Alcohol: When Everything Falls Apart… Literally Rachel Higginbotham Ben McLemore Shep Lotz Brown vs. The Bixby Frog Festival

Relevent facts of the Case Key Figures: Michael Kralek, Yvonne Auclaire, Steve Haines, Jodi Porter, Bill and Jane Brown, Ed Rice, Jonathon Allen, Cheryl Knotts. Main witness: Ed Rice- He identified a student wearing a Harrison High School t-shirt and was able to point the other 3 students that were with him in the Harrison yearbook. 4 main participants: the 4 students: Michael, Yvonne, Steve and Jodi These 4 students got drunk off of beer which they were not carded for (they were all under 21), and ended up vandalizing a random cabin they found. The owners of the cabin, (Bill and Jane) found the cabin in destruction and decided to press charges on the board committee of the festival where the beer was sold.

Affidavits Affidavit of Bill Brown: to sum it up, basically their whole cabin was in destruction. It smelled horrible and there were numerous stains of vomit and blood. Multiple items were broken, including valuables, and most all of them had to be replaced. Affidavit of Sue Vickers: At the previous year’s Frog Festival 2 teenagers got drunk and smashed through her stores front window. It had to be replaced for $500 Affidavit of Michael’s mother (Patricia): She didn’t think it was fair for her son to have a juvenile record when he was provided beer by the festival. She agrees with bill in blaming the festival committee for allowing underage drinking. Affidavit of Jodi’s father (Harvey): He blamed Michael for getting Jodi into trouble, because he claims that he was the who reason they were in this mess.

Depositions Deposition of Ed Rice: He works at Jonathon Allen’s liquor store and is told to check IDs there. He was not told to check IDs at the festival and didn’t limit anyone who was drunk, because he said that was not his place to stop people. Deposition of Cheryll Knotts: Has been on the festival committee for 5 years and they have never had an age limit. She does not see a problem with it, because it happens every year and people need to use their own judgement. Deposition of Jonathon Allen: He makes a larger profit from it and sees it as an opportunity to make money when he does not restrict the drinking age. He thinks it’s the parents job to keep their kids in line. Deposition of Michael Kralek: He knew the festival had easy access to beer and had planned on drinking before he went.

Depositions continued… Deposition of Yvonne Auclaire: She knew there was going to be drinking at the festival and had planned on drinking before she went. Deposition of Steve Haines: He knew he was going to drink before he went to the festival, but he didn’t plan on getting drunk. Deposition of Jodi Porter: She thought beforehand that she would probably have something to drink at the festival, but she didn’t think she would get drunk. Admitted that no one forced her into breaking into the cabin and that she did it on her own.

Applicable laws to the case Each different state has different laws referring to the consumption of alcohol guaranteed by the 21 st amendment. Every state is has the legal drinking age to be 21. Drinking under the age of 21 is already an illegal act, as well as driving under the influence which is a second illegal act. It is illegal for anyone to sell alcohol and let them drink on their property if anyone under the age of 21. It is illegal to buy alcohol when under the age of 21.

Other Cases The Browns and the parents would want to bring up the Martinez vs. Smith case, because it says that if the seller sells alcohol illegally and the buyer becomes intoxicated and causes harm to someone else, then technically the seller is responsible for the buyer’s actions.

Relevant Information Behaviors that come from the indulgence of alcohol can include impaired coordination of movement, errors in judgment about movement, distance, and time. Heavy drinking can result in violence and vandilization. The more serious the crime or injuries, the more likely that alcohol was involved. In 1 year $10,000 is the cost of alcohol-related crimes in the United States.

Opinionated Outcome Based on all of the facts and information given the festival should have gotten in trouble along with the 4 teenagers. It is illegal to provide and sell alcohol to minors and the festival did it anyways. It is illegal to buy much less consume alcohol when you are under 21 and all 4 students did that anyways. Not only did the students drink alcohol, but their actions resulted in vandalism, where the owners of the property damaged sued the festival. The Browns had all the right notions to sue the festival first, because they were the main source of the crime. Although it is completely the kids responsibility of the vandalism itself, the festival committee should be charged as well for breaking the laws about the age of selling alcohol.