1
Here is the fact pattern: On March 19, 2012, at approximately 11:00pm, John Smith, a 30 yr. old Male, drove alone down an interstate in Illinois. Officer Keyes from the Illinois State Police pulled Mr. Smith over for a broken left tail light. Officer Keyes asked for and received valid driver's license and valid insurance from Mr. Smith. The vehicle was registered to Mr. Smith. Officer Keyes stated that he smelled cannabis, he asked Mr. Smith if he could search the vehicle. Mr. Smith politely responded, "No!" Officer Keyes radioed for a dog sniffing unit for the vehicle while he was in the police car writing Mr. Smith a ticket for a broken left tail light. The Canine Sniffing Unit was close by and reached Officer Keyes' location in seven minutes. When the Canine Unit arrived, Officer Keyes asked Mr. Smith to get out of the vehicle. The canine moved around the vehicle and alerted to the trunk of Mr. Smith's vehicle. When the canine alerted to Mr. Smith's trunk, the time elapsed from the stop until the time of the canine alerting was fifteen minutes (15 minutes). Officer Keyes and his fellow officers open the trunk and find 50 kilos of cocaine. Mr. Smith is arrested, and he is searched, and his car is later searched. Mr. Smith is read his Miranda Warnings at the time of arrrest. No cannabis is found during any part of any search. Mr. Smith is taken into custody and charged with possession of cocaine and intent to deliver, and is then transported into U.S. Federal Custody , where he is charged under the United States Code for a corresponding Delivery and possession of cocaine charge. He is charged under Federal Statute with violation of Title 21 U.S.C. Section 841(a)(1) and Title 21 U.S. C. Section 846. He is facing these counts in Federal Court in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois at 219 N.Dearborn in Chicago. You work as a Paralegal with the Federal Defender’s Office. Your Boss wants an interoffice memorandum on whether a Motion to Suppress Evidence is going to be successful. Remember your boss wants a balanced view as to whether a Motion to Suppress will succeed. So, you have to provide your boss with good cases and analysis and bad cases and analysis Mr. Smith has a prior conviction for Possession of 5 kilograms of Cocaine.

Legal Memo Fact Pattern No. 1

Embed Size (px)

DESCRIPTION

legal memo fact pattern

Citation preview

Page 1: Legal Memo Fact Pattern No. 1

Here is the fact pattern: On March 19, 2012, at approximately 11:00pm, John Smith, a 30 yr. old Male, drove alone down an interstate in Illinois. Officer Keyes from the Illinois State Police pulled Mr. Smith over for a broken left tail light. Officer Keyes asked for and received valid driver's license and valid insurance from Mr. Smith. The vehicle was registered to Mr. Smith. Officer Keyes stated that he smelled cannabis, he asked Mr. Smith if he could search the vehicle. Mr. Smith politely responded, "No!" Officer Keyes radioed for a dog sniffing unit for the vehicle while he was in the police car writing Mr. Smith a ticket for a broken left tail light. The Canine Sniffing Unit was close by and reached Officer Keyes' location in seven minutes. When the Canine Unit arrived, Officer Keyes asked Mr. Smith to get out of the vehicle. The canine moved around the vehicle and alerted to the trunk of Mr. Smith's vehicle. When the canine alerted to Mr. Smith's trunk, the time elapsed from the stop until the time of the canine alerting was fifteen minutes (15 minutes). Officer Keyes and his fellow officers open the trunk and find 50 kilos of cocaine. Mr. Smith is arrested, and he is searched, and his car is later searched. Mr. Smith is read his Miranda Warnings at the time of arrrest. No cannabis is found during any part of any search. Mr. Smith is taken into custody and charged with possession of cocaine and intent to deliver, and is then transported into U.S. Federal Custody , where he is charged under the United States Code for a corresponding Delivery and possession of cocaine charge. He is charged under Federal Statute with violation of Title 21 U.S.C. Section 841(a)(1) and Title 21 U.S. C. Section 846. He is facing these counts in Federal Court in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois at 219 N.Dearborn in Chicago. You work as a Paralegal with the Federal Defender’s Office. Your Boss wants an interoffice memorandum on whether a Motion to Suppress Evidence is going to be successful. Remember your boss wants a balanced view as to whether a Motion to Suppress will succeed. So, you have to provide your boss with good cases and analysis and bad cases and analysis Mr. Smith has a prior conviction for Possession of 5 kilograms of Cocaine.