Criminal Law Paper

Criminal Law Paper

Cyndi White

CJA/354

May 7, 2012

David Harrison

The case that I have chosen from a list of Supreme Court Cases is one about a young man named Juan Smith. Within this case it talks about how he murdered five people over drugs and money, and that there was only one eyewitness to what had happened on March 1, 1995.

What Interested Me

There were so many different things that interested me about this particular case. The defendant’s name is Juan Smith and he is being accused of killing five people on the night of March 1, 1995. There is only one witness that could testify to what really happened that night. According to the only eyewitness whose name is Larry Boatner, he was gathered at a friend’s home when Boatner heard a car that did not have a muffler coming up the driveway. Upon going to the backdoor this was in the kitchen, armed men pushed their way through the door, and starting demanding drugs and money. “The men initially ordered Boatner and his friends to the floor, but then ordered Boatner to stand up” (Thomas, J. 2012.). Next thing Boatner knew he had a gun being pushed into his chin. Boatner was then struck in the back of the head by one of the intruders.

The owner of the home named Rebe Espadron was in the back bedroom, when she heard the commotion, she came out to see what was happening. Once she entered the kitchen she noticed a man with a “covering” over his face and that is when she was ordered to the floor. “Disregarding his command, Espadron ran back toward the bedroom, at which point the intruders opened fire” (Thomas, J. 2012). Once the shooting was over with, there were four people dead from some kind of gun shoot wound. The last one to die was a 17 year old, who later died at the hospital due to the shooting. There were three surviving people within the home which included; Boatner, Espadron and Reginald Harbor. Harbor had remained in the back bedroom during the shooting. Joseph Narcisse was the first officer...