STREET LAW MOCK TRIAL PROBLEM
FALL 2012
Professor Robert F. Diaz
Professor Michael Rocque
Nova Southeastern University
ShepardBroadLawCenter
3305 College Avenue
Davie, Florida33314
IN AND FOR BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA
THE STATE OF FLORIDA INFORMATION FOR
Vs. AGGRAVATED BATTERY
RICARDO ROBERTS,
Defendant.
______/
Lisa Ratz, State Attorney of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, as Prosecuting Attorney for the State of Florida in the County of Broward, by and through her undersigned Assistant State Attorney, charges that
______RICARDO ROBERTS ______
on the 19th day of February, A.D. 2012 in the County and State aforesaid did intentionally or knowingly cause great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to April Walker___, to wit: by intentionally touching or striking said April Walker with his fist, breaking her nose, contrary to F.S. 784.045(1a)(1).
LISA RATZ, STATE ATTORNEY
Seventeenth Judicial Circuit
By: ______
Assistant State Attorney
Prosecution Witnesses
April Walker
Detective Sylvester "Sly" Smith
Defense Witnesses
Sabrina Hooper
Ricardo Roberts
ALL HEARSAY WILL BE ADMISSABLE IN THIS TRIAL. NO EXCEPTIONS TO THE HEARSAY RULE WILL BE NEEDED.
Essential Facts
On Tuesday, February 19, 2011 at approximately 11:30 p.m., Detective Sylvester "Sly" Smith responded to the parking lot of the Spaghetti Grill in regards to a disturbance. Upon arrival, Detective Smith found the victim, April Walker, bleeding from an apparent broken nose. He called fire rescue to provide medical treatment for Miss Walker, who was laying on the ground, saying, "He punched me. He punched me," while pointing at Ricardo Roberts. Mr. Roberts was being hugged by Sabrina Hooper, his present girl-friend. The Detective asked Mr. Roberts what happened, to which Ricardo replied, "She's crazy, and I won't talk to you without my lawyer present." At this point, Sabrina Hooper said, "She started it. She's just jealous." Ricardo Roberts then told Ms. Hooper to "Shut up, he's a cop." Detective Smith then placed Ricardo Roberts under arrest for Aggravated Battery.
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA
THE STATE OF FLORIDA
CASE NO: 12-12345CF10A
Vs. JUDGE: LEARNED JURIST
RICARDO ROBERTS,
Defendant.
______/
ORDER ON DENNIS-PETERSON PRE-TRIAL
STAND YOUR GROUND MOTION
THIS CAUSE having come before the Court upon Defendant’s Dennis-Peterson Pre-trial Stand Your Ground Evidentiary Motion, and the Court having heard the testimony of both State and Defense witnesses, heard arguments, reviewed all applicable cases and statutes, and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, makes the following findings
- Fla. Stat.Ch. 776.032 (1)(2005) states: a person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, or s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force, unless the person against whom the force was used is a law enforcement officer.
- This Court reviewed the relevant Florida statutes, heard evidence and heard the testimony of all witnesses, and finds the Defendant Ricardo Roberts did not meet the burden for immunity from prosecution.
- The Defendant shall be able to assert the affirmative defense of “Self defense” in the trial.
THIS COURT ORDERS AND ADJUDGES that the Defendant’s Stand Your Ground Motion is hereby
RESPECTFULLY DENIED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that neither the State nor the Defense shall mention or comment on the Court’s Ruling on this motion in the presence of the jury.
DONE AND ORDERED IN CHAMBERS, Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida this 15th day of May, 2012.
______LEARNED JURIST Circuit Court Judge
STATEMENT OF APRIL WALKER
My name is April Walker, and I am 21 years old. I am in my second year of school at the Central Campus of Broward Community College. I am majoring in Physical Education and on scholarship for basketball, volleyball, and soccer. I am proud to be the captain on all of our school's women's teams, and was voted the athlete of the year for two years in a row. My athletic ability is enhanced by my size. In stocking feet I stand 6'2" tall and weigh about 155 pounds. When I'm not in class, I work out with weights at the Scandinavian Health Club on University Drive. I manage to work out 4 or 5 times a week for about 4 hours at a time. I'm stronger than some of the men at the gym, and pride myself on my toughness. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, I work at the Spaghetti Grill in Plantation as a waitress. I make good money on tips, which pays for all my living expenses. I think my manager is going to fire me if the trial makes it look like I caused this incident. Ricardo was my boyfriend from October of 2009, till the beginning of February, 2011. I met him at the gym where I work out. When we started dating he didn't seem to mind that I was bigger and stronger than him. After about a month of dating, Ricardo started saying people thought he was a "wimp" for having a girlfriend who could protect him. I told him he was a "wimp" if he let people bother him. After that, he started to boss me around and try to tell me what to do. Things got steadily worse until one day I picked him up by his shirt and pinned him against the wall when he came to see me at work. I told him I would “beat him senseless” if he told me what to do again. I let him down and he left, embarrassed and angry. This was about a month before the night of this incident. We never went out again after that night. I still had feelings for him until he did this to me. Now I hope he gets what he deserves. He just had a complex because he was 5'6" tall, and only weighed 156 lbs. This new girlfriend, Sabrina Hooper, seems to have as many complexes as he has. She said I was jealous of her that night, which is totally ridiculous. All of my teams always beat her teams at the Broward Community North Campus. She is a mediocre athlete from what I can see, and now she's with a "wimp of a man who would hit a woman." What's there to be jealous of?
On February 19, 2011, Ricardo came into the Spaghetti Grill with Sabrina about 10:30 p.m. The hostess sent me a text, telling me he was here with a girl. I couldn't believe they sat at one of my tables. Ricardo signaled me over and said, "Hurry up, we're hungry", in a very arrogant tone. After taking their order, I brought water to them and Ricardo said, "This glass is dirty, get me another one." He then sent me a text which said “isn’t she cute” with a picture of Sabrina in a bikini. I started to seethe, but held my temper. With a new, clean glass of water, I brought back their food and placed it down. Sabrina said, "I ordered a baked potato, not french fries, you big idiot." I picked up the plate and poured the hot fries into Ricardo's lap. He stood up and said, "I ought to smack you." "You're not big enough or man enough," I replied, and went to get another waitress to take the table. When they were leaving, Ricardo walked by, raised his fist to me and said, "You're lucky you're working." I couldn't take any more from either of them. When he got to his car, I was three feet behind him. Ricardo turned and raised his fists and let out a growl as he came towards me. I thought he was going to hurt me, so I used my instincts and hit him in the face before he had a chance to hit me. I think I landed 5 or 6 punches to his face and neck before Sabrina screamed and I looked at her. It was then I felt my nose splatter blood and I went to the ground. I had seen Ricardo's fist coming at me just before I went to the ground. I couldn't block the punch because Sabrina had pulled on my arms. When the Detective arrived I was still on the ground, and kept saying, "He punched me." I still can't believe Ricardo is such a coward that he would hit a woman. I would never have hit him unless he tried to hurt me first. Now my nose is bent permanently to right side of my face. I am embarrassed and ashamed of how I look, and the doctors can't do anything about it. I know he hit me with his right hand, that's why my nose is bent to the right. I was facing him.
STATEMENT OF DETECTIVE SYLVESTER "SLY" SMITH
My name is Detective Sylvester "Sly" Smith. I am 50 years old and have been with the Beach City Police Department for 15 years. My detective duties started when I was promoted 10 years ago, after 5 years as a patrol officer. My career as a police officer started 20 years ago with another agency. I was a detective with that agency after only 2 years, but was fired for "moonlighting" as a private investigator while working my other duties. The newspapers said I was working on the "sly" and the nickname stuck. Since then I have not worked anything other than my assigned duties. That is until the night of this incident. I was working a "private duty" detail at the Spaghetti Grill which is usually only worked by patrol officers. Detectives are not supposed to take these jobs because we supposedly make enough money without them. The manager was a friend whom I knew from eating at the restaurant so often. I also knew the poor victim, April Walker, as she was my waitress many times when I ate there. When the manager told me he'd pay me twice the going rate on my off night, I figured no one would find out. Besides, he said I could dress in plainclothes if I kept order in the place, and could eat anything off the menu for free. In all the times I ate at the restaurant, I never saw any incidents which would require a police officer. It looked like easy money in the bank for me until this Ricardo Roberts came and committed this Aggravated Battery. It's his fault I got caught doing the private detail, and now I have a reprimand letter in my personnel file. On February 19, 2011, my duties were to start work at 6:00 p.m. and handle any problems until the money was put in the safe at 12:00 midnight. I was paid $200 per night, and would be working on Friday and Saturday nights. The extra $400 per week, plus the free meals, was something I was counting on. At 7:00 p.m., I had a big plate of lasagna with garlic rolls which was served by April Walker. She was a hardworking waitress, but always managed to sit and talk with me when I was in the restaurant. We talked for awhile about her school and athletics, and then I heard the story about her ex-boyfriend, Ricardo the "wimp." She even pointed him out to me when he came in with the other girl. From her description of him and his actions, I hoped there wouldn't be any trouble. I watched from across the room as April served the Defendant's table. He seemed to be angry and sounded nasty to her, even though I couldn't hear what he said. I saw him jump up from the table and April walking away at one point. I don't know what happened. I called April over and she said, "He's asking for it." Ricardo and his girlfriend, Sabrina Hooper, got up to leave. I watched him approach April, but his back was to me and I couldn't see if he did or said anything. As he walked out the door, I saw April head out the door behind them. I got up and walked as quickly as I could out the door. I was about 200 feet away when I saw April fall back onto the ground. I put my 240 pound body into motion and ran as fast as I could. I found April lying on the ground bleeding from her nose and Ricardo Roberts standing over her with numerous red marks on his face and neck. Sabrina Hooper was hugging Mr. Roberts and was screaming, "She's jealous. She started it." Ricardo told Sabrina to "shut up, he's a cop." I asked him what happened. Ricardo said, "She's crazy and I won't talk without a lawyer, because you're her friend." I said, "With you being a male, and her bleeding, I'm placing you under arrest for Aggravated Battery." Ricardo said, "She hit me first." I told him, "Only wimps hit females, and you're going downtown." I called fire rescue to come treat April for her nose. I could see her nose bent off to the right side, bleeding and broken. I went to the hospital emergency room after I cleared the scene saw the X-rays of her broken nose. There was no doubt it was broken. Her nose was bent all the way to the right side of her face. I have not worked any off-duty details since this incident.
STATEMENT OF SABRINA HOOPER
My name is Sabrina Hooper and I am 24 years old. I received my four year degree from the University of Florida where I majored in Communications. I work for the Miami Heat professional basketball team as a public relations representative. I work with individual players by getting them involved in the community with benefits or appearances at local events. It's a fun job, but doesn't pay very well. I hope to be a sportscaster for one of the local television stations, so I'm just waiting for my big break.
I met Ricardo Roberts sometime in January of 2011. He was at a carnival where I was appearing with Lebron James. He caught my eye because he was so cute. When he got there, he was with that girl, April Walker. I didn't know her then, but I saw she was much taller than he was. That only made him cuter to me. I kept an eye on him until she was over at the snack booth, and then I made my move. I gave him my card and my cell phone number and told him he could get free tickets to the Miami Heat games if he sent me a text by the next day. It worked, because he sent me a text, asking me to meet him for lunch. I agreed and called him and flirted with him on the phone. He said he did want the tickets I promised, but I knew when he saw me again, he would be mine. After our lunch, Ricardo told me he was going to break up with April that night. He said he'd go by where she worked and tell her. I was very happy I was going to see him again.
The next time I saw Ricardo, he was smiling and carrying flowers at my office door. It had been 3 days since he was going to tell April their relationship was over. We started dating that night, and have been dating ever since. I realize Ricardo is only 20 years old and I'm 24, but he treats me very well, and would never hit a woman unless he had to. Ricardo is 5'6" tall while I am 5'11" tall, yet it hasn't interfered with our relationship. In fact, he likes to feel like he can protect me. He also says he is 5'9" tall, but I know he's five inches shorter than me.
Since the carnival, I had not seen April Walker until Ricardo and I went to the Spaghetti Grill on February 19, 2011. Ricardo didn't tell me before we went there that April worked there. The less I knew about her the better. I honestly don't like female athletes at all since they are so rough and tough. They all have chips on their shoulders, and it shows. After I played junior college basketball, volleyball, and softball at Broward Community College North, I realized I did not want to hang around female athletes. I went to Gainesville and never picked up any kind of ball in my last two years of school. Even so, we always beat the Central Campus of the college in all sports.
When we sat down in the restaurant, April came over and showed anger when she saw it was Ricardo at the table. She gave us the menus without saying a word, but I could see the tears well up in her eyes. I asked Ricardo why we came here, and he said, "It’s about time she knew how much of a man I am." I didn't know what he meant at the time. When April brought the water to the table and asked for our order, Ricardo told her his water glass was dirty, and could she please get him another one. He then started texting on his phone, but to who I don’t know. She then took our order and didn't bring the water back until the food was ready. I looked at my plate and saw french fries instead of a baked potato. I said, "I wanted a baked potato." April said, "Why didn't you say so you big idiot." Ricardo started to get up, but April dropped the hot french fries on his lap. Ricardo said, "What's the matter with you?" April said, "You're not big enough or man enough," and left our table. Another waitress finished serving us and we left.
I went to the ladies' room on the way out and Ricardo was waiting for me as I came out. We went out into the parking lot to go home. All of a sudden I heard thundering footsteps behind us and April was right there. I backed up a couple of steps to see what she was going to do. She let out a scream and started punching Ricardo in the face and neck. I tried to break them up by grabbing her arms to stop her from hitting him. Just as I got her arms down to her sides, Ricardo was swinging to defend himself and hit her square in the nose. April went down and the blood splattered everywhere. I pulled Ricardo back just as April's cop friend came running up. I told him April started it, she's was just jealous. I was going to explain everything, but Ricardo told me to "be quiet, he's a cop." Instead of owning up to starting the fight, April lay on the ground saying "he punched me." Detective Smith then said some nasty things to Ricardo. Ricardo even told him April hit him first. Detective Smith then arrested Ricardo. I bet the Detective gets to eat free food at the restaurant all the time now. He did no investigation but just went on the statements of his friend, April Walker.