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Criminal Law Keyed to Gershowitz
United States v. De La Torre
Citation:
599 F.3d 1198.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.
- 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 was convicted of possession of methamphetamine and marijuana. At trial, he testified that for several days prior to February 16, 2007, he was partying in Room 150 of the Comfort Inn in Wichita, Kansas. While there, he admits he smoked marijuana, but claims he neither saw nor used methamphetamine.
On the morning of February 16, 2007, the defendant testified that he woke up to someone in the room started screaming that the police were at the hotel. At that point, the defendant claimed one of the people in the room handed him a backpack and instructed the defendant to follow him. They left the hotel, at which point the other person told the defendant to get rid of the backpack. Officer Rago, who was in the parking lot, testified he saw the defendant and another individual run from the hotel and hop over a short fence. Officer Rago testified the defendant was carrying a backpack, which he threw into a culvert as he ran away. The backpack contained marijuana, scales, Ziploc bags, rubber bands, digital scales, and “ice,” a form of methamphetamine.
When questioned by police, the defendant admitted being in Room 150 for about three days, where he hung out with friends and used marijuana and ecstasy. He told Officer Springob his friends sold narcotics in the room. He also admitted using methamphetamine in the past, but not at the hotel. He claimed that he believed the backpack only contained marijuana.
He appealed, arguing that he had no idea that the backpack contained methamphetamine.
- 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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