Brief Case

9–6. CASE PROBLEM WITH SAMPLE ANSWER: Credit Cards. Oleksiy Sharapka ordered merchandise online using stolen credit cards. He had the items sent to outlets of Mail Boxes, Etc., and then arranged for someone to deliver the items to his house. He sub-

sequently shipped the goods overseas, primarily to Russia. Sharapka was indicted in a federal district court. At the time of his arrest, government agents found in his possession, among other things, more than three hundred stolen credit- card numbers, including numbers issued by American Express. There was evidence that he had used more than ten of the American Express numbers to buy goods worth between $400,000 and $1 million from at least fourteen vendors. Did Sharapka commit any crimes? If so, who were his victims? Explain. [ United States v. Sharapka, 526 F.3d 58 (1st Cir. 2008)]

• To view a sample answer for Problem 9–6, go to this book’s Web

9–2. Property Crimes Which, if any, of the following crimes necessarily involves illegal activity on the part of more than one person? (a) Bribery (b) Forgery (c) Embezzlement (d) Larceny (e) Receiving stolen property

9–3. QUESTION WITH SAMPLE ANSWER: Cyber Scam.

Kayla, a student at Learnwell University, owes $20,000 in unpaid tuition. If Kayla does not pay the tuition, Learnwell will not allow her to graduate. To obtain the funds to pay the

debt, she sends e-mail letters to people that she does not personally know asking for fi nancial help to send Milo, her disabled child, to a special school. In reality, Kayla has no children Is this a crime? If so which one?

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41C HAPTE R 2 Courts and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Type of Court Description

Trial Courts Trial courts are courts of original jurisdiction in which actions are initiated. 1. State courts—Courts of general jurisdiction can hear any case that has not been

specifi cally designated for another court; courts of limited jurisdiction include, among others, domestic relations courts, probate courts, municipal courts, and small claims courts.

2. Federal courts—The federal district court is the equivalent of the state trial court. Federal courts of limited jurisdiction include the bankruptcy courts and others shown in Exhibit 2–2 on page 38.

Intermediate Appellate Courts

Courts of appeals are reviewing courts; generally, appellate courts do not have origi- nal jurisdiction. About three-fourths of the states have intermediate appellate courts; in the federal court system, the U.S. circuit courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts.

Supreme Courts The highest state court is that state’s supreme court, although it may be called by some other name. Appeal from state supreme courts to the United States Supreme Court is possible only if a federal question is involved. The United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the federal court system and the fi nal arbiter of the Constitution and federal law.

Clarkson 12e Ch02_28-49.indd 41 8/26/10 7:05:28 AM

C

CASE IN POINT Patricia Ostolaza and José Diaz owned a home on which they had two mortgage loans and a home equity line of credit provided by Bank of America. Anthony Falcone called them and said that he could refi nance their mortgages in a manner that would reduce their monthly payments. Falcone said that he represented Bank of America when in fact he represented Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. At the closing of the new loan, the hom- eowners were given all of the relevant documents, including the TILA disclosure statement. The docu- ments accurately stated the monthly payment under the new loan, which was higher than the couple’s original payments. The homeowners later fi led a lawsuit against Falcone and Countrywide Bank, alleging fraud. The trial court dismissed the suit, and the appellate court upheld the dismissal because the homeowners had been given the opportunity to read all of the relevant documents, but had not done so.3

3. Ostolaza-Diaz v. Countrywide Bank, N.A., 2010 WL 95145 (4th Cir. 2010).

Clarkson 12e Ch31_605-622.indd 609 8/26/10 7:16:04 AM

� Short Case in Point examples in every chapter make it easy to remember important legal concepts.

� Concept Summary boxes located at key points in each chapter help you review more effectively for exams.

Sample answers to selected Questions and Case Problems are available in this book’s Appendix I and at the Companion Web Site. At the end of every chapter in this book, you’ll fi nd a great variety of questions and case problems that help you retain and apply what you’ve learned. We’ve provided sample answers at the back of the book and at www.cengage.com/blaw/clarkson to selected Questions and Case Problems so you can compare the authors’ answers to yours.

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In the STUDY GUIDE . . . resources to ace every test

Study Guide

WILLIAM ERIC HOLLOWELL | ROGER LEROY MILLER

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What better way to study for a test than with a Study Guide prepared by the co-author of this textbook. Written by Roger LeRoy Miller and William Eric Hollowell, this comprehensive resource includes:

� Brief introductions and outlines for every chapter

� True-false, fi ll-in-the-blank, and multiple-choice questions for every chapter, as well as short essay problems to help you test yourself

� Issue Spotters that focus your study

� Sample CPA exam questions

� An appendix at the end of the Study Guide containing answers to all questions and Issue Spotters

Bookstore doesn’t carry the Study Guide? You can get it online (ISBN: 0-538-47277-7) at www.cengagebrain.com.

FREE RESOURCES! Visit this book’s Companion Web Site for many additional study tools www.cengage.com/blaw/clarkson

� Answers to selected Case Problems from this textbook

� Video clips from the Business Law Digital Video Library (You’ll need to view these clips to help you answer Video Questions that appear in selected chapters of this book.)

� Interactive self-quizzes for every chapter

� Practical Internet exercises for every chapter

� Court case updates

� Legal reference materials and much more!

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