Below, is the format I would like you to use for your case brief

Below, is the format I would like you to use for your case brief:

1. Title of the case, including citation.
2. Facts:
3. A. Procedural facts: Who is appealing, which court. (Note: in most criminal cases, it will be the defendant that appeals –the government can appeal very rarely because of double jeopardy).
4. B. Substantive facts: what happened in the case. Be “brief.” Don’t state more information than you need.
5. Issue: The question raised on appeal. Every appeal has grounds. The court must question the trial court’s actions. The issue is the point raised by the person appealing. Phrase your issue as a question.
6. Holding:
7. A. Substantive holding: This is the “answer” to the issue question, which also becomes the case law. The substantive holding is the most important part of the case brief—it is what you are looking for when reading the case.
8. B. Procedural holding: What the court does with the case, procedurally. The court has three choices; reverse, affirm, remand.
9. Rationale: Why the court did what it did. The reasoning and policy behind the court’s decision. Courts usually expound at length about why they reached a particular holding, because they don’t want to be reversed on further appeal

Below, see a sample brief of Keeler v. Superior Court.

1. Keeler v. Superior Court, 470 P.2d 617 (1970).
2. A. (Procedural Facts)The defendant seeks a writ of prohibition, CA Supreme Court.
3. B. (Substantive Facts)The defendant became upset when he saw that his ex-wife was pregnant. After stating “I’m going to stomp it out of you,” he kneed his ex-wife in the abdomen. She survived, but the baby was stillborn, the cause of death a fractured skull. The defendant was charged with murder under Cal. Penal Code § 187, which defined murder as the malicious and unlawful killing of a human being. The defendant sought a writ of prohibition to disallow the murder charge, because he killed a fetus.
4. (Issue)Can a defendant be charged with murder for killing a fetus in a state that statutorily defines murder as the malicious and unlawful killing of a human being?
5. A. (Substantive Holding) A defendant cannot be charged with murder for killing a fetus in a state that statutorily defines murder as the malicious and unlawful killing of a human being.
6. B. (Procedural Holding) Writ of prohibition granted, murder charge disallowed.
7. (Rationale) The Court examined the common-law definition of human being, and held that it did not include a fetus. Charging the defendant with murder of a fetus, when the murder statute criminalizes only murder of a human being born alive, would violate: due process by not giving the defendant notice of what is criminal, separation of powers by allowing a court to create crimes, which is the legislature’s responsibility, and California Pe