Court Case Scenarios Modern Humanities Justice Unit

Case #1 O A brother and sister are convicted of murdering their parents. During their trial, they confirm years of physical and mental abuse that culminated in their decision to conspire to kill their parents. Friends and neighbors corroborate their story. The kids did not deny the murder, but feel it was justified.

Case #2 O Four friends, two guys/two girls, are seniors in high school and are partying together one Saturday night. They are all drinking and leave the party together in one car. They speed home laughing and talking. They turn a sharp bend by the creek and suddenly slam into a bridge abutment. One girl is instantly killed. The other girl requires extensive reconstructive surgery to her face. The driver suffers minor injuries and the other boy requires years of physical and mental rehabilitation due to brain damage. The families are devastated. The local chapter of MADD feels the driver should be made an example of for all teens to prevent more tragedies. The family of the deceased girl fights against his prosecution, arguing that the families have suffered enough. The driver is 18 and is charged as an adult for vehicular manslaughter.

Case #3 O A corporate executive is stealing money from his company. He is convicted of the crime, his company declares bankruptcy, and 100 people lose their jobs. He argues that the company was his to steal, but the employees argue he has a duty to them.

Case #4 O A young couple is expecting their first child. By all accounts from family and friends, they are the “perfect couple,” so much in love. The wife discovers that her husband has been cheating on her with another woman. She waits at home and confronts him about his infidelity. She threatens to leave him and take the child with her. He panics and kills her and their unborn child in a fit of rage.

Case #5 O A twenty-five year old woman goes into the hospital for knee surgery following a surfing accident. The doctor accidentally amputates her leg because of a record keeping error by the hospital staff. She sues the hospital and the doctor for medical malpractice.

Case #6 O Two teenage boys are drinking and driving on Friday night. Their car crashes into a telephone pole and the passenger is killed, but the driver survives. The parents of the deceased boy sue the driver for wrongful death.

Case #7 O While eating dinner at a popular fast food restaurant, a woman finds a human finger in her bowl of chili. She sues the restaurant for emotional distress.

Case #8 O A young research student is working and going to school at a prestigious university. He is a scientist and has accepted free tuition to the school on the condition that he do research in the university’s name and teach a few classes. While researching drugs for the university, he discovers a cure for cancer. The new drug will bring billions of dollars when produced and sold. The university claims that the patent rights to the drug belong to them. The student claims he owns the drug because it was discovered accidentally while he was researching something else. The university sues the student for the patent rights to the drug.

Case #9 O A young couple plans a lavish wedding for over 400 guests. The wedding contract for the band, hall, catering and other essentials totals over $750,000. The day before the wedding, the young bride-to-be gets cold feet and backs out of the wedding and runs away to Tahiti with her friends. The groom-to-be is stuck paying $500,000 in fees under the contracts as the cancellation was too late for full refunds. He sues the former bride-to-be for half of the fees because he feels that is her share of the costs.