Lambert’s Judgment While Driving Under the Influence of Drugs
As a criminal justice professional, you may have to read and interpret a legal opinion, also
known as a judicial opinion or a case. In order to better understand the various parts of a legal
opinion, criminal justice professionals prepare case briefs. A case brief is a summary of a judicial
opinion that is created by the reader. The case brief includes an objective synopsis of each major
portion of the legal opinion.
For this Case Brief Assignment, you will create a case brief of the judicial opinion that is
included in this Module: Week.
INSTRUCTIONS
You will prepare a Case Brief Assignment on the provided judicial opinion in this Module:
Week. The judicial opinion that you will prepare a Case Brief on can be found in the Resources
section.
An example of a case brief can be found in the Resources section. Please use the Case Brief
Sample as your guide for each section of the case brief.
Case Brief Assignment requirements:
Length of assignment: 1-2 pages
The Case Brief must include the following sections: Caption, Facts, Procedural History,
Issue, Rule of Law, Holding, and Rationale. A heading must be provided for each section
of the Case Brief (for instance “Holding”).
Format: APA
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
Facts
On 1st March 2015, Clinard Gary Lambert, the defendant, was driving and collided with a guardrail on his left side, making a Chevrolet collide with his truck. Lambert’s car scraped the guardrail for approximately 40 feet before it came to a halt. Donna Turner, the Chevrolet’s driver sustained injuries (Lambert v. Commonwealth, 2020). However, Forrest Ramey, who was seated beside her, died because he sustained blunt force injuries. After a blood sample was taken from the defendant, it showed the presence of Xanax and Valium, which was sufficient to impair his driving. Procedural History
Initially, the case was heard in the Circuit Court. The trial favored the plaintiff. Besides, the Commonwealth gave enough evidence to show that Lambert was responsible for the accident. Additionally, a forensic toxicologist, Dr. James Kuhlman, testified that the Xanax and Valium levels were sufficient to influence Lambert’s judgment while driving. When these drugs are taken together, they are dangerous and can lead to lethargy, slurred speech, drowsiness, altered balance, dizziness, and slowed hand-eye coordination (Supreme Court of Virginia, 2020). The defendant was found guilty of driving under the influence and was charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter. Lambert appealed to the Court of Appeals, which was granted and considered an assignment of error. However, the Court of Appeals also ruled in the favor of the plaintiff. Issue
The primary issue was whether Lambert had taken the drugs, including Xanax and Valium, and methadone found in his blood samples or not. Ruling
Based on the levels of Xanax and Valium in Lambert’s blood samples, it appears that the defendant had taken drugs before the accident. Although nothing showed that the defendant took drugs be...