BMGT380 He s the first Smith I ve had in a few years Lot of Chens Sunshine Little Miss Sunshine Oh Mr Last class we had a Ms Hong I said if she didn t have this case Hong vs Mariott then she should be shot Porn Mentions 3 1 27 14 TO BRIEF A CASE Know the facts of the case What s the legal issue why is the case in the book where it is Not who won or lost what the actual issue is Decision and reason for it WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR Edward the Confessor King of England from 1042 1066 Wasn t too popular Started Westminster Abbey in 1055 Earl Godwin rival to the King very powerful man His daughter Edith married Edward She was barren had no children Had two sons Tostig and Harold William was the Duke of Normandy Had helped rescue Edward a few times Edward promised to make William the King upon his death Edward sent Harold to tell William that he was to become King Was kidnapped and rescued by William Harold then joined William as a knight pledged loyalty to William Edward died after Harold went back to England Harold was then named king really pissed off William Tostig got no part of the action He and William made pact to go overthrow Harold Makes deal with Norwegians to attack England from North William brought boats to attack through English Channel Tostig and Norwegian king are killed Harold then went south to deal with William in Hastings Got hit in eye with arrow Becomes William the Conqueror after battle at Hastings in 1066 Organized country and government Did survey of all landowners and property owners in England Organized court system LEGAL SYSTEMS 1 Civil Based on Codes written law Found in Europe and countries colonized by Europeans French got into Louisiana have characteristics very similar to Europe s including law 2 Common Law Based on Stare Decisis Star ay Decisees Law of the Cases cases based on legal precedents Follow prior cases unless there s a good reason not to In England kind of sloppy and messy Judge made law laws that are made by judges Judge makes a decree in one case future judges base their decisions on the precedent Common Law is like the background of a painting statutes are like the specific parts 1 29 31 Criminal vs Civil STATE V SMITH CRIMINAL CASE government sues you Someone attacks you with a lead pipe outside of Cornerstone and takes all of your credit cards and money State of Maryland takes him to court you aren t the victim maybe you just testify as a witness You can also sue him privately SMITH V JONES CIVIL CASE individual person sues you You can sue him for damages and the things he stole from you US V SMITH CRIMINAL CASE If he commits a federal crime CASE CITATIONS Smith v Jones 375 MD 402 324 A 2d 201 MD 1993 Volume 375 at Maryland page 402 Volume 324 page 201 of the Atlantic division 2nd Series Maryland case decided in 1993 USA v Nixon 418 U S 683 94 S CT 3090 1974 Volume 418 of USA page 983 volume 94 page 3090 decided in 1974 BRIEFING A CASE FIDR 1 Fact what facts are necessary to the decision what s the deal here 2 Issue why is this case here what s the legal issue Not is there contract or not rather whether a communication is considered a communication when it s mailed or received 3 Decision what was the decision 4 Reason why TRIAL V APPELLATE COURTS For case to go to court there needs to be a case or controversy there needs to be a dispute You can t go to court and ask if a contract is legal or not before you sign it you can go after you sign it and get sued for breaching it Trial Courts questions of fact Example you leave class and get hit by a car Argue with the driver as to whether or not he had a red light and ran it Resolve it by going to Trial Court issue of facts whether or not he went through a red light Appellate Courts questions of law You disagree with the decision that was handed down by the trial court and file an appeal Appellate Court won t hear an appeal as to I don t think I went through the red light Rather they will hear an appeal as to whether the judge misinterpreted the law The opinions written up by Appellate Courts are the ones written in our textbook STATE VS FEDERAL COURTS State Courts courts of General Jurisdiction can hear most cases criminal civil cases of any kind Jurisdiction Power Federal Courts courts of Limited Jurisdiction can only hear certain kinds of cases When you file a lawsuit in federal court first statement is This court has jurisdiction because it violates What kind of cases Case involving a Federal Question violation of tax code Case involving Diversity diversity of citizenship citizen from one state against another state Must exceed 75 000 in controversy to keep minor cases out of Federal Court FEDERAL COURT SYSTEM Supreme Court is on top Next Level court of Appeals for Fed Circuit Circuit Courts of Appeal 12 and Highest State Court Next Level Claims Court Tax Bankrup Agencies US District Courts 95 Lower State Court Lowest Level U S Magistrates Federal Judge is named by advice of President and Senate Once you get approved you re there for life as judge STATE COURT SYSTEM State Supreme Court is on top MD Ct of Appeals Will only take case if theres an Appeal of Ceatiorari Can decide which cases they want or don t want to take Once decision is made by State Supreme Ct the decision is final If they see a case being tried at the State Trial Ct level can actually decide to skip over the State Appellate Ct and take the case right away Next State Appellate Ct MD Ct of Special Appeals Next State Trial Ct Circuit Court for PG County Basic trial level court Special Inferior Courts Probate Family County District Ct of MD for X County Courts of very limited jurisdiction no juries civil cases up to 25 000 2 3 14 Trial of a Case Example you go to cross Adelphi Road and get hit by a car Now you want to sue the driver 1 Pleadings written documents filed in court case CAMM If you re doing the suing You are the Plaintiff Person being sued Defendant a File a Complaint On Feb 28th while walking West on Adelphi Road Mr Jones ran through a red light and hit my car because of and I was severely injured b File an Answer to the Complaint Defendant didn t comit the acts as alleged And sign it c If you get the complaint and read it but don t understand what the claim is you can file a motion to dismiss demurrer It s a legal What d File a Motion a request that …
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