COVER SHEET

Anonymous Number Exercise Number

2979 Mini-Research Project Six Temm

Writing Section Writing Faculty

DECLARATION OF COMPLIANCE Please fill in the number of words in this exercise in the blank below. Placement of your anonymous number on this declaration certifies that you have checked the accuracy of the information you have provided. IGNORANCE OR MISUNDERSTANDING (OF COMPUTERS OR OTHERWISE) IS NO EXCUSE. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE YOUR ASSIGNMENT COMPLIES WITH THE LOCAL RULES OF COURT OF THE UMKC LEGAL WRITING PROGRAM, AND FAILURE TO DO SO WILL BE VIEWED AS RECKLESSNESS UNDER THE HONOR CODE. My computer has done a word count and there are 266 words in the writing exercise I am submitting. By submitting this writing exercise, I certify to the accuracy of the word count. Anonymous Number 2979

OUTLINE OF RESEARCH STEPS

1. Developed descriptive word list: rape, sexual battery, statute of limitations, Kansas, child, age, forcible, time, year/s. 2. Logged onto Westlaw Next (online) 3. Changed search query to Kansas and searched child rape & statute of limitations nothing helpful resulted from this as the statute I found (and all those related) had been repealed. 4. Still in Westlaw Next, I used same descriptive words, but went to Secondary Sources in Kansas and found: 2005 LEGISLATIVE SESSION NOTICE OF NEW LEGISLATION PASSED by the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association. I found some good information, but nothing specific to my issue. 5. I was feeling insecure about my research techniques, so I tried using Bloomberglaw.com. From there I went to BNA Law Reports. 6. I searched Child Rape and Kansas: no luck; then I tried "rape" and statute of limitations and Kansas and found an article titled, Supreme Court Didn't Carve Out Exception To Its Ban on Reviving Time-Barred Charges, which led me to an applicable Kansas statute: Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-3106(7)(a). However, this was also repealed. 7. Next, I returned to start fresh on Westlaw Next.
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8. I reduced my search query to Kansas and clicked on Statutes and Court Rules, and inserted child rape and statute of limitations once again. I clicked on statutes on the side of page. From this, I found the definition of Rape (K.S.A. 21-5503). This was helpful, but not enough. 9. I went back to Kansas Statutes & Court Rules and simply scrolled down and found the topic of Crimes and Punishments. 10. To save time, I hit ctrl-f on my keyboard and tried to find statute of limitations, however nothing was found. So, I tried Limitation and found K.S.A. 21-5107. Time limitations for commencement of prosecution. 11. As I scrolled down the statute, I found info pertaining to my issue: (c) Except as provided in subsection (e), a prosecution for a sexually violent offense as defined in K.S.A. 22-3717, and amendments thereto, shall be commenced within the limitation of time provided by the law pertaining to such offense or one year from the date on which the identity of the suspect is conclusively established by DNA testing, whichever is later. 12. I then clicked on K.S.A. 22-3717 to see if my clients event fell into the definition of sexually violent offense and she does. 13. Last I clicked on the History tab -> Legislative History Materials to see if the statute is likely to change in the future. 14. I found the last legislative session on this issue was in 2012.
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15. To address the issue of what I should tell Grace Semple, I first searched, nonlawyers giving legal advice in Westlaw Next, under Kansas Statutes. 16. I scrolled down to find a possible answer and found a cite to the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. I read through it and found nothing. 17. I went back to my search list and typed in search bar unauthorized practice of law and found KRPC 5.5. Unauthorized Practice of Law which gave another possible answer for my second issue. I also searched attorney client privilege and restricted search by clicking the Kansas and cases tabs on left side of the screen. This brought me to a Kansas Supreme Court definition of privilege. 18. This research lasted 2-2.5 hours.

SHORT ANSWER Justice will not likely be brought to Ella MacDougal. The statute of limitations for beginning prosecution against Justin Bieter for raping MacDougal has expired. A sexually violent crime is defined as knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse with a victim who does not consent to the sexual intercourse. Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-5503 (West 2012). Additionally, a sexually violent offense must be prosecuted within one year from when the DNA conclusively determined the suspects identity. Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-2107 (West 2012). Since the DNA evidence establishing Bieter as MacDougals attacker was determined over one year ago on October 16, 2011, MacDougals time limit to prosecute has passed. Consequently, MacDougal cannot obtain justice because Bieter cannot be prosecuted for this particular crime.
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Advising Grace Semple depends on if she is my client. [A]ll communications protected by the attorney-client privilege will be confidential and covered by [an] ethical duty. State v. Gonzalez, 290 Kan. 747, 759 (2010). Moreover, any licensed attorney may not aid anyone who is not a bar member in the unauthorized practice of law. Kan. Stat. Ann. 5-5 (West 2012). However, lawyers may provide advice to nonlawyers whose employment requires knowledge of law, for example social workers or government employees. Id. Therefore, Semple may know any of the legal rules stated above, but not how they would apply to MacDonalds case (unless MacDonald consents), or anyone elses case. I would advise Semple to encourage her clients to go to authorities as soon as possible since the time limits to prosecute are short; and to attempt to capture or save any DNA from their rapist.