Fizzs

1. Patrick McCullough is a member of the Sinn Fein political party of Northern Ireland. Duly elected to his position in the current government, Patrick was previously a member of the Real IRA, and was rumoured to have been involved in numerous terrorist attacks conducted by the organization in the 1980’s. One of these attacks include the bombing of Harrod’s in central London. When the Easter Accords were signed, Patrick and his fellow comrades were pardoned for their prior acts with regard to their criminal behavior. At present Patrick has been deemed to work well with his former enemies and has begun to travel to countries to which he was previously barred.

During one of these trips abroad, Patrick travels to Colombia where he once served as a trainer for the FARC. Patrick had been involved in a weapons/ drug/ training exchange that shipped cocaine to Western Europe, allowed the IRA to purchase weapons from the South American group and served as an exchange/ training of ideas in guerrilla tactics. Whilst in Colombia, Patrick seeks out his former friends for a reunion of sorts.

The reunion once again focuses on mutually beneficial trade between Northern Ireland and certain regions of Colombia, specifically amongst the FARC group. During the trip Patrick – on behalf of Sinn Fein – accept gifts in lieu of cash, and promises assurances of support for FARCS political ambitions. Further, he is recorded giving lectures to FARC leader on how the IRA was ultimately successful in bringing the UK government to “it’s knees”and winning power.

Whilst preparing to leave Bogota, Patrick is detained by the Colombian authorities and charged with a) terrorism, b) drug trafficking c) weapons trafficking and d) the murder of 19 politicians in Colombia.

Has Patrick committed a terrorist action? If yes, how and why? If no – why not?

Can Patrick be charged with the weapons and narcotics trafficking? Is there a Statute of Limitations?

2. Tre Boudia owns vineyards in California. His family is world reknowned for the quality of their wine, and the coming year looks excellent for production. In the past Boudia wines has relied on a guest worker program to enable to insure the grapes are picked in a timely manner, and the 400-600 workers who are brought in during the peak load have always returned to their home countries without incident. Mr. Boudia insures that everyone is reimbursed for travel expenses, and he provides housing and food whilst they are on the properties for the 6 month work period. Recent changes in the law, however, have required Mr. Boudia to hire only U.S. workers. He will not be able to utilize foreign workers for a 3 year period, and the decision has come just months before the harvest. Mr. Boudia advertises in the local papers, then the statewide websites, and ultimately nationally to attract farmworkers.

With 3 weeks to go before the season begins Mr. Boudia has only been able to hire 74 workers. Looking at the potential of losses in the millions, Mr. Boudia seeks out his foreman for solutions. They phone their prior workers and ask them to return to work as soon as possible, assuring them that their paperwork is perfectly fine. Ultimately Mr. Boudia sends his private plane to retrieve the workers, bringing them in quickly and luxuriously. The harvest goes off without a problem, the workers are sent home via bus with the promise of their normal checks to arrive in a few months, and everyone is happy. The issue, however, comes when the checks are to be issued: as the individuals were not here with authorization they accountant cannot issue checks. Mr. Boudia notifies the workers that they will be paid in cash – however they will need to come back to the United States to receive the money. Unfortunately each worker is denied entry at the border for having both a) entered and b) worked in the United States without authorization.

What are the issues of the above scenario? What are the rights of the workers? What are the rights of Mr. Boudia? Were the workers trafficked? If so, what recourse do they have? What are the consequences for Mr. Boudia?

3. Mariam Smith has recently become the manager of the finest restaurant in town – Le Petit Louisianne. Mariam worked diligently from the time she was 17 when she began as a hostess, then as a waitress, and now as the manager overseeing 22 staff members. The owners of the restaurant are a group of investors, and come to dine only once a month. At that time they personally review the finances with their accountant.

Mariam is proud of how well the restaurant has been doing under her management, as they are always fully booked – and even have a waitlist for tables up to 2 weeks. They’ve been reviewed favorably by the local paper and on national websites, and the nightly deposits Mariam has been placing in the dropbox to the safe have been averaging $15-$17 thousand. Credit card receipts amount to almost double this amount, but those funds go directly to the bank, and the cash deposits are collected by the accountant. At no time does Mariam seek to open the safe to count the cash therein, as she prides herself on being trustworthy to the owners.

Needless to say Mariam is surprised one morning to arrive at the restaurant to discover the police waiting for her at the door. Upon reviewing the warrant, she opens the safe for review – but is puzzled as to why they are interested in the receipts. In the safe is over $900K in cash in various denominations – from dollars to British Sterling, Euro’s to Yen. When asked who has access to the safe, Mariam confirms it is only herself and the accountant.

What crimes, if any, have occurred? Who can be charged? What are the violations? What are the consequences?

4. Esmeralda Mykos collects bottles, metal and plastic from anywhere she can find it. A strict conservationist, Esmeralda seeks to recycle anything and everything she can in order to do her part in saving the planet – and her collections are donated to a small recycling center on the outskirts of the city. The owners of this center have noticed Esmeralda’s collection is unique at times, as a small portion of the containers dropped off have government markings.

In processing the donations, there are materials discovered in three of the containers that not only glow – but emit a strong smell. As the center is inspected quite often, they must take care in the disposal and processing of any hazardous waste – however they must first identify what the substance is. As such they contact the local government agency to insure they cover their bases.

Upon testing, the substances in the containers range from nuclear waste to biological contaminants – all of which are considered highly toxic and are prohibited from private use. The officials immediately shut down the recycling center and seek a warrant for the arrest of Esmeralda. Esmeralda, it turns out, is known on certain websites as a rogue bio-chemist who has sought to “re-set” the earth’s population by any means necessary.

Have crimes occurred though? If yes, what crimes have occurred? Who may be liable? Is a donation trafficking? Can the Center be charged with liability for not reporting the suspect donations earlier? What can Esmeralda be charged with?