Our client, Donovan Miller, is an eighteen-year-old freshman at Broward Community College, where he is studying computer information technology.  He was recently arrested and charged with misdemeanor loitering and prowling.  The trial is set for later this month.  After carefully reviewing the file and reading the accompanying statute and caselaw, please provide a memorandum analyzing the facts and predicting the likelihood of Donovan being convicted on this charge.  
	The file includes a 911 transcript and police reports from Officers Mellow and Stern.  The police reports contain pre- and post-Miranda admissions from Donovan.  The prosecution also indicated that they will be calling an expert witness, Mr. Expertino.  I have a transcript of Mr. Expertino’s testimony from another case that gives us a very good idea of how he will testify.  While I made various pretrial motions to exclude evidence, including Mr. Expertino’s testimony, all evidence, except the 911 call, will be admitted at trial.  
 
	911 Call
	The 911 call will be excluded at trial.  By way of background information only, the 911 call contains the following:  
	On July 1, at 3:22 a.m., the Fort Lauderdale Police Department received a call regarding shouting by a group of young men and women.  The caller used one of the last pay phones in the city to place the call.  When the dispatcher asked the caller for his name, he stated that he wanted to remain anonymous because he feared retaliation from this motley crew.  The caller stated he heard the group, who he estimated were in their teens and early twenties, talking about breaking into a jewelry store.  Before hanging up, the caller advised that he thought he
saw a gun and feared things were about to turn violent.  He encouraged the officers to come quickly to the corner of Sandstone Place and Fifth Street.
 
	Factual Summary
	Officers Mellow and Stern of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department each made reports.  The two reports are consistent with each other and are consistent with the information our client has provided to us.  I expect the officers to testify credibly to all reported information.  Here is a summary of what happened:
	The intersection of Sandstone Place and Fifth Street marks a border between an area known for its high crime, particularly drug trafficking and prostitution, and an area that has experienced substantial new development over the last few years, including new high-end shopping with luxury apartments atop the shops.  At the southeast corner of the intersection there is a large publicly owned wall, regularly used as a graffiti wall.  Here, artists and activists paint politically motivated art, protest the gentrification of the area, pay homage to family members and friends they have lost, occasionally profess their love for someone, and even propose marriage.  The messages change quickly, often on a weekly basis.  While there is no local ordinance approving painting graffiti on the wall, in the last twenty-five years, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department has not arrested anyone for painting on it.
	While there is no jewelry store within a three-block radius of the above-stated intersection, there is a pawnshop that deals primarily in jewelry, which is situated on the southwest corner of Sandstone Place and Fifth Street.  There are three major jewelry stores in the broader vicinity; each has suffered an armed robbery in the last twelve months, including one last week that ended with shots fired.  There is one other pawnshop in the area, which deals in a wide variety of goods.  It has not been the subject of any criminal activity.  
	, Officers Mellow and Stern drove on Fifth Street toward Sandstone Place, with their windows down.  Approximately four young men stood in front of the pawnshop on the southwest corner of Sandstone Place and Fifth, and five young men and women stood in front of the graffiti wall.  The officers surreptitiously observed the two groups shouting to each other.  The group standing in front of the graffiti wall called out: “Why do people say that violence is not the answer?” The pawnshop group retorted: “They’re not that good at violence!” After shouting this back and forth several times, the pawnshop group started a new call: “Oh maaaan,” to which the other group replied: “the village got trashed!”  
	The officers continued watching and listening.  Suddenly someone shouted, “Let’s do this!”  While most of the people in front of the pawnshop crossed the street to the graffiti wall, our client, Donovan Miller, remained in front of the closed pawnshop.  The officers noticed that Mr. Miller was wearing a hiker-style fanny pack, which they could see contained an upright metal bottle.  In his left hand, he held a foam sword.  
	The officers then observed Mr. Miller, still outside the closed pawnshop, peer into the front store window. Mr. Miller pressed his cupped right hand between the glass and his eyes, as if to block a glare from the streetlights.  Suddenly Mr. Miller called out, to no one in particular, “Dude, dude, dude, there are emeralds right there!”  While striking the window with his foam sword he added,  Yeeees!”  The officers observed Mr. Miller then use his right hand to pull the metal bottle from his fanny pack and strike the window with force.  After using the bottle three times to strike what turned out to be plexiglass, Mr. Miller shrugged, replaced his bottle in his fanny pack, and crossed the street to join the others by the graffiti wall.  The officers observed Mr. Miller for approximately five more minutes, during which they observed him looking back at the pawnshop two times.  They also observed him talking to others in front of the graffiti wall and pointing at different areas of the wall.  Finally, officers saw Mr. Miller pull something from his pocket and show it to others in the group.  With that, the officers decided to make their move.
	
	When the officers got out of their car and approached, the young people ran, scattering in all directions.  Mr. Miller was the slowest of the bunch.  He ran awkwardly for a few minutes and then hid behind a dumpster until officers caught up to him.  When the officers approached, they asked him for identification and provided him an opportunity to dispel their alarm.  He stated, “Yes, sirree officers,” and provided them a laminated card that included his picture, and the following information: “Technosword Disciple:  Mr. Duke Devonshire Emerald.”  He then announced, “Technosword never dies!” while pointing his foam sword toward the sky.  
	Unamused, the officers read Mr. Miller his Miranda rights; shortly thereafter, he produced a valid driver’s license bearing his proper name:  Donovan G. Miller.  He explained that his hero, the MynKraft gamer known as “Technosword,” had passed away one year ago and that he and his friends had planned to paint a tribute to Technosword on the graffiti wall.  He also said that he ran because he was not sure if spray painting on the wall was “actually” legal.  Mr. Miller then pulled a napkin from his pocket, showing the officers a sketch of the planned memorial.   He further explained that the chants that he and the others engaged in were Technosword quotes.  He made no further statements.
	Officer Mellow told Mr. Miller that he had held a few Super Nintendo game records in his day and mentioned that he might have to look up some of those Technosword videos.  Officer Stern was not impressed with Mr. Miller’s explanation.  The Officers arrested Mr. Miller for loitering and prowling, a misdemeanor violation of Florida Statute 856.021.  In a search incident to arrest, the officers recovered the following on Mr. Miller: (1) foam sword; (2) napkin with sketch of memorial; (3) hiker’s fanny pack with metal bottle, containing water, stored upright in separate pouch of the fanny pack.
	For the purposes of your memo, assume the officers are qualified to testify to all of the above-stated facts including everything they witnessed and heard Mr. Miller and others do and say that evening.  
	 
	Expert Witness Testimony
	Mr. Expertino has already been accepted by the court as an expert as it relates to video games, gamers, MynKraft, and game-related YouTube channels.  I obtained a transcript from another trial where Mr. Expertino testified about Technosword and the meaning of emeralds.  Here is a summary:
	Technosword was a popular YouTuber who indeed passed away in early July of 2022.  He also testified that Technosword’s YouTube channel primarily featured Technosword playing the videogame MynKraft.  When the prosecution asked Mr. Expertino to describe common quotes attributed to Technosword, Mr. Expertino was unable to do so, though he added that there are many sayings and memes attributed to the late gamer.  Finally, Mr. Expertino testified that in the game MynKraft, emeralds serve (1) as a trading currency, and (2) as an “offering” players leave to memorialize the in-game deaths of other players. 
 
	Final Thoughts
While you may notice that much of the caselaw in this area regards juveniles, for purposes of this letter, age will not impact your analysis.  If you come across any distinctions regarding the age of a defendant or appellant, please disregard them. Please do not address the validity of the arrest itself and do not dispute the admission of evidence.  Please follow all firm conventions when writing your memorandum. Please write a client letter evauating the strengths and weaknesses of the case. Thank you for your work on this case