Home
Campus Bookshelves
Santa Ana College
PARA 248: Legal Synthesis and Analysis
4: Case Briefing - Procedural History, Disposition, Applicable Statutes and Facts

4: Case Briefing - Procedural History, Disposition, Applicable Statutes and Facts

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 230468

Beth R. Pless, J.D. (Northeast Wisconsin Technical College)
Santa Ana College

$ \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } $

$ \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} $

$ \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}$ $ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) $ \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}$

$ \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}$ $ \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}$

$ \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}$ $ \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}$

$ \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}$

$ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$

$ \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}$

$ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$

$ \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}$

$ \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}$

$ \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}$

$ \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}$

$ \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}$

$ \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}$

$ \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}$

$ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$ $ \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}$

$ \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}} % arrow$

$ \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}} % arrow$

$ \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } $

$ \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} $

$ \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} $

$ \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} $

$ \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} $

$ \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } $

$ \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} $

$\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}$ $\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}$ $\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}$ $\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}$ $\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}$ $\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}$ $\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}$ $\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}$ $\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}$ $\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}$ $\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}$ $\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}$ $\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}$ $\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}$ $\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}$ $\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}$ $\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}$ $\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}$ $\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}$ $\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}$ $\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}$ $\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}$ $\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}$ $\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}$ $\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}$ $\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}$ $\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}$ $\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}$ $\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}$ $\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}$ $\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}$ $\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}$ $\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}$ $\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}$ $\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}$ $\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}$ $\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}$ $\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}$ $\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}$ $\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}$ $\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}$ $\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}$ $\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}$ $\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}$ $\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}$ $\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}$ $\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}$ $\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}$ $\newcommand{\lt}{<}$ $\newcommand{\gt}{>}$ $\newcommand{\amp}{&}$ $\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}$

In this chapter, we are going to explore what goes into writing the Procedural History, Disposition, Applicable Statutes, and Facts sections of your case brief. This is not the order in which the sections will appear in the final case brief – for example, the Procedural History is the first section and the Disposition is the last section. We are drafting our brief this way to take advantage of sections that logically go together (Procedural History and Disposition), as well as to write the two sections that form the foundation of the reviewing court’s decision (Applicable Statutes and Facts).

We will be writing a case brief for the Ennabe v. Manosa opinion from the California Supreme Court -- click here to open the decision.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The purpose of the Procedural History section is to tell the reader how the case came before the reviewing court which has written the decision that is the subject of your case brief. In other words, it explains what has happened in the case so far: Who sued whom, what happened in the Superior Court, who appealed to the Court of Appeals, what happened in the Court of Appeals, and who petitioned to the California Supreme Court for review.

Finding and Understanding the Procedural History

An important first step in writing your case brief is making sure you understand who’s who in terms of parties, lower courts and reviewing courts. Much of this information is contained in the caption of the court decision you are briefing, along with a lot of other information about the case.

The Parties

In California, the parties involved in an appeal to the Court of Appeals and the California Supreme Court will have either the word Appellant or the word Respondent tacked onto the end of their original party designations of plaintiff or defendant. Below is an example of what you might see in the caption:

Ennabe v. Manosa--Circled.jpg

Here, Faiez Ennabe is the first among several Plaintiffs who originally filed the lawsuit in the trial court (the California Superior Court). Ennabe and the other Plaintiffs are identified in the Supreme Court opinion as Appellants because they are the parties who filed the appeal from the Superior Court's ruling. Carlos Manosa is the first among several Defendants who the Plaintiffs sued in the trial court. Manosa and the other Defendants are identified in the Supreme Court opinion as Respondents because they are the parties who had to respond (and likely oppose) the Appellants' appeal from the Superior Court's ruling.

The Reviewing Court

In California, the name of the reviewing court will be identified at the top of the court's opinion. There are two reviewing courts. The Court of Appeals hears appeals from Superior Court orders and judgments. There are six Court of Appeals in California, each divided to cover a geographical area of the state. Parties dissatisfied with decisions of the Court of Appeals may petition the California Supreme Court to review the decisions. The California Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority over California law. In the example of Ennabe v. Manosa, the Supreme Court is the reviewing court because it is reviewing the ruling of the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court's case number for the matter is shown in the caption (B189577). The Court of Appeal is referenced in the cation as "Ct.App. 2/1" with the Court of Appeal's case number for Ennabe v. Manosa listed next to the reference.

The Lower Court

In appeals, the Superior Court is always the lowest court. It is the trial court and each California county contains a branch of the Superior Court. In the example of Ennabe v. Manosa, the Superior Court is listed in the caption as "Los Angeles County Super.Ct." with the trial court's file number for the case listed as KC053945.

What Happened in the Lower Court(s)

Plenty of things can happen in a trial court that can cause a party to “lose” and want to appeal. Here are some of the most common types of trial court procedure that might result in an appeal:

A judgment or jury verdict has been entered after a full trial. The result is that either (1) the plaintiff successfully obtained a judgment against the defendant for one or more of the plaintiff’s claims against the defendant; or (2) the defendant was determined to be not liable for the plaintiff's claims (civil) or not guilty (criminal)
The plaintiff or the defendant asked the trial court to enter a judgment after the trial began, but before it was completed – this is called a motion for directed verdict. If the motion is granted, the result is basically the same as a judgment or jury verdict entered after a full trial.
The plaintiff or the defendant asked the trial court to enter a judgment before the trial began, based on facts revealed by discovery – this is called a motion for summary judgment. If the motion is granted, the result is basically the same as a judgment or jury verdict entered after a full trial. Motions for summary judgment are used in civil cases only.
The plaintiff or the defendant asked the trial court to enter an order either allowing or disallowing certain evidence to be used in trial. In civil cases, this can be an evidentiary objection raised during or before the trial (sometimes through a motion in limine). In criminal cases, this can be an evidentiary objection raised during or before the trial (sometimes through a motion to suppress evidence). If the motion is granted, the person appealing is usually claiming that allowing the improper evidence caused the person to lose. If the motion is denied, the person appealing is usually claiming that the inability to offer the evidence caused the person to lose.
The defendant asked the trial court to dismiss the plaintiff’s claims in a demurrer, which is usually requested before discovery has begun in a civil case. A demurrer claims that a plaintiff's claims, even if accepted as true, cannot win as a matter of law (for example, a 19-year old plaintiff who sues a restaurant for age discrimination due to the restaurant's refusal to serve the plaintiff alcohol). If the demurrer is granted, the result is that the claims against the defendant are dismissed.

The typical options for appellate court procedure that might result in a Petition for Review in the Supreme Court are fewer:

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court action (meaning that the appellant loses again)
The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court action (meaning that the appellant wins). A reversal might be coupled with a remand to the trial court for additional proceedings (for example, a recalculation of damages, or an order to conduct a full trial or a new trial).

Writing the Procedural History

It’s important to provide a full and detailed explanation of what occurred prior to the appeal that resulted in the reviewing court’s decision that you are briefing. Procedural history can get confusing if there are multiple appeals by different parties who are unhappy about what happened in the lower court for different reasons. It usually helps to begin by diagramming the parties involved in the appeal, briefly describing what they are appealing, and why the are appealing. Below is a simple table that you can use for this purpose.

Elements	Appeal (describe)
Appellants/Petitioners
Respondents/Respondents
What is being appealed?

We’ll use the Ennabe v. Manosa opinion to complete this table step by step.

Step 1: Identify the appeal.

Most decisions involve only a single appeal to the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court. In Ennabe v. Manosa the opinion involved an appeal to the California Supreme Court.

Based on what we see in the caption, here is what our diagram box would look like so far:

Elements	Appeal to California Supreme Court: Ennabe v. Manosa
Appellants/Petitioners
Respondents/Respondents
What is being appealed?

Step 2: Fully describe the parties involved in each appeal.

Look at the full caption of the case and write down the name of each person or entity involved. Then write each person’s party designation next to his/her/its name. Pay particular attention to parties with the following designations: appellant, appellee, respondent, co-appellant, co-appellee, co- respondent, cross-appellant, cross-appellee, cross-respondent, petitioner, co- petitioner and cross-petitioner. These are the parties participating in the appeal. If someone only has a plaintiff or defendant designation, that party is not participating in the appeal.

Based on what we see in the caption, here is what our diagram box would look like so far:

Elements	Appeal to California Supreme Court: Ennabe v. Manosa
Appellants/Petitioners	Faiez Ennabe, et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants
Respondents/Respondents	Carlos Manosa et al., Defendants and Respondents
What is being appealed?

Step 3: Briefly describe the lower court action involved in each appeal.

Read the reviewing court’s decision to determine the nature of the lower court action the Appellant is appealing. Was a motion granted? Was a motion denied? Did the Appellant lose after a jury trial? What happened to the Appellant as a result of the lower court’s action? In Ennabe v. Manosa, we see in the opinion's introduction, "Because the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in defendant’s favor, we reverse." To learn more, we must read the decision until we see a more detailed explanation. We find it on page 6 of the opinion, in the “Background” section:

Ennabe v. Manosa--Procedure.jpg

Now we know that as a result of the trial court (i.e. Superior Court) granting the Defendants' motion for summary judgment, the Plaintiffs' claims against them were dismissed. So, we add that information to our table:

Elements	Appeal to California Supreme Court: Ennabe v. Manosa
Appellants/Petitioners	Faiez Ennabe, et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants
Respondents/Respondents	Carlos Manosa et al., Defendants and Respondents
What is being appealed?	Grant of summary judgment dismissing Plaintiffs' complaint against Defendants.

Step 4: Write the Procedural History in Your Case Brief.

Based on this diagram, we now have enough information to write the Procedural History for the appeal. Resist the temptation to simply copy and paste from the reviewing court’s decision! Instead, put it into your own words. There are many correct ways to do so; just make sure your Procedural History contains all of the following content:

The identity of the Appellant(s), including the Appellant’s name and full party designation
A complete description of the lower court action being appealed, and the impact/result of the lower court’s action on the parties’ claims
If you are briefing a Supreme Court Decision, a description of what the Court of Appeals did with the lower court’s action, and a statement that the Supreme Court granted a petition for review.

Here’s how the Procedural History for the Ennabe v. Manosa Supreme Court opinion could be written:

Plaintiff-Appellants, Faiez Ennabe, et al. appealed the Superior Court's grant of summary judgment dismissing their claims against Carlos Manosa, et al. The Court of Appeals affirmed the Superior Court's judgment. Plaintiffs-Appellants petitioned the California Supreme Court for review of the Court of Appeals' decision. The Supreme Court granted the petition.

That’s it. No facts about underage drinking, and no statement about what the Supreme Court did in its decision.

DISPOSITION

The purpose of the Disposition section is to tell the reader what the reviewing court whose decision you are briefing did with the case. Essentially, it is the end of the procedural story of the case, like skipping to the end of a murder mystery novel book to find out who did it.

Finding and Understanding the Disposition

The easiest place to find the reviewing court’s disposition is at the end of the majority opinion. In Ennabe v. Manosa, this is found on Page 33 of the opinion:

Ennabe v. Manosa--Disposition.jpg

Writing the Disposition

Again, resist the temptation to simply copy and paste from the reviewing court’s decision! Instead, put the Disposition into your own words. There are many correct ways to do so; just make sure your Disposition contains all of the following content:

The name of the Appellant. You can include the Appellant’s full party designation if you wish, but it’s not required
A statement of the what the reviewing court did to the lower court’s action that is being reviewed
A description of the impact/result of the reviewing court’s action on the parties’ claims

Here’s how the Disposition for the Ennanbe v. Manosa opinion decision could be written:

The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal's affirmation of the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Manosa, and ordered Ennabe's ’ claims against the Defendants reinstated.

That’s it. No facts about underage drinking, and no explanation of why the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals.

Remember, when you prepare your final draft of your case brief, the Disposition will go at the end. It’s helpful to write the Disposition right after you write the Procedural History because the two are so closely related.

APPLICABLE STATUTE(S)

Many, but not all, court decisions that you brief will involve decisions that interpret and apply statutes or administrative regulations. Because it forms the basis of the reviewing court’s decision, it’s important to take the time to identify the statute/regulation and the specific words or phrases in the statute/regulation, that are being interpreted and applied.

Finding and Understanding the Applicable Statute(s)

The first step is to find the actual statute that is being interpreted and applied to the parties involved in the appeal. This can be tricky because reviewing courts also typically mention statutes that define the procedure that must be followed in the appeal (sometimes called the Standard of Review). The reviewing court may also mention the statute that gave the parties the right to file a certain motion (such as a Motion for Summary Judgment or a Motion to Dismiss). That means the first statute you come across in the decision might not be the substantive statute being interpreted in the decision and applied to the parties’ claims.

Modern courts typically identify the primary statute(s) being interpreted in the introductory paragraphs. For instance, on Pages 1 and 2 of the Ennabe v. Manosa opinion, the Supreme Court identified Business and Professions Code section 25602.1 as the statute at issue in its review:

Ennabe v. Manosa--Statute 1.jpg

Ennabe v. Manosa--Statute 2.jpg

It is critically important to read the entire decision thoroughly and carefully and use a highlighter or other methods to mark the statutes the reviewing court is interpreting and applying. Look for portions of the decision discussing the meaning and/or application of words or phrases in a statute beyond just a citation of the statute.

Writing the Applicable Statute(s)

Once you have found the statute(s) the reviewing court is interpreting and applying in its decision, writing the Applicable Statutes section of your case brief is fairly simple:

Start with the complete and proper California Style Manual citation of the statute
Copy and paste the actual language of the statute and put it in quotation marks
If the statute is long or contains a lot of words and phrases that aren’t directly relevant to the legal questions on appeal, revise the statute by taking words out or paraphrasing it.

Do not include the reviewing court’s interpretation of the statute, or an explanation of its meaning. Include only the words of the statute itself. Here is the applicable statute in the Ennabe v. Manosa case brief:

Bus. & Prof. Code, § 25602.1: "Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 25602, a cause of action may be brought by or on behalf of any person who has suffered injury or death against any person licensed, or required to be licensed, pursuant to Section 23300, or any person authorized by the federal government to sell alcoholic beverages on a military base or other federal enclave, who sells, furnishes, gives or causes to be sold, furnished or given away any alcoholic beverage, and any other person who sells, or causes to be sold, any alcoholic beverage, to any obviously intoxicated minor where the furnishing, sale or giving of that beverage to the minor is the proximate cause of the personal injury or death sustained by that person."

FACTS

All court decisions are based on a certain set of substantive facts. Although appellate courts do not review issues of fact, the substantive facts provide a context for the legal issues being reviewed. Thus, to get a true understanding of the legal impact of the reviewing court’s decision, you need to have a good grasp of the substantive facts.

Understanding the Facts

The substantive facts tell us what happened to the persons involved in the appeal. Unlike procedural facts (which we detailed in the Procedural History and Disposition sections of the case brief), the substantive facts are the who, what, when, where, why (sometimes) and how of the contract, accident, transaction, etc., that forms the basis of the original court action. There are generally three different types of facts: legally significant, contextual (background) and irrelevant.

Legally significant facts are those facts that directly lead to or otherwise affect the legal outcome of the case. If the legally significant facts are changed, the outcome would likely change as well. Whether a fact is legally significant depends upon the legal issue in question. For example, the date of an accident would be legally significant if there was a question as to whether the statute of limitation had passed. In contrast, if there is no issue as to the statute of limitation, the date of the accident is merely background information.

Contextual facts provide you some background or “flavoring” of the case. Although such facts do not impact the legal issue, they do help us understand the issue better. Think of contextual facts as similar to supporting characters in a movie or book. Often, they help us to understand the main character and the plot, and their interaction with the main character adds interest.

Irrelevant facts are neither legally significant nor contextual. They really don’t add to our understanding and simply take up space. Usually, irrelevant facts relate to minor details, such as the color of the car the defendant was driving, or the name of the hairstylist the plaintiff uses. If you always keep the legal issue in front of you, it’s easy to determine which facts are irrelevant. If they don’t directly affect the legal issue, or help you to understand it, they are irrelevant.

Suppose the issue is whether the defendant breached a legal duty (one of the elements of negligence). A witness tells you the defendant drove a new blue SUV through a red light and smashed into the plaintiff’s old white Geo Metro. The fact that the defendant failed to stop at a red light is legally significant. The fact that the defendant drove a blue car is irrelevant. The location of the accident, the facts that the defendant drove a large SUV and the plaintiff drove a sub-compact, are contextual.

Finding the Facts

The facts are usually pretty easy to find. Typically, there is a distinct “facts” section of each decision. Sometimes the court uses a heading, as in the Ennabe v. Manosa case where it is titled “Background”. In shorter decisions, the facts section starts with a paragraph that states something like, “The following facts are before us on this appeal.” The synopsis also usually has a general statement of the facts. Be careful! Sometimes the “facts” or “background” section of the decision doesn’t contain all of the facts. The court may include additional legally significant facts when it discusses its holding or its reasoning. It can be helpful to highlight all instances of facts as you read the decision and decide later if the facts are legally significant, contextual or irrelevant.

Like many decisions, the Ennabe v. Manosa opinion has a “Background” section that contains most of the facts (facts highlighted):

This is not the only place in the decision that contains the facts. Later on in the decision, when discussing who owned the drinks at issue in Ennabe v. Manosa, the Court repeated these facts:

Additional Facts.jpg

When facts are repeated in the reviewing court’s decision, or discussed in the portion of the decision that explains the reviewing court’s legal analysis, there’s a good chance those facts are legally significant.

Based on what we see in the decision, we know that:

With respect to the Ennabe’s appeal, the legally significant facts are those that relate to:

A charge for entry to the party in which alcohol was served
Payment for entry allowed guests, including minors, to consume alcohol
A minor consumed alcohol

With respect to the Ennabe's appeal, the contextual facts are those that relate to:

Who actually purchased the alcohol
Where the minors drank the alcohol
Whether someone served or distributed the alcohol or everyone who drank the alcohol
Garcia's role at the party and his behavior that led to Ennabe's death

Writing the Facts

As with many of the other sections of your case brief, resist the temptation to simply copy and paste from the reviewing court’s decision! Instead, write the facts in your own words. Think about how you want to organize the facts. Most of the time you’ll write the facts as a chronological story about what happened. Here’s one way you could write the facts for the Ennabe v. Manosa appeal:

Jessica Manosa threw a party at a vacant rental house owned by her parents, Carlos and Mary Manosa, without their permission. The party was spread by word of mouth, phone calls, and text messages, bringing in 40 to 60 people, most of whom were under 21 years old, including Manosa.

Manosa used $60 of her own money to buy alcohol for the party, including rum, tequila, and beer. Manosa asked another guest to act as a bouncer at the gate. He was supposed to control who came in and charge uninvited guests $3 to $5 to get inside. The money collected, which was around $50 to $60, was used later in the night to buy more alcohol for the party. Once inside, people could drink the alcohol provided. Thomas Garcia, an uninvited guest who didn’t know Manosa, paid the fee to enter the party and drank at the party. Andrew Ennabe, a friend of Manosa and an invited guest, also attended the party.

At the party, Garcia became loud and inappropriate. He made rude and threatening comments to female guests, and either he or a friend dropped his pants at some point. Garcia’s behavior got him kicked out of the party. Ennabe and other guests escorted Garcia and his friends to their car. As they left, one of Garcia’s friends spit on Ennabe, which led to a chase into the street. Garcia, now driving, ran over Ennabe, causing severe injuries. Ennabe later died from those injuries.

If you compare the above paragraphs to what you read in the Ennabe v. Manosa opinion, you can see that the legally significant facts are included in detail, whereas contextual facts (most notably the facts about the accident and Ennabe’s injuries) are merely summarized.

Now that you have the Procedural History, Disposition, Applicable Statutes and Facts of the Ennabe v. Manosa decision, you have a good foundation for understanding and writing the case brief sections that explain the Court of Appeals’ legal analysis: The Issues, Holdings, and Reasoning sections.

Contributors

4: Case Briefing - Procedural History, Disposition, Applicable Statutes and Facts is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Beth R. Pless, J.D. (Northeast Wisconsin Technical College) & edited and curated by James C. Harman, Assistant Professor, Santa Ana College.

Search

Text Color

Text Size

Margin Size

Font Type