by Mason Black
Three weeks later, the group sat in Amanda’s room preparing themselves for exam week. They had only two examinations – Professor Dunlap-Elliott’s Legal Writing quiz and Professor Kirshner’s mid-term killer exam. Kirshner’s examination was legendary for separating the boys from the men. It would not be unusual for a quarter of the class to drop out of law school after taking his examination.
Luckily, they only had the two tests to study for. The rest of their classes had only one examination at the end of the semester. Professor Dunlap-Elliott’s exam was basically a “Blue Book” exam; the Blue Book was a guide for legal citations. Will nicknamed the Blue Book “Satan’s Bible.” He hated trying to figure out where the case name went or whether there was supposed to be a comma after the case citation. He was worried about this exam, but his concern in no way measured up to the fear he had of Kirshner’s Criminal Law exam.
They each had made outlines for Criminal Law, and they also had Todd’s outline. They each made a copy for everyone and traded them. They planned to meet every night, except for the last two nights immediately before the exam; that was alone time to ponder everything they had covered.
Every night, they would take turns teaching different topics. Amanda laid out a schedule for everyone so they all knew what topic they had to cover. They were feeling fairly competent and knowledgeable about Criminal Law. The hardest part of it was the amount of material they had to cover. Unlike in college, law professors always finished the entire textbook. Their Criminal Law book was 577 pages long, which meant they had 288 pages to cover. Within those 288 pages, there were nearly 80 cases to memorize and understand. It was no easy task, but the study group felt they were up to Kirshner’s challenge.
The group decided that Kirshner must not have recognized Amanda because he had never picked on her again. In fact, he left the entire group alone for the last few weeks and started targeting victims on the other side of the classroom. The group could finally relax and try to learn Criminal Law, instead of worrying they would be called on in class.
Will stood in front of the couches where Amanda, Sean, Abrams, and Jack sat. They moved the coffee table to the side to allow Will the space to pace back and forth as he taught the subject of the night – Strict Liability.
“Not all crimes require bad intent. The threshold of culpability required may be reduced. It might be sufficient to show that a defendant acted negligently, rather than intentionally or recklessly. Most strict liability offenses are created by statute, and often they are the result of ambiguous drafting,” Will proclaimed with confidence.
Will gave a brief overview of Strict Liability, and then started quizzing the group on what he just covered. The answers came easy and the group seemed to have a great understanding of the topic.
“Now, let’s discuss the case law involved.” Will ran through the ten most relevant cases.
He again quizzed the group, and they again did well. They were ready for anything Kirshner would throw at them.
Chapter 31
Glass beer mugs slammed together as the group cheered at Lucky’s Bar; their two mid-terms were over. While Kirshner’s exam proved to be difficult, they all knew they did well – Amanda and Jack were especially confident in their scores.
The group went over all the issues they each had spotted in Kirshner’s ridiculously long hypothetical question. They laughed and did Jell-O shots for hours. For the first time since they had started law school, they felt like they could actually be lawyers someday.
As the bar began to fill up with its nightly customers getting off from work, the group realized it was time to stop celebrating and get back home. They had spent the last few weeks focusing exclusively on their Legal Writing and Criminal Law exams – they had a lot of making up to do in Property and Torts.
They quickly paid their tab and got into Jack’s Escalade. Even though Jack drank just as much as everyone else, he had a very high tolerance for alcohol. He felt he was okay to drive the short distance back to the dorms.
Abrams fell asleep on Sean’s couch for an hour only to be woken by his wife’s phone call wondering where he was. Abrams stumbled out to his car and drove away, smacking himself in the face a few times to try and sober himself up. He chewed on pieces of gum to help take the alcohol off his breath. He skidded off the round as his head bobbed around, doing his best to focus his eyes onto the road, but he could not keep them open. His car went completely onto the shoulder and into the grass along the road. He felt rocks and dirt under his tires and quickly awoke to see a utility pole right in front of him. He turned the wheel with all his might, just missing a tree. Abrams laughed; he loved the thrill of nearly running into a tree.
Chapter 32
Two days later, Will rushed to get to Kirshner’s class on time after he had left his textbook in his dorm room and knew that he needed it for class. Even though they just had a test, Will knew that Kirshner would not give them any breaks if not prepared for class.
Will slipped in right before Kirshner walked into the classroom – he was safe. Kirshner had an annoying smug look on his face as he stood in front of the class just to the right of the podium. “I have begun grading your examinations,” he shouted.
“I am not impressed so far. Even worse, we have some cheaters among us.”
The students remained silent. A few looked around the room wondering who had the guts to cheat on a law school exam – especially a Kirshner exam. Before they began class, each law student had to attend an orientation that spent a lot of time discussing the honor code. The Law School Honor Code was similar to the state Code of Ethics that each attorney had to abide by. A violation in the honor code would most certainly result in the end of a law career – especially a violation as serious as cheating on an exam.
Their class flew by at rapid speed, and none of the group were picked on, ridiculed, or made fun of – it was a good day. Immediately after class, they all walked to the student lounge to check their mailboxes. Each law student had a mailbox where the teachers, clubs and other school organizations could communicate with the students.
They crashed onto the couches and watched the news in amazement. They caught the tail end of a Fox News update on the search for the Miami Mangler, the serial killer who continued to evade the police. But what really caught everyone’s attention in the room was the story about a possible cure for cancer. Apparently, a natural cure for cancer was found using part of a flower that could only be found in the Amazon jungle, called the Dalius flower.
“Sounds like bullshit to me,” Abrams mumbled.
“Does sound a little crazy to me, too,” Will chimed in.
Amanda walked away from the television to check her mailbox. There was a small, white envelope in her box with no writing on it. She opened the envelope up and fell onto the chair next to the mailboxes.
“Amanda, are you okay?” Will asked, walking toward her.
“Check your box,” she anxiously mumbled.
Will checked his box and he had the same small, plain white envelope in it. “Guys, get over here and check your mailboxes,” Will yelled.
Abrams, Jack and Sean all had the same small, white envelope in their mailboxes. Sean quickly looked through the other students’ mailboxes, but they were the only ones that had the envelopes.
“Holy shit!” Sean uttered.
Chapter 33
“My office at 11:30 to discuss your exam. Prof. Isaiah Kirshner,” Amanda’s note read.
Each of them had the same note with different times, fifteen minutes apart. It appeared that Kirshner was going to question them one at a time, like a police detective. Unfortunately for Amanda, she was first and had only two minutes to get to his office for Kirshner interrogations.
“Does he really think we cheated?” Sean asked.
“What do you think? We are the only ones with these stupid appointment notes,” Abrams quickly responded.
“I have to go right now. What are we going to do?” Amanda said.
“There is nothing to worry about. Let’s see what he has to say, and we will all deal with it together,” Will said, holding her hand.
Amanda ran down the hallway to Kirshner’s office. The door was wide open, but Kirshner was not in the office. Amanda did not know if she should wait outside, or have a seat in his office. She decided to sit in his office.
She looked around; it was surprisingly nicely decorated with books on Criminal Law and police investigation. The door slammed shut behind her as Kirshner flew into the room, walking past her without saying a word. He dropped into the chair and looked at Amanda.
“I got this in my mailbox,” she mumbled quietly.
“I know. What do you have to say for yourself?” Kirshner questioned.
“I’m not sure what this is about,” she responded.
“You and your friends cheated on my examination, or did you already try to forget what you did?”
“Professor Kirshner, we did not cheat. I have never cheated on anything in my whole life,” she said with her sweet, southern accent.
“Martin. Your last name is Martin and you’re from Charleston?” he asked.
“Yes, I lived there my whole life before I came here,” she answered.
“Your mother isn’t Bobbie Martin?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s still practicing there?”
“Yeah, you know her?” she asked.
“Many years ago, but, let’s get back to your examination. How do you explain that you and your four friends had nearly similar answers on all three of my questions?”
“We study together; we’re in a study group. We have been since almost the first day. We all studied real hard for your test, and I can assure you that none of us needed to cheat. We all knew the material so well. We …”
“Fine, you’re obviously not willing to sell out your friends, but chances are that one of the other four will be.”
“Professor, honestly, we did not cheat,” she pleaded.
“How can you be so sure, Ms. Martin, that none of your friends cheated?”
“I just know them. We studied forever for your exam because we knew it was going to be tough, and …”
“Enough, you can leave now, Ms. Martin. I will be in contact with you once I am done with my investigation, and I will let you know how I will proceed. Until that time, I suggest you keep our conversation to yourself. I will not be reporting this to the dean until I have finished with my investigation. Good day, Ms. Martin.” Kirshner stood up and opened the door.
Chapter 34
After Kirshner questioned each of them, they all gathered back at Amanda’s dorm room.
“What the fuck are we going to do?” Abrams yelled.
“Y’all, he did not believe a word I said. He just kept looking at me waiting for me to crumble,” Amanda said.
“It’s over for us. If he really thinks we cheated and he goes to the dean, it’s over for us,” Sean said.
“He’s right. We will be thrown out of Miami University, and we will never be able to get into another law school. Our legal careers are over before they even got started,” Will said.
“We all agree that he did not believe us,” Jack said.
They all agreed. “But why does he think we cheated – because we had similar answers? We are in a study group together. Wouldn’t that explain it for the dean?”
“From what I hear, Kirshner has a lot of pull at the university. He is a flagship professor. Believe it or not, a lot of students come to Miami University because of his reputation. He gives this school a lot of clout, so, I’m thinking, if he says we cheated, the dean will go with it,” Will responded.
“We can’t just let this piece of shit ruin our lives; there’s got to be something we can do,” Abrams yelled.
“I say we go to the dean first and plead our case. What exactly is the process for a violation of the honor code? Amanda, do you have the student guide?” Will asked.
Amanda went into her bedroom and found the student guide on her bookcase. Unlike the rest of the group, Amanda actually read the student guide cover to cover. Will rubbed her hand as she pulled away and sat back down on the edge of the couch.
Will flipped through the book searching for the exact procedure for a violation of the honor code. “Here it is – accusations of cheating. Upon the accusation of cheating, the accused student will be temporarily suspended and will not be able to attend class. Within three weeks, a hearing will be held before five randomly chosen members of the tenured faculty and the dean. The accused has the right to legal representation.”
“I can’t go through all that,” Amanda cried.
“I think just being accused of cheating will end our careers, no matter what they find,” Jack said.
The five of them sat quietly for a few minutes. Finally, Abrams spoke up. “There’s just no way around it. We have to stop Kirshner from going to the dean.
Chapter 35
Professor Kirshner sat in his office reviewing the five students’ examinations he suspected. He had gotten an anonymous tip that these five students had cheated on his exam. This was not the first time Kirshner had gotten a tip that someone had cheated in his class, but most of the tips had proven to be false – just a very competitive student trying to get rid of his competition.
So, Kirshner wanted to be sure that there was actual cheating and not one of his student’s little game to get the coveted “A” in his class. He glanced at his notes that he took from his questioning with each of the students. He made a photocopy of all five examinations and laid them next to each other on his desk where he began highlighting the similar sentences in each exam with a yellow highlighter.
His highlighter flew across the pages, highlighting several sentences on each of the pages. He shook his head and a smile came to his face, as if he actually enjoyed catching students cheating. This was not the first time Kirshner actually had a student cheat on his exam. Back in 2008, Kirshner gave one of his famous mid-term examinations. Although most professors used a proctor to administer the exam, Kirshner insisted on proctoring the exam himself. Once the exam was over and the students had exited the room, Kirshner was about to leave when he saw a small piece of paper on the ground.
His eyes lit up as he unfolded this small piece of paper; he was amazed at how small the writing was, but it was still large enough for him to make out. It was a miniature outline of Criminal Law. He stuck the note in his pocket and went back to his office. He laid the small piece of paper on a copy machine and blew up the writing as much as he could.
At the beginning of his next class, Kirshner wrote an outline on the board. This was the first time he had ever written anything on the board. Once he was finished, he gave the students a chance to write down the outline; he walked around the room peeking at every student’s notebook, comparing the handwriting to the small cheat sheet. He moved through the classroom with delight searching out the guilty party. Finally, he came upon the perpetrator – Kevin James.
Kevin James was a tall, lanky 23 year old that did a great job in blending into the classroom. He often avoided Kirshner’s harassment by never drawing any attention to himself. He dressed very plainly in pale colors, his hair was short and neatly styled, and he spoke in a very monotone voice. In fact, the only thing that Kirshner remembered about Kevin James was his boring monotone voice, which is probably why Kirshner never called on him, he did not want to suffer through the boring dribble that would come out of Kevin’s mouth.
Kirshner put his hand on Kevin’s left shoulder; Kevin looked up to see who was touching him. “I know it was you,” Kirshner said to Kevin and then walked to the front of the classroom. Kevin knew that he had lost the cheat sheet but he did not know where. He prayed that it had fallen out of his pocket in his apartment, but now he knew Kirshner had it.
Kevin waited for everyone to leave the classroom and approached Kirshner; his hands shook as he walked toward Kirshner standing at the podium.
“I’ll
need your notebook,” Kirshner said.
“No, you won’t, I admit that I cheated. I’m not going to drag this out,” Kevin mumbled.
“Are you sure you want to do this? Are you clear on what this will mean?” Kirshner asked.
“I understand. Do what you have to do,” Kevin answered as he walked out of the classroom.
“Oh, I will, Mr. James. I will,” Kirshner said.
He was delighted; after years of teaching, this was the first time he had ever caught one of his students cheating. He felt a strong sense of accomplishment. Kevin James admitted he cheated to the dean of the law school and was expelled from Miami University.
Now, Kirshner had five students to nail for cheating. He stood up and looked at the five copies of the exam booklets. They were covered in yellow, and he was thrilled. What made it even better was that Bobbi Martin’s daughter was one of them.
Chapter 36
On Saturday morning, the group of five sat in the empty lobby of the law school in disbelief at what had transpired yesterday. If Kirshner reported his cheating suspicion, their very short legal careers would be over. For these five students, there was no second prize or plan B. They all had dreamed of becoming attorneys – and that was it. They would not settle for anything less.
“How long do you think it will be before he goes to the dean?” Jack asked.
“He told me that he was planning on talking with him Monday morning. So, we have two more days of being law students, and then that’s it,” Sean responded.
“We have to talk to him. We have to convince him we did not cheat,” Amanda cried.
“Amanda, you know as well as I do that we are not going to change this man’s mind. Didn’t it seem like he enjoyed it? Like he was dying to catch somebody cheating so he could throw them out of his class?” Abrams whispered as a student walked by.
Will sat quietly reading a newspaper that Amanda gave him. She gave him the paper every morning and would always circle the articles with a pink pen that she thought Will would be interested in.