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Criminal Law Keyed to Gershowitz
Keeler v. Superior Court
Citation:
2 Cal.3d 619, 87 Cal.Rptr. 481, 470 P.2d 617.
ProfessorScott Caron
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*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
- Topic: Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.
- Parties: Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.
- Procedural Posture & History: Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.
- Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.: A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.
- Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises: Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
- Brief Facts: A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.
- Rule of Law: Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.
- Facts: What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case. Review the Facts of this case here:
The petitioner and Mrs. Keeler were married for 16 years. On September 27, 1968, they got a divorce. Unknown to the petitioner, Mrs. Keeler was pregnant by Ernest Vogt.
On February 23, 1969, the petitioner blocked the road that Mrs. Keeler was driving on with his car. He walked to her vehicle and said “I hear you’re pregnant. If you are you had better stay away from [our daughters] and from here.” He assisted her out of the car, looked at her abdomen, and became extremely upset. He told her that he was going to “stomp it out” of her.
He pushed her against the car, shoved his knee into her abdomen, and struck her in the face with several blows. She fainted, and when she regained consciousness the petitioner was gone. She had suffered substantial facial injuries, as well as extensive bruising of the abdominal wall. A C-section had to be performed and the head of the fetus was found to be severely fractured, and it was delivered stillborn. She was 35 weeks pregnant at the time.
The petitioner was charged with murder. He filed a motion to set aside the information for lack of probable cause. He argued that the fetus was not a “human being” within the meaning of the California statute defining murder. The Superior Court of Amador City (California) denied the motion. He is now in the Supreme Court of California on a writ of prohibition.
- Issue(s): Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.
- Holding: Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.
- Concurring / Dissenting Opinions: Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.
- Reasoning and Analysis: Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
- Policy: Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.
- Court Direction: Shares where the Court went from here for this case.
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