Regina V. Curtis

Law Courts Case Assignment

COMM 393

1.

A. Regina v. Curtis

B. Attended November 4th, 2005

C. The Honorable Judge Fraser

D. Courtroom 72 A

E. The case of Regina v. Curtis involves the parental abduction of a teenage girl Capri by her father, Mr. Curtis. At the trial that I attended, Capri's step-father, Mr. Flynt, was on the stand being questioned by the two lawyers, Mr. Coleman (representing Mr. Curtis) and Mrs. Barnes (representing Regina). I only viewed an hour of this case that has been running for two weeks, but I will give as accurate a background as I was able to deduce.

While wed, Mr. Curtis and his wife, Mrs. Amanda Curtis, had two children; a girl named Capri and a boy named Varel. Unfortunately the marriage ended in strife and Amanda charged Mr. Curtis with assault. The case was brought to court twice and Mr. Curtis was acquitted of all charges both times. The third time, he was found guilty. Following the conviction of Mr. Curtis, Amanda gained sole custody of Capri and Varel. It was during these trials that Amanda met Mr. Flynt whom she subsequently married. While beginning his relationship with Amanda, Mr. Flynt read the details of the most recent trial and became afraid that Mr. Curtis would threaten the safety of Amanda and himself. He filed a restraining order to keep Mr. Curtis at a distance. I am unsure of the time elapsing between these events, but at some point Capri became increasingly unhappy and ran away from home to her biological father's house. The first two times, Mr. Curtis notified Amanda and Mr. Flynt as to Capri's whereabouts and Capri returned home. Mr. Curtis began legal action to gain custody of Capri, saying that she clearly desired to live with him. The third time that Capri ran away she told Mr. Curtis that if he gave her up she would run away again and not tell anyone where she was. Mr. Curtis gave in and "hid" her at a friend's house. This disappearance lasted long enough to involve the police. When Capri was found, and Mr. Curtis' part in her disappearance discovered, Amanda Flynt and Mr. Flynt charged Mr. Curtis with parental abduction.

Unfortunately for Mr. Curtis, at the time of his hiding of Capri he did not have any custody of her, and recently Capri changed her mind stating that she doesn't want to live with either her mother OR her father. She is currently at a foster house where Mr. Flynt reports she is doing well.

Because Mr. Curtis lacked custody of his daughter at the time of the incident he had no right to hide her from those who did have custody. His argument (mentioned by Mr. Coleman) is that he had the right to protect her on the basis of prevention of mental and/or physical harm, as stated in the Criminal Act.

There was a portion of the trial that I failed