This is a one hour and thirty minute essay. It consists of one question. You are strongly urged to spend fifteen minutes reading and outlining your essay answer prior to writing it.
 

YOUR ESSAY IS LIMITED TO 13,000 CHARACTERS INCLUDING SPACES. ANY TEXT OVER 13,000 CHARACTERS WILL NOT BE GRADED.
 

Your exam should focus on the discussion portion of your memorandum. Do NOT include questions presented, summary of the argument, or statement of the facts sections. If you reach conclusions during your analysis, do not include a separate conclusion section in your memo.
 

All facts described take place in the state of Western.
 

Utilize case decisions to support your analysis. Your memorandum should include United States Supreme Court, appellate and lower court decisions in its analysis. United States Supreme Court cases are precedent in Western and assume that all appellate and lower court cases you have studied this semester are equally persuasive in the state of Western.
 

The examination is closed book.
 

You may use scratch paper in any way you see fit, but you will not earn credit for anything written on your scratch paper or test booklet.
 

DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON ANY EXAM MATERIALS. USE YOUR EXAM NUMBER ONLY ON YOUR BLUEBOOK AND TEST MATERIALS.
 

Your question and scrap paper will be collected at the end of the essay portion of the exam. Please insert them inside this booklet.
 

If you use more than one bluebook, please place each additional bluebook in the back cover of your first bluebook and number your bluebooks (i.e., 1 of 2, 2 of 2, etc.).
 

Writers may use a pen with blue or black ink only. Write on one side of the page only. You may cross out any errors. Please put insertions on the back of pages facing your text and clearly indicate where the insertion belongs in your analysis.
 

If you finish the essay more than ten minutes early, you may turn in your materials and leave QUIETLY. If you finish after the ten-minute announcement, you must stay seated until the end of the examination time.  Because others may be continuing to take examinations in this or other rooms after you are finished, it is imperative that you REMAIN QUIET in the hallways.
 

DO NOT TURN THE PAGE UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO!

 

Essay Examination

 

Time: One Hour, Thirty Minutes

 

Raj works at a restaurant. At the end of each shift, he puts the cash from the register in a deposit box. On April 30, Raj took $2,000 that he collected from the cash register and used it to pay the May rent for his family’s home. Raj planned to put $2,000 into the deposit box in a few days, after he was paid and before anyone would notice that it was missing.

 

On May 2, Raj’s mother asked him to go to the store because they were out of food and she needed her prescriptions to be filled immediately. She also told him that she had no money. Raj and his brother, Ben, said they didn’t have any money either. Knowing that his mother needed her medication for a serious medical condition, Raj said that Ben should help him get the supplies for free by confusing a cashier. Their mother said that they should give it a try.

 

Raj and Ben went to the store and picked up all the items their mother needed. When they got to the cash register, they tried using a couple of credit cards, but none of them worked. Raj told the cashier that she needed to hit the “cash” button on the register in order for the credit card to work. The cashier pushed the cash button and the register tracked the transaction as a cash purchase. The credit cards were not charged.

 

Raj and Ben left the store with more than $1,000 in merchandise. The cashier, realizing her mistake, ran after them. Ben walked up to a woman in the parking lot and told her that he was a police officer and needed her car to prevent a kidnapping. The woman asked to see his badge. Ben flashed his wallet at her and told her to get out of the way. Ben and Raj hopped in the car and drove away. They were arrested at their home later that day. The woman’s car was parked near the house.

 

Question:

 

You are a law clerk working for the District Attorney (D.A.). She has given you a police report detailing the above facts. Assume that all of the above facts can be proved in court.

 

The D.A. asks you to draft a memorandum using modern criminal law rules. If there is a jurisdictional split in the modern rule, you do not have to specify which is the majority or minority rule. If the common law rule differs from the modern rule, please explain how.

 

The memorandum should focus on the discussion section. Do NOT include questions presented, summary of the argument, or statement of the facts sections. If you reach conclusions during your analysis, do not include a separate conclusion section in your memo. Do NOT exceed 13,000 characters including spaces.

 

Your analysis should:
Discuss the RELEVANT charges, if any, you would consider filing (even if you ultimately reject them) against Raj, Ben, and their mother; and
Discuss any RELEVANT arguments, including defenses, that you expect Raj, Ben, or their mom’s attorneys to raise and how you would respond to those defenses.