Law MLA

Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing

The paralegal is assigned the task of preparing an office legal memorandum. The memorandum is due in seven days, and there is a five-page limit. The facts of law are as follows

Facts: The client, Jim, a 15-year-old boy, had a small single blade pocketknife in his backpack. He had used the backpack several weeks ago when he went on an overnight fishing trip with his dad. The knife was a typical pocketknife. It was 2-12 inches long when folded and the blade was 2 inches in length. The blade locked into place when the knife was opened. The blade was sharp on one edge and had a pointed tip. Jim forgot the knife was in his backpack, it had slipped into the bottom corner and he had not noticed it in the pack since the fishing trip. Another student told a teacher he saw the knife in the clients backpack the day before.

Law: The state criminal statute 13-3102 provides: A person commits misconduct involving weapons by knowingly possessing a deadly weapon on school grounds. The criminal code 13-105 defines know-ingly as a person is aware or believes that the persons conducts is of that  nature or that the circumstances exist. It does not require any knowledge of the unlaw-fulness of the act or omission

Case Law: In re Vincent V. In a fact situation similar to Jims, the court ruled that a deadly weapon is any-thing that is defined as lethal use. The court further held that the determination of whether a knife is a deadly weapon under 13-3102 depends on the size, shape sharpness, and type of knife.

Part A Detail the application of each step of the prewriting stage to this assignment.

Part B For the organization step of the prewriting stage, prepare an extended outline based on the outline presented in Section IV.A.3.c(ii). Note there are two issues in this assignment, one involving the know-ingly element, the other involving the deadly weapon element.

Part C Based only on the preceding information, fill in the extended outline. Include a statement of the issues, analysis, counteranalysis, conclusion, and recommendation.