• Law Study Aids
    • Case Briefs
    • Lessons
      • 1L
        • Civil Procedure
        • Constitutional Law
        • Contracts
        • Criminal Law
        • Property Law
        • Torts
      • 2L/3L
        • Business Associations
        • Criminal Procedure
        • Evidence
        • Family Law
        • Secured Transactions
        • Wills, Trusts & Estates
    • Outlines
      • 1L
        • Civil Procedure
        • Constitutional Law
        • Contracts
        • Criminal Law
        • Property Law
        • Torts
      • 2L/3L
        • Agency
        • Business Associations
        • Conflicts of Law
        • Corporations
        • Criminal Procedure
        • Evidence
        • Family Law
        • Partnerships
        • Secured Transactions
      • Exam Prep Checklists
        • Access 1L Checklists
          • Civil Procedure
          • Constitutional Law
          • Contracts
          • Criminal Law
          • Property Law
          • Torts
        • Access 2L/3L Checklists
          • Agency
          • Criminal Procedure
          • Corporations/Business Entities
          • Evidence
          • Family Law
          • Partnership
          • Trusts
          • U.C.C. ART. 9
          • Wills
    • Refresher Courses
      • 1L
        • Constitutional Law
        • Contracts Law
        • Criminal Law
        • Property Law
        • Torts Law
      • 2L/3L
        • Criminal Procedure
        • Evidence Law
    • Issue Spotting Essays
      • 1L
        • Civil Procedure
        • Constitutional Law
        • Contracts
        • Criminal Law
        • Property Law
        • Torts
      • 2L/3L
        • Criminal Procedure
        • Evidence
    • Multiple Choice Quizzes
      • 1L
        • Civil Procedure
        • Constitutional Law
        • Contracts
        • Criminal Law
        • Property Law
        • Torts
      • 2L/3L
        • Criminal Procedure
        • Evidence
    • Exam Prep Workshops
      • 1L
        • Civil Procedure
        • Constitutional Law
        • Contracts
        • Criminal Law
        • Property Law
        • Torts
    • Charts and Notes
      • 1L
        • Civil Procedure
        • Constitutional Law
        • Contracts
        • Criminal Law
        • Property Law
        • Torts
      • 2L/3L
        • Criminal Procedure
        • Evidence
  • Courses
    • Practice Ready Workshop
    • 1L Prep Course
    Generic selectors
    Exact matches only
    Search in title
    Search in content
    Search in posts
    Search in pages
    Advanced Search | Notes Search
    Start My FREE 7-DAY Trial
    Log In
    StuddyBuddy Pro
    Apple
    Facebook
    Google

    Forgot Password?

    Forgotten Password

    Cancel

    Register For This Site

    Group Poor Marked

    User Access

    Apple
    Facebook
    Google

    A password will be e-mailed to you. Cancel

    Generic selectors
    Exact matches only
    Search in title
    Search in content
    Search in posts
    Search in pages

    • Law Study Aids
      • Case Briefs
      • Lessons
        • 1L
          • Civil Procedure
          • Constitutional Law
          • Contracts
          • Criminal Law
          • Property Law
          • Torts
        • 2L/3L
          • Business Associations
          • Criminal Procedure
          • Evidence
          • Family Law
          • Secured Transactions
          • Wills, Trusts & Estates
      • Outlines
        • 1L
          • Civil Procedure
          • Constitutional Law
          • Contracts
          • Criminal Law
          • Property Law
          • Torts
        • 2L/3L
          • Agency
          • Business Associations
          • Conflicts of Law
          • Corporations
          • Criminal Procedure
          • Evidence
          • Family Law
          • Partnerships
          • Secured Transactions
        • Exam Prep Checklists
          • Access 1L Checklists
            • Civil Procedure
            • Constitutional Law
            • Contracts
            • Criminal Law
            • Property Law
            • Torts
          • Access 2L/3L Checklists
            • Agency
            • Criminal Procedure
            • Corporations/Business Entities
            • Evidence
            • Family Law
            • Partnership
            • Trusts
            • U.C.C. ART. 9
            • Wills
      • Refresher Courses
        • 1L
          • Constitutional Law
          • Contracts Law
          • Criminal Law
          • Property Law
          • Torts Law
        • 2L/3L
          • Criminal Procedure
          • Evidence Law
      • Issue Spotting Essays
        • 1L
          • Civil Procedure
          • Constitutional Law
          • Contracts
          • Criminal Law
          • Property Law
          • Torts
        • 2L/3L
          • Criminal Procedure
          • Evidence
      • Multiple Choice Quizzes
        • 1L
          • Civil Procedure
          • Constitutional Law
          • Contracts
          • Criminal Law
          • Property Law
          • Torts
        • 2L/3L
          • Criminal Procedure
          • Evidence
      • Exam Prep Workshops
        • 1L
          • Civil Procedure
          • Constitutional Law
          • Contracts
          • Criminal Law
          • Property Law
          • Torts
      • Charts and Notes
        • 1L
          • Civil Procedure
          • Constitutional Law
          • Contracts
          • Criminal Law
          • Property Law
          • Torts
        • 2L/3L
          • Criminal Procedure
          • Evidence
    • Courses
      • Practice Ready Workshop
      • 1L Prep Course
    Start My FREE 7-DAY Trial
    Log In Sign up
    StuddyBuddy Pro
    Apple
    Facebook
    Google

    Forgot Password?

    Forgotten Password

    Cancel

    Register For This Site

    Group Poor Marked

    User Access

    Apple
    Facebook
    Google

    A password will be e-mailed to you. Cancel

    SmartBrief enables case brief popups that define Key Terms, Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises used in this case.
    SmartBrief
    A.I Enhanced Margin Brief to quickly recall case brief A.I Enhanced Margin Brief to quickly recall case brief 0
    Sections to print




    To print, please Start a Free Trial or Log in.
    Confirm favorite deletion?
    Cancel Yes, Delete

    Criminal Law Keyed to Ohlin

    View this case in different Casebooks
    Criminal Law Keyed to Johnson

    People v. Jennings

    Citation:
    114 Cal. Rptr. 3d 133, 237 P.3d 474 (2010)

    Only StudyBuddy Pro offers the complete Case Brief Anatomy*

    Access the most important case brief elements for optimal case understanding.

    *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.
    Start Your Free Trial or Log in.
    • 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 defendant and his wife, Michelle Jennings, had been together since Michelle was 14 years old and the defendant was 29 years old. They had a a five year old son together named Arthur.

      Approximately two weeks before Christmas, two friends visited the Jennings’ home. They noticed that Arthur was making an odd sound, rocking back and forth, and staring straight ahead. The defendant told them that Michelle had “knocked him out.” Michelle confirmed that she had “socked the damn little brat between the eyes.”

      In January, someone saw Arthur and recounted that he had two black eyes, a bandaged hand, and appeared very thin and undernourished.

      In February, a neighbor witnessed the defendant grab Arthur and strike him on the back of his head with a fireplace shovel. Arthur died within an hour of being struck on the head with the shovel. The Jennings’ initially buried Arthur’s body in a shallow rave, but a few hours later they unearthed the body and threw it down a nearby desert mine shaft. They attempted to scrub the blood off of Arthur’s bedroom walls, and the defendant burned Arthur’s sheets and the gloves used to bury him.

      At trial, a forensic pathologist testified that at the time of his death, Arthur weighed only 35 pounds. The severity of his condition indicated that it was not something that had occurred over a short period of time. He also testified concerning Arthur’s numerous physical injuries, including a bruise and an abrasion on the tip of Arthur’s nose, bruising and a laceration in the area between the nose and the upper lip, bruises on the inside of his lips and gums, a lacerated oral frenulum (between the gum and the upper lip), and a slight bruise on the tip of his tongue. These injuries occurred shortly before death and were most consistent with smothering. He also had  injuries to the back of his head, one injury on the right side that was a few weeks and a second “fresh” injury on the left side that had occurred no more than six hours prior to his death, and possibly as recently as immediately preceding the time of death, but that was not itself life threatening. He also had extensive hemorrhaging and acute pneumonia at the time of his death which attributed to the breakdown of his overall failure to thrive. There were drugs in his system that would have played a minor contributing role in his condition as well.

      The expert gave the cause of death as “the entire problem” – the drugs, physical injuries, malnutrition, and emaciation – “all working together.”

      The defendant was convicted of murdering Arthur. He appealed, contending that even assuming he tortured Arthur, there is insufficient evidence that his torture was the “but for” cause of Arthur’s death.

       

    • 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.
    Start Your Free Trial or Log in.
    • 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.
    Start Your Free Trial or Log in.

    MarginBrief™ Case overview for optimal recall

    A.I Enhanced Margin Brief to quickly recall case brief
    A.I Enhanced Margin Brief to quickly recall case brief

    Generating...

    Facts:
    Quickly review the Facts of this case including its key ideas for optimal understanding and recall.

    Quickly review the Facts of this case including its key ideas for optimal understanding and recall.

    Issue:
    Utilize our powerful A.I. tools to easily capture and understand the Issue in this case.

    Utilize our powerful A.I. tools to easily capture and understand the Issue in this case.

    Rule:
    Easily understand the Rule in this case so you have a complete and thorough appreciation for overall case concepts completely tying together what occurred, the court’s questions and the case outcome.

    Easily understand the Rule in this case so you have a complete and thorough appreciation for overall case concepts completely tying together what occurred, the court’s questions and the case outcome.

    Start Your Free Trial or Log in.

    Topic Resources

    Topic Videos

    People v. Jennings7m 12s
    See complete Lesson, Quizzes and More
    People v. Jennings8m 27s
    See complete Lesson, Quizzes and More

    Topic Refresher Course

    Elements of a Crime: Causation

    Status:

    Status:

    Your Law School
    Success Begins Here

    • Case Briefs - the Socratic Savior! – Best in class and Largest Library of complete I.R.A.C. / C.R.E.A.C. Law School case briefs. Includes:
      • SmartBriefs® - Enhanced case briefs for optimal clarity
      • CaseCast® - Professor overviews of "What you need to know"
      • New MarginBrief® - A.I. - Powered for faster, more efficient case recall
    • Lessons - Professor delivered video for topic reinforcement
    • Outlines - Professor written - downloadable, amendable and includes test-taking tips and tools
    • Refresher Courses - Quick course reviews with interactive exercises
    • Quizzes and Exams - over 5,000 Multiple Choice and Essay questions all Professor curated and answered
    • Exam Prep Workshops - Delivered by Professors on how to disect, organize and answer law school exam questions
    • and so much more ...
    Start your FREE Trial

    Notepad Click anywhere in notepad to add a note

    People v. Jennings