COUNCIL OF LEGAL EDUCATION

NORMAN MANLEY LAW SCHOOL

CRIMINAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

YEAR I 2024/2025

Written Assignment No. 1

This assignment will count towards your final grade and must be submitted in
ELECTRONIC format via the CRIMINAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Drop Box on
TWEN on or before WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2024, NOT LATER THAN 6:00 PM
(Jamaica).

Please read the document titled “Important Information on the Submission of

Assignments 2024/2025 Academic Year” for more information.
______________________________________________________________________
The assignment may be answered in accordance with the law of any Commonwealth
Caribbean territory zoned for this school. Students must state the jurisdiction which they
have selected on the first page of the Assignment.

PLEASE INSERT YOUR IDENTIFICATION NUMBER ONLY ON EACH PAGE OF

YOUR ASSIGNMENT.

The assignment should be submitted in Arial font 12 line spacing 1.5.

Each page of the assignment must be numbered consecutively stating the number of
pages as follows: Page 1 of 12; 2 of 12; 3 of 12 etc.

On October 5, 2024, Moses Capone, Sergeant of Police, was arrested and charged with
corruption/extortion related offences. The Crown alleges the following:

Well known wealthy businessman and philanthropist, Chaz Nero, is a

candidate in the upcoming election in your jurisdiction. On September 1,
2024, Chaz had an argument with his stay-at-home wife, Jill, over an
alleged affair with their gardener, during which, he punched her in the
face several times, breaking her nose. Jill called Sergeant Capone, her

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Assignment No. 1 Wednesday, October 30, 2024
 brother-in-law, and made a report to him about the incident, stating that
she wanted to press charges for domestic violence.

The following day, Capone contacted Chaz and told him that he had
received a report from Jill and he had no choice but to file a formal report
and arrest and charge him for assaulting her. Fearing the damage to his
reputation in the community, loss to his businesses and the election, Chaz
begged Capone not to press charges or to make the report public. He told
Capone that it would never happen again, and that Jill had forgiven him
and told him she would not press charges.

Two days later, Jill left the matrimonial home. That same day, Capone
visited Chaz at his office. Capone told Chaz that Jill had told him that she
had changed her mind and wished to pursue charges against Chaz, and
that he agreed to take her to the station himself to make the report later
that day. Capone lamented to Chaz that he, Chaz, had a charmed life, but
instead of enjoying it, was abusing his wife.

Capone then told Chaz of the financial struggles that he and his wife, Sally,
were experiencing and that they were in danger of losing their home and
cars. Further, Sally’s battle with a terminal illness had put the family under
considerable financial stress, resulting from exorbitant medical expenses
they were struggling to pay. Capone then demanded US$30,000 in cash
for himself to persuade Jill not to press charges, with the promise not to
arrest and charge Chaz and to keep the potential scandal from social
media and the press. Desperate to prevent a scandal and avoid
prosecution, Chaz agreed to pay the sum in exchange for Capone not
going public and prosecuting him for the assault. On September 5, 2024,
Chaz paid the demanded sum over to Capone.

On October 1, 2024, Capone again contacted Chaz. They met at a bar

where Capone made a further demand for an additional US$50,000
cash. When Chaz refused to pay, Capone threatened to go public with
the incident and to arrest and charge him. Chaz asked Capone what

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Assignment No. 1 Wednesday, October 30, 2024
 guarantee he would have of no further demand for money. Capone
assured him that this would be the last payment. Later that day, Chaz
reluctantly paid Capone the money.

On October 3, 2024, Capone contacted Chaz by phone and told him that
Jill’s mother had heard of the incident, was outraged and had threatened
to go to the police to make a report if her daughter refused to do so herself.
Capone stated that Jill’s mother had gone to the station the day before
and gave a statement to the police. Capone assured Chaz that he could
use his position to destroy the statement so that the matter would not go
any further, but that he needed an additional US$20,000 cash to sort
things out and deal with the statement. Chaz agreed to pay Capone, but
told him that he would need some time to put the funds together. Chaz
promised to contact Capone as soon as he was able to do so.

Chaz made a report of Capone’s demands to a high-ranking officer in the

Police Force, who organized a sting operation to catch Capone red-
handed when he was receiving the cash. Chaz also gave a statement to
the police in accordance with his report.

On the morning of October 5, 2024, Chaz contacted Capone and told him
that he had the funds and that he could meet him in an open lot to make
the exchange. Capone was arrested during the sting operation, after he
had collected the money from Chaz. The police recovered the money
from the pocket of Capone’s pants. When he was arrested, charged and
cautioned, he said, “I know my rights, but you should be arresting Chaz
Nero. He is a drug trafficker. I have the evidence. He set me up.”
Capone was taken into custody.

Capone was first taken before the court on October 10, 2024 when his
matter was set for a bail application hearing on November 15, 2024.

You are a junior attorney-at-law at a law firm that Capone has retained, and you have
been instructed to interview him. During the interview, you note the following information:

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Assignment No. 1 Wednesday, October 30, 2024
 Capone, 50 years old, has been a serving member of the Police Force for
the past 28 years. He is attached to the Narcotics Division of the Police
Force in your jurisdiction. He has an exemplary record as a police officer,
winning several coveted awards for service during his career. At the time
of his arrest, he was slated for a promotion. He has never been in trouble
with the law, and is in fact very committed to fighting the scourge of crime
in his country. He sits on a primary school board and is very involved in
community work, especially with children.

Capone has been married to Sally for the past 20 years and they have
four children. They live in a two-bedroom house and own two motor
vehicles. Capone admits that the bank has a mortgage on the house and
lien on their two cars. Capone denies telling Chaz that his wife is
terminally ill and that they are struggling financially.

Capone further states that on October 1, 2024, he received ‘intelligence’

from a reliable police informant, John Dover, otherwise called ‘Laughie’,
that well known wealthy businessman, Chaz Nero, was involved in a
recent shipment of 10,000 kilograms of cocaine through a small airport in
your jurisdiction. Upon receiving this information, Capone conducted a
covert operation along with ‘Laughie’, which led him to further information
confirming Chaz’s involvement in the illegal shipment and the location of
the drugs. The operation was secretly recorded. Capone told ‘Laughie’
that because of the sensitive nature of the investigation, the high profile
and influence of Chaz and potential publicity of the case, that this
‘intelligence’ was to remain strictly confidential between the two of them,
until he figured out how to approach Chaz’s apprehension.

On October 3, 2024, unbeknownst to other members of the Division and

‘Laughie’, Capone contacted and met with Chaz at a popular hotel.
Capone disclosed that he had in his possession audio recordings and
video footage of him, Chaz, tasting the cocaine on the night that the
shipment came into the jurisdiction. Capone cautioned Chaz and told him
that if he disclosed the names of the others involved in the shipment of
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Assignment No. 1 Wednesday, October 30, 2024
 the cocaine, he, Chaz, could get a lesser sentence. Being a wealthy,
powerful and highly connected man, Chaz offered Capone US$100,000
“to make this all go away”. Capone understood this to be a bribe with a
view to having him, Capone, not prosecute Chaz for drug trafficking.
Capone told Chaz that he would give his offer some thought and get back
to him.

Capone had intended all along to arrest Chaz for drug trafficking, but
decided to pretend to collect the money and then arrest Chaz for both drug
trafficking as well as the bribery.

On October 5, 2024, Capone called Chaz and told him that he would
accept his offer and agreed to meet at an open lot to collect the money
and ‘seal the deal’. While at the open lot, Chaz told Capone that he only
had US$20,000 cash, but would be able to give him the balance the
following day. Capone collected the money from Chaz and was about to
arrest and charge him for the offences when, to his surprise, he saw other
police officers suddenly descend on the scene with guns drawn. The other
officers held on to Capone, took the money from the pocket of his pants
and took him into custody. He was later charged for corruption/extortion
related offences. When he was cautioned, he said, “You have the wrong
man. Chaz Nero should be behind bars. He framed me to save his own
hide. I have the evidence.” The arresting officer responded, “Tell that to
the judge.”

‘Laughie’ has subsequently gone underground because of threats he had

been receiving from men allegedly associated with Chaz. It has been
rumoured that he has left the jurisdiction with his family.

Capone denies the allegations made against him, stating that the
allegations were Chaz’s attempt to frame him and cover up his illegal
activities.

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Assignment No. 1 Wednesday, October 30, 2024
 Capone wishes you to make a bail application on his behalf. He indicates
that Rev. Al Sharpener and his brother, David, a dentist, are willing to
stand as sureties, if the court accepts them.

Your senior has requested that you reduce the application for bail to writing, setting out
your arguments as you would if they were being made orally in court.

Required:

Draft the application, assuming that the prosecution will make submissions opposing a
grant of bail.

Note:

Your application should not exceed 1300 words. The word count must be stated on the
front page of the document.

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Assignment No. 1 Wednesday, October 30, 2024