task of obtaining two cars to use in the robbery. Vinnie steals both cars from the police impound lot. He later parks one of the cars in a shopping mall parking lot to be used as a switch car.
Louie knows Smith, a gun collector, whose gun collection is stored in a locker at Smith’s residence. Louie breaks a window at Smith’s house, enters, breaks into the gun locker, and steals several handguns and automatic weapons, including a sawed-off shotgun.
Without telling her why, Louie, Billy, and Vinnie talk to Wanda about the inside layout of Commercial Corruption, the amount of cash in the bank, bank security, and the bank’s hours of operation.
The morning of the bank robbery, Billy pays an unexpected visit to his estranged wife, Glamorous Gloria. They had been having a tumultuous relationship for months and Billy wants to have a clean break. Billy shoots Glamorous Gloria once in the heart, killing her instantly.
Louie, Billy, and Vinnie meet and drive together to the bank. Billy waits in the car as the getaway driver while Louie and Vinnie go inside to rob the bank. Wanda, not known for her attention to details, forgot to mention the armed bank guard. When Louie and Vinnie announce the robbery, the bank guard draws his gun. The shooting starts and one of the tellers is shot and killed.
Shooting continues and next Vinnie is shot and killed. Louie grabs a bag of money and runs from the bank just as the police arrive. The shooting continues as Louie jumps into the getaway car and the bank guard emerges, shooting and killing one of the police officers.
In the confusion, Billy and Louie speed away from the bank. Two blocks down the street, they hit and kill a pedestrian crossing the street against the traffic signals.
The two drive about five miles, abandon the car, and flee on foot. They are able to make it to Smokey’s house, where they break in and hide. The police are able to obtain the signal being emitted by a tracking device in the bag of stolen bank money.
The police surround Smokey’s house, and when Billy and Louie are asleep, break in and capture them. Billy and Louie are both advised of their rights.
