Case Study

Criminal Law

A huge party is in full swing when Yolanda Valdez, rookie cop, answers a radio call to respond to a complaint about a melee taking place in a suburban neighborhood. Yolanda arrives just as a fist fight breaks out. One teen is arrested. As Yolanda heads to the house she discovers a young girl who has been date-raped as well as a boy who has suffered seizures due to an apparent drug overdose. Yolanda radios for the medics.

The police scour the house and discover drugs. Yolanda overhears an argument between a boy and his girlfriend. Based on the verbal altercation, Yolanda believes that the girl is a victim of domestic violence. The girl defends her boyfriend, saying it was her fault that he hit her; she was flirting with another boy and probably had it coming.

Some of the partygoers are stopped for alleged drunk driving and the police search their cars. At the same time, a teenaged babysitter across the street is approached by one of the popular boys who asks her to light his pipe of free-base. She does. The pipe explodes and the house catches fire. Tragically, the children she was babysitting are killed in the fire.

© 2008 - 2010 Law Class