You are a newly-hired junior associate attorney in the Office of the Prosecutor for the District of the Forest. Your boss has just received the Sherriff’s report summarized above. Your boss has asked you to prepare an analysis of the events that had taken place in the Forest at Granny’s house and nearby. Specifically, she would like you to prepare a memo of no more than 800 words addressing the following questions:
Which (living) parties may be charged with crimes? (Consider: Vulpine . . . possible inchoate crimes and crimes of complicity? — can the Woodsman as “Deputy Sherriff of the Forest” be charged in the death of either Granny or Lupine? Why or why not? Could anybody else possibly be charged?)
For any party you might charge with a crime, specify what crime(s) may have been committed? State the
elements of the crime and apply them to the facts as stated above.
For each party who might be charged, what are the best affirmative defenses—if any—that might be put
forward on that defendant’s behalf? Again, make sure to state the elements of the defense and apply the elements to the facts as stated above.
Assume that the Criminal law of the District of the Forest treats wolves the same as competent adult humans. Where you think you need some further fact to make your analysis, say what the fact is and say why. You should apply the law as generally laid out in our Lippman textbook. Wherever the facts of this case raise a question where the legal doctrines seem perhaps conflicting or unclear to you, you are welcome to state that in your response as well. That suggests that you are probably on the right track for a good answer! In any law school exam, this is precisely where you state, for example. “the Model Penal Code recommends X. – but a majority of states have held that Y.” (think here of the MPC “duty to retreat” versus the current majority of states’ “stand your ground” rule – or many other similarly controversial doctrines). A good law student should know to spot both sides of the question, even briefly.
Just do your best to identify all plausible crimes and defenses.
