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People v. Casco |
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Fact Situation Beginning in February 2004, the Mansfield Police Department received phone calls from many residents of Mansfield , California , stating that fraudulent charges had appeared on their credit card bills. After the first few phone calls, police recognized that they had a serious problem on their hands. Officer Rory Brosnan was briefed on the problem. Officer Brosnan, a Mansfield police officer, is also the school resource officer for Mansfield High and spends one day a week at the school. During the last week in February, Officer Brosnan received a phone call from Mrs. Lola Wilshire stating that her child Devon Wilshire, a student at Mansfield High, had recently come home with new items that she knew Devon could not afford. By early March, with even more residents reporting credit card fraud, Officer Brosnan, with the cooperation of the major credit card companies, had compiled a list of the fraudulently purchased items. The list included the time and date of the fraudulent purchase, whether the item was purchased on the Internet, and the shipping address for the item. Nearly all of the items on the list had been purchased using the Internet. Officer Brosnan called the retail stores that had sold the items and requested as much information as possible about each item. Many stores provided the officer with the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from which the online purchases had originated. Also, for the electronic equipment, the retailers were often able to provide the manufacturer's serial number for the item. On March 11, 2004 , Chris Conley, a chemistry teacher at Mansfield High, came to Officer Brosnan's office in the school and told Officer Brosnan that a fraudulent purchase had just been discovered on Conley's credit card. Conley explained that there was reason to believe that one of the students at Mansfield High was the perpetrator. A few days after speaking to Chris Conley, Officer Brosnan joined Mansfield High Principal Heim and the other teachers at a staff meeting. Brosnan told them about the recent credit card fraud problems in the Mansfield area and that the officer suspected that high school students might be involved. The officer asked the teachers to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Directly after the meeting, Officer Brosnan spoke privately with the Mansfield High librarian, Pat LaPoint. The librarian told the officer about seeing Madison Casco and Devon Wilshire acting suspiciously in the library in the last few weeks. Officer Brosnan asked LaPoint to call if the librarian saw any other suspicious activity. In addition to the problems the Mansfield area was having with credit card fraud, Mansfield High School had seen an increase in student drug use in the last few years. The administrators were worried about the effects of drugs on teenagers so they initiated a series of canine drug sniffs of students' lockers and vehicles. The administration contacted Securities International (SI), which specializes in drug detection in schools. SI sent a certified, trained drug dog handler and Buddy, a German Shepherd trained to detect the presence of many illegal substances. During the September, October, November and December dog sniffs, five students were found with drugs. But during the drug sniffs in January and February no drugs were discovered. Also during the first four dog sniffs, Buddy alerted to one student who did not have any contraband on him. This is known as a “false positive.” The administration, not believing that the drug problem was over, decided to have the drug dog sniff the students' belongings, such as bookbags and purses. In March 2004, Officer Brosnan and Principal Heim, accompanied by Buddy and the dog handler, entered three classrooms chosen at random. When they entered the room, the officer asked for students to line up along one wall of the classroom and to place their bags in front of them. The drug dog was then led two times up and down the line of students and bags. Out of the three classroom searches in March 2004, the drug dog alerted to four bags. When the dog alerted to certain bags, the bags and students were taken out into the hall and Principal Heim searched through each bag. Three students were found with drugs in their bags. Because the March drug sniff had been so successful, it was decided that another drug sniff would take place on April 3. On April 3, LaPoint saw Madison walk into the library and go directly to a seldom used section. LaPoint left the library to find Officer Brosnan. The two of them returned to the library, where they found a Mammon digital camera sitting on a shelf. Officer Brosnan took the camera from the shelf and back to the School Resource Office. The serial number on the digital camera matched one of the serial numbers provided by the retailers. Officer Brosnan, seeing that it was time for the drug dog search, decided to deal with the fraudulently purchased item later and headed down to Principal Heim's office to meet with the dog handler and Buddy. Officer Brosnan met with Principal Heim, Buddy, and the dog handler. They followed the exact procedure used in the first dog sniff in March. This time the drug dog alerted to two bags in one classroom. The bags belonged to Madison Casco and Tobey Wesley. Officer Brosnan asked that the students take their belongings into the hallway. Once in the hallway, Principal Heim searched both students' bags. The principal found marijuana in Tobey Wesley's bag, but did not find any drugs in Madison Casco's bag. Instead, Principal Heim found approximately $1,000 in a folder, which he immediately showed to Officer Brosnan. Principal Heim took the money from Madison 's bag because the school does not allow students to carry more than $100 at school. Madison was then taken to the principal's office. Based on the information provided by Chris Conley, Pat LaPoint, and Devon Wilshire, plus the information from the detailed lists compiled from retailers and the credit card companies, Officer Brosnan believed that Madison Casco was the perpetrator behind the credit card fraud. Later that day, Officer Brosnan returned to the school and arrested Madison for credit card fraud. CHARGES The prosecution charges Madison Casco with three counts: PROSECUTION WITNESSES • Officer Rory Brosnan DEFENSE WITNESSES • Madison Casco, High School Senior, Defendant EVIDENCE Only the following items may be introduced at trial. STIPULATIONS • Both the Official Diagram of the “List from Retailers” and the Official Diagram of “List from Credit Card Companies” have been certified as official business records. Officer Rory Brosnan My name is Rory Brosnan, and I have been a police officer in Mansfield , California , for ten years. In the last four years I have also taken on the additional responsibility of being the School Resource Officer for Mansfield High School . I can be found at the school on Thursdays and at many of the school's sporting events. The first time I became aware of the credit card fraud problem in Mansfield was around the middle of February, when I began to receive a lot of phone calls from Mansfield residents. I have taken several courses in credit card fraud detection and have learned that credit card fraud is really not that difficult, especially with the advent of the Internet. All someone would really need was the information from your credit card, such as the credit company's name, the holder's name, and the number and expiration date, and they would be able to buy things at most online sites. I have investigated many identity theft and credit card fraud cases over the last ten years. I first started to suspect that a student at the school was involved in the credit card fraud problem in the area when Mrs. Lola Wilshire called me at the school. Mrs. Wilshire is Devon Wilshire's mother and was concerned that her child was coming home with expensive electronic items that she did not believe Devon had the money to buy. Rather, she believed that Devon was getting the items from a friend at school. Mansfield High is a small school, so I certainly know all of the seniors and who most of their friends are. Devon is part of a close group of students, namely Madison Casco, River Lenox, and Lisa Mer. I have often seen them eating lunch together or hanging out at different sporting events together. As more and more calls came in regarding credit card fraud, I called the major credit card companies and requested a list from their records of all the fraudulent purchases that had occurred on any card whose holder lives in the Mansfield Area. These lists were very helpful and included the item that was fraudulently purchased, the date and time when the item was purchased, who the retailer of the item was, whether the item was purchased online and the shipping address for the item. I then called the retailers of the items purchased and received from them a list of the Internet Protocal (IP) addresses from which the online purchases had originated and the manufacturer's serial numbers for most of the electronic items on the list. An IP address is an identification number that exists on all computers and anytime a computer is used to go to a website, the website records the IP address and the date and time. The list from the retailers showed that nearly all of the purchases online had originated from the same IP address. I then called a registry system that tracks IP addresses and to whom they are registered and discovered that the IP address was registered to Mansfield High and that the contract administrator was Pat LaPoint, the librarian. I also noted that many of the items were sent to the Windsor Arms Apartments. On March 11, Chris Conley, a chemistry teacher at Mansfield High, reported to me about being the victim of credit card fraud. Conley told me that a receipt had been stolen from Conley's desk at school. After hearing what Conley had to say and learning that all of the fraudulent purchases had taken place from the school computers, I spoke at a school staff meeting to warn the teachers and staff and told them that I suspected students may have had something to do with it. LaPoint and I spoke directly after the meeting. I gave the librarian a quick run down and explained that all of the online purchases had been placed using the school computers. I provided LaPoint with the dates and times the purchases had been made and asked the librarian to track down which students had been using the computers at that time and what websites they had visited. About a week later LaPoint reported that all of the purchases had been made from student accounts that had not yet been assigned to a student, and that all the sites had been visited from computers in the library. I was surprised because I had been sure at that point that either Madison or Devon was involved. However, LaPoint went on to explain that Madison volunteers in the library, usually shelving books during third period, which lasts from 10:00 a.m. until 10:50 a.m. , which is when most of the purchases were made. As a volunteer, Madison would have had access to papers in the librarian's office, including an administrator's list of the entire student body's log-ons and passwords. During this same conversation, LaPoint also mentioned having recently seen a box located on a shelf in the Russian language section of the library (a seldom used section) and that Madison and Devon had also been hanging around that area of the library in the last few weeks. I told LaPoint that if either Madison or Devon was spotted going to that area again, to please tell me. About a week later, on April 3, LaPoint came to my office and said that Madison had just walked into the library heading directly toward the Russian language section. By the time we got back to the library, Madison was gone. LaPoint and I went over to the Russian language section and saw a digital camera lying on the shelf. I took the camera to my office, where I cross-referenced the identification number on the camera with the make and identification number on the list of fraudulently purchased items. It was a match and had been sent to the Windsor Arms Apartments, where Madison lives. At that point I was completely sure that Madison had committed the credit card fraud. However, before I had a chance to obtain an arrest warrant, I realized that it was almost 1:00 p.m. and that I needed to meet Principal Heim, the dog handler, and Buddy the drug dog for the monthly drug dog sniffs. I left the camera in my office and headed toward the principal's office. On my way there, I ran into Devon in the halls, and thought I would ask Devon a few questions about the credit card fraud. Essentially what Devon told me was that Madison was the one behind the whole thing. I also asked what class Devon had during third period, and Devon said Calculus. So I told Devon that we would talk later, at the police station. I finally met with the drug search team in the principal's office. Principal Heim had placed all of the teachers' names in a box, and I drew out three names, and went to those classrooms. Madison just happened to be a student in one of the classrooms that we searched. Buddy alerted to both Madison 's bag and that of another student, Tobey Wesley. Principal Heim asked both students to take their belongings into the hallway, and began searching their bags. Tobey's bag contained marijuana, which the principal confiscated. Madison 's bag ended up being a false positive because Principal Heim did not find any drugs. But he did find a folder with approximately $1000 in it, which he showed me. This seemed like even more evidence that Madison was the perpetrator of the credit card fraud. I did not say anything to Madison about it then. There is a school policy that students may not carry over $100, so Principal Heim took Madison and the money to his office. Once the drug sniff was over, I obtained an arrest warrant and arrested Madison at the school around 3:00 p.m. After I arrested Madison , I conducted a search of Madison 's apartment. In Madison 's room, I found a new DVD player, a new Gaea laptop computer, and a video camera. I was able to get the serial number of all three items. The DVD player and the laptop computer matched serial numbers on the list I had from the retailers. I also attempted to find the e-mails that had been sent and received as part of the credit card fraud, but they had all been deleted by the users and by the commercial e-mail account providers. Devon Wilshire My name is Devon Wilshire; I am 18-years-old, and I live in the Windsor Arms Apartment complex located at 1492 Bear Lane, Apartment 302, in Mansfield, Utah. I am a senior at Mansfield High School and have been friends with Madison Casco for around 10 years. In January 2004, I noticed that Madison was coming to school with a lot of great stuff. At first I just thought it was all holiday gifts or something, but I didn't really think that Madison 's family had enough money for some of the stuff. I mean, it was mostly high-end electronic stuff, like a new MP3 player that just came out. Anyway, I eventually said something off-handed to Madison, who told me that an uncle [ Madison called him Uncle Johnny] worked at some big retailer, like Hawkins or something, and that the uncle was getting all this stuff for Madison at half-off. Madison told me that because I was a friend, I could get the same deal, but that I had to keep it quiet because Uncle Johnny did not want his bosses to know what was going on. I thought about it for awhile, I mean, I don't have a ton of money, and I did not want to ask my mom for it, because Madison didn't want me to tell about Uncle Johnny, so I saved up some of my allowance and put it together with the money I had gotten over the holidays. I asked Madison if I could get an MP3 player through Uncle Johnny. I had checked out what the retail price was, and I gave Madison half of that amount that day. Madison said it would be about a week before the item came in. A week or so later, Madison brought the MP3 player to me at school. My mom saw the MP3 player a few days after I got it, and she got all suspicious about how I couldn't afford it. I think at first she thought I was selling drugs or something. So I told her a little bit about Madison 's Uncle Johnny, but I didn't mention Madison 's name, just that it was a friend of mine, because I did not want Madison to get in trouble with Uncle Johnny. I overheard mom call Officer Brosnan and tell the officer that she thought something bad was going on at school and that one of my friends was in on it. I told River and Madison about the phone call, just to let Madison know to be more careful. Some time in the middle of March, I am not really sure of the date, I decided that I wanted a digital camera, the Mammon C350. This time I did not approach Madison with it, because Madison had told me that there was a new set-up, using a free non-school e-mail account, stuff50@free.net , to be more cautious. I assumed that Uncle Johnny was getting upset and so Madison wanted to be more secretive. So I sent an e-mail explaining the item that I wanted and the amount of money I would pay, and Madison e-mailed me back confirming that my “order” had been received On April 1, Madison e-mailed me again and said that my digital camera would be dropped off on the third shelf of the Russian language aisle of the library on April 3. Madison said I was to leave the money there in the morning and that the camera would be on the shelf in the afternoon. I assumed the e-mails were coming from Madison , since Madison was the one who told me about it all and set the whole thing up, though there was nothing in the e-mail to say who was writing it. I was completely confused as to why we had to go to all these lengths and maintain this secrecy, so I asked Madison what was going on. I mean, I thought we were friends and this whole “drop-off” thing seemed, well, criminal. Madison said that I shouldn't worry. That it all had to be done to protect Uncle Johnny from getting in trouble with his bosses. Madison said that all the other students who were getting stuff through him were also going through the e-ail and drop-off system, so not to be offended. I have to admit, I knew that Madison had extended the offer to buy stuff through Uncle Johnny to a few other people, like River and Lisa, but I did not know that more students were doing it. When I said something about it, Madison told me that by using the e-mail system, no one but a few close friends (I assumed Madison meant River, Lisa, and me) knew who was really getting the e-mails and delivering the items. About a week after Madison told me about the whole new “system” that Madison had set up, River approached me and asked me for the e-mail address to write to. I was under the impression from what Madison had said, that River knew about Uncle Johnny and everything and had simply forgotten what the address was. I told River the e-mail address and that was all. On April 3, at the beginning of my lunch period, around noon , I dropped off the money in an envelope on the shelf that Madison had indicated in the library. I wasn't too worried about it and planned on picking up the camera in the afternoon, probably right after school. Then I met Officer Brosnan in the hallway about an hour later, and I got scared. The way the officer was making it sound, I was behind some type of credit card fraud for buying the MP3 player from Madison . I explained to the officer that Madison was getting the stuff from an uncle and that there was nothing going on. Officer Brosnan told me that we would speak again, down at the police station. I started to get really worried. The officer also asked me what class I had during third period, and I said Calculus. I was amazed when Madison was arrested later that day, but I wasn't too worried. I thought that Madison would explain about Uncle Johnny and the discount and that would be the end of it. Instead, Madison started saying that I was somehow to blame. I really had no idea that Madison had been getting the stuff by using stolen credit cards. I really believed what Madison told me about Uncle Johnny. I should have remembered that when something seems to good to be true, it usually is. Something else happened around this time that I didn't think was that weird, until all the stuff about credit card fraud being linked to Madison came out. Most afternoons, Madison , River, Lisa and I all eat lunch together in the chemistry teacher's room (Chris Conley's room). Conley is really nice, likes us all a lot, and lets us hang out in the room and play cards or just talk or whatever. Anyway, sometime between the end of February and the beginning of March, I remember that Madison was kind of snooping through Conley's desk drawers. I remember that it was around the time because it was after I had purchased the MP3 player from Madison , but before I asked for the digital camera. I can explain why Jamie, from apartment 112 , saw me down in the lobby area twice during March. My mom had recently started ordering some stuff, I think like make-up and perfume, and she asked me to go down and get the boxes from the lobby. It turns out that when she ordered it, she forgot to include our apartment number, so the delivery person dropped it of in the lobby. Getting g some boxes from the lobby hardly makes me the person behind the credit card fraud, I mean, if I were, why would I wait until people like my mom and Jamie were home from work to pick up my stuff? Pat LaPoint, Librarian My name is Pat LaPoint, and I am the librarian for Mansfield High School . I have been working at Mansfield High for about five years. Besides acting as librarian, I am also the de facto “tech” person on staff. I minored in computer science in college and have always enjoyed and stayed current with the latest in computer technology. When I came on staff at Mansfield High, I encouraged the purchase and oversaw the installation of five new computers in the library. All of the computers in the school, those both in the library and in the teachers' rooms, run an operating system that allows for extensive administrative control. The system that Mansfield High uses allows for the administration to set what each “user,” or person with a computer sign-on, may or may not do on the computer. This is recommended, and in our case a requirement, because of the number of people who use the computers in the library each day. You do not want a student to be able to delete or erase important files from the computer. One of the things that the administration decided to control in the computer system was the ‘erasing” or deletion of a user's history. "Users” are students with a log-on and a password. All users may use the computers in the library. At Mansfield High, all the students have passwords and log-ons chosen by the administration. There are also several “extra” accounts created for students who transfer to Mansfield High during the school year. Any time a user goes to a website on the Internet, it is recorded on the computer under that user's log-on. This record of websites that have been visited is called the history. On a home computer, a person could simply erase this information, but on the computers in the library, a user cannot. This allows the administration to see, generally through a computer printout, what websites a user has visited and when. It also works in reverse, if I have the date and time, I can pull up what users where on the library computers at that time and what sites they went to. After the staff meeting in which Officer Brosnan explained what was going on with credit card fraud in the Mansfield area and how it was possibly being perpetrated by someone at the school, Officer Brosnan asked me to pull up the records for the dates and times of the fraudulent purchases. I did so and gave the officer the list on March 25. The records showed that for the website listed and the dates and times Officer Brosnan gave me, all of the purchases were from the “extra” student accounts, meaning it could not be traced to any individual students. The records also showed that all the purchases had originated from computers in the library, not the other ones throughout the school. I told Officer Brosnan both of these things. However, I had been thinking about what Officer Brosnan told me, about how many of the purchases had taken place between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. I told the officer that Madison volunteered for me in the library by shelving books, organizing papers, and so on during third period, which lasts from 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. I have few students that I trust enough to allow them to volunteer for me, but Madison was always one of them. One of the reasons that I am so picky about who I allow to volunteer for me is that I have access to confidential information, including the list of the entire student body's log-ons and passwords, with the “extra” student account information, for the school computers. I told Officer Brosnan that Madison would have had, as a volunteer in the library, access to this list that other students would not have had. I had no proof, however, that Madison had ever done anything with it or even seen it. I felt terrible for casting any aspersion upon Madison . Madison has always been a wonderful student to be around and a very hard worker. I felt that Officer Brosnan needed to know that although Madison volunteered for me during third period, on many days I did not have enough for my volunteer students to do. So Madison was often on the computer during that time or any other time when all of the work was finished for third period. I also told Officer Brosnan about another incident concerning Madison and Devon that seemed suspicious to me. A few days before March 25, I noticed a box sitting on the third shelf, kind of tucked behind a few other books, in the Russian language aisle of the library. When I saw it, I was in a hurry, and when I went back to see what the box was, it was gone. I remember thinking that I would say something to Madison about it, because I recall seeing both Devon and Madison in that area of the library a couple of different times over the past few weeks. I am sad to say that the Russian language section of the library is not terribly popular with high school students, and so I thought maybe the box had been something of Madison 's or Devon 's that they had accidentally left on the shelf. When I told Officer Brosnan about the box and about Madison and Devon being in the area, the officer asked me to call immediately if something like that happened again. A few days later, on April 3 at about 12:30 p.m. , I was standing at the front desk when I saw Madison come into the library and head toward the Russian language section. I became very suspicious and left to get Officer Brosnan immediately. Officer Brosnan's office is not far from the library, but by the time we got back, Madison was gone. The officer and I went to the Russian language section and saw a small, rectangular box that said “Mammon C350 Digital Camera” on the outside. I do rounds of the library a couple of times a day, just to make sure everything is in order, and when I did my round at noon that day, I know there was nothing sitting on that shelf. Officer Brosnan took the box and left the library. Chris Conley, Teacher My name is Chris Conley, and I am a teacher at Mansfield High School . I am 38-years-old, am married, have two children, and have taught chemistry at Mansfield High for ten years. In the middle of March, I realized that I had been a victim of credit card fraud when I saw a fraudulent purchase for a Mammon C350 Digital Camera on my credit card statement. The camera costs something like $1,000 and I certainly would have remembered buying something like that. I immediately called and cancelled my credit cards. I also talked to Officer Brosnan the following day about the fraudulent purchase. I love to teach, but it isn't really a high-paying job, and so to make money on the side, I do people's taxes. A few years back, I took classes and became certified as a tax counselor, which basically means that I can do most people's taxes for them. I charge a lot less than professional places that do taxes, and many teachers and other family friends come to me for help. During those classes, I realized how important it is to keep track of all my purchases, so that I can deduct things from my taxes. Many people only keep records of expensive purchases and are not deducting nearly as much as they could if they kept all their receipts. Anyway, I have become meticulous about keeping receipts and payment stubs and everything else related to taxes organized in a folder that I keep at school. I keep it at school because that is where I do my own taxes. The school is quiet after the students leave and is a lot easier to work in than my home, which with two toddlers running around, can be a bit hectic. I keep all my records in a lockable desk drawer, which I lock every night before I leave. When I saw the fraudulent charge, it occurred to me that maybe someone had gotten a receipt or something from the information I keep at school. I never throw away anything that has me credit card information. So I didn't think whoever had defrauded me had gotten it from the trash. I decided to check through my receipts and other records that I keep at school, and sure enough, one of my receipts in the middle of the stapled stack of receipts had been ripped out. I know one had been ripped out because I keep them all stapled together, and when it was ripped out, it left behind the top left corner, where the staple was. Obviously, after that, I decided to keep my receipts at home instead of at the school. Of course, this made me think about who would have access to that desk drawer. I am careful, so it seems unlikely to me that I left the drawer unlocked. Also, I am the only one with a key, not even Principal Heim has one. So it must have been taken when I left the drawer unlocked. As a rule, I do not lock that drawer during the day, simply because I am in my room most of the day. The one time of the day that I am not in the room is during lunch. Usually I eat in the teachers' lounge, though I do stay in the room if I have something going on or I need to grade homework. The reason my being out of the room at lunch is significant is that back in October of this past year, I agreed to let Madison Casco, Devon Wilshire, River Lenox and Lisa Mer spend their lunch period in my room. All four of the students are seniors and are taking my Advanced Chemistry class this year. I also had all four of them in class when they were juniors. I honestly enjoy the four of them. They are smart and very funny, with a very “dry” sense of humor that appeals to me. However, none of them are what I would call “over-achievers” and are usually the class clowns making smart-aleck comments, so other teachers often ignore them. That is part of the reason I am so upset that it was one of them that took my credit card receipt. I really enjoyed those kids, and one or more of them abused my trust. As far as I can tell, those four were the only ones with access to my private records in the desk drawer. Madison Casco, defendant My name is Madison Casco. I am 18-years-old, and I live at 1492 Bear Lane, Apartment 101 , called the Windsor Arms, in Mansfield , Utah . I am a senior at Mansfield High School . I work at Crius Restaurant to same money to pay for college. K.C. Cline is the manager there, and is a good friend of my sister, Toni. Devon Wilshire and I have been friends since the second grade. Devon 's family doesn't really have a lot of money, and I know Devon doesn't have a part time job, so when Devon started showing up at school with these really expensive toys, like MP3 players and video games, I thought something was up. Devon told me that there was a “way” to get anything we wanted for half off. All I had to do was tell Devon what I wanted and pay 50 percent of the price, and I would get it. I was suspicious, I mean, who can get half off of anything, but I was interested, and I did have money from working at Crius, so I asked Devon to get me a DVD player and a few DVDs. About a week later, Devon told me that the DVD player was in, and Devon would bring it to school the next day. A few days after Devon gave me the DVD player, Devon came up to me and River and said that Mrs. Wilshire, Devon's mom, had actually called the school and told Officer Brosnan that she thought something was going on. I asked Devon exactly what Mrs. Wilshire said, and Devon said that she had mentioned that Devon was getting stuff from someone at school. River was pretty upset, I mean, we were all getting the stuff from Devon , and Mrs. Wilshire was blaming us. Besides, I couldn't figure out what the big deal was, I mean, so what if Devon is getting stuff at a discount, there isn't anything wrong with that. I asked Devon , “Why not just tell your mom how you are getting all this stuff at a discount?” All Devon said was that Mrs. Wilshire wouldn't be happy with how Devon was getting it. I assumed it had something to do with Mr. Wilshire, since Devon 's parents are divorced. Honestly, I never thought to ask how Devon was getting all these items at such great deals. I have known Devon all my life, so I figured Devon had some kind of connection and was passing the deals on to close friends. But about the first week of March, I saw Devon snooping around Chris Conley's desk. Conley is our chemistry teacher and Devon , River, Lisa, and I are all pretty tight with Conley, and so we get to eat lunch in the chemistry room as opposed to hanging out in the cafeteria. We started eating there at the beginning of the school year. We all knew about how Conley keeps every receipt and piece of paper and pay stub and everything. In fact, we had even laughed about it a few times, because it always seemed kind of neurotic. Anyway, I saw Devon snooping around Conley's desk and acting all guilty. I asked Devon what was going on, but I don't really remember what the response was. My DVD player was really great, so I decided to see if I could get more stuff through Devon . By the end of March, I had more money saved up from working, so I asked Devon to get me a digital camera. I really wanted the Mammon C500, but it was too expensive, so I asked for the Mammon C350 instead. Devon got really upset when I mentioned buying the digital camera at school and told me that there was a new “system” I had to go through. I remember being really confused, so I asked Devon why I couldn't just do what I did the last time. Devon got even more agitated and told me that because so many students had been interested, this system made everything easier. I was really surprised. I didn't know that Devon had been offering the discount to more than just a few close friends. Devon explained that I had to write to a special e-mail account, stuff50@free.net , which was set up for just taking orders and filling them, and that I would receive confirmation from that same e-mail address when my order was in. This seemed like a lot of bother, and I honestly didn't understand why I had to go through all of it. I mean, being more efficient, like Devon said, just didn't seem to make sense. But I really wanted the camera, so I left it alone. Besides, I didn't want to upset Devon anymore. On April 2, I received an e-mail from Devon saying that my order was in and that I should drop off the money in an envelope on the third shelf of the Russian language and history aisle of the library. At this point, I was getting pretty suspicious and was annoyed with Devon for treating it like some spy movie. I guess that is why I was acting all weird when I went to drop the money off on April 3. I mean, Devon was treating this whole thing like something bad was going on and it was making me nervous. So when I went in during my lunch period to drop off the money, I kind of rushed in and put it down and rushed out. I really didn't take the time to look around at the other shelves or anything or even to say “hi” to LaPoint. I know that Officer Brosnan and LaPoint think that I put the camera there, but I didn't. It may have been there when I put the money down or maybe it was put there after I left. Maybe Devon put the camera there early, I really don't know, and I was so nervous about the whole thing from the way Devon had been acting that I didn't notice if anything was sitting on the shelf. Later that same day, Officer Brosnan and a drug-sniffing dog and a dog handler came into the classroom and made us all line up along the wall with our bags directly in front of us. I was astonished when the dog barked at my bag. I have never done any drugs at all. Not even when they were offered to me at parties. I just never thought people looked good while they were high. So when the dog barked at my bag and Officer Brosnan and Principal Heim took me into the hall, I thought it would be no big deal. I knew there was nothing in my bag. Then Principal Heim started going through my folders and other stuff and saw that I had a lot of money. I didn't think that would be a big deal either, I just don't trust banks, and I like to have money on hand. I cash all of my paychecks and keep the money in a folder. I don't keep it in my wallet, because everyone would think to look there, but you never hear of anyone stealing someone else's math folder. Anyway, Principal Heim took the money from my bag and showed it to Officer Brosnan. Then the principal took the money, claiming that it was against school rules for a student to have over $100 with them and told me that I had to go to his office. I was upset about that, I mean what kind of silly rule is that? It was only later, when Officer Brosnan came to the principal's office to arrest me, that I learned that the police thought the money proved I was actually the one stealing people's credit card information. When I heard that the police thought I had done something wrong, Devon 's odd behavior finally clicked. After I was arrested, Officer Brosnan searched my family's apartment and found the DVD player that I had bought from Devon . The officer also found a video camera that I had received over the holidays. The laptop was another item I bought from Devon , after the DVD player and before the digital camera. Also, I remember during the questioning, Officer Brosnan asked me if I had an Uncle Johnny. I don't, so that is what I told Officer Brosnan. The only thing I did wrong was trust the wrong person and not question Devon more carefully when I thought something was going on. River Lenox My name is River Lenox, and I live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane , in Mansfield , Utah . I am a senior at Mansfield High School and have known both Madison Casco and Devon Wilshire for many years. As far as personalities go, Madison is a really hard worker and has held a part-time job for a couple of years now. Even before that, Madison was working odd jobs in the neighborhood to raise money. Madison started working at Crius Restaurant around October. Devon , on the other hand, has never held a part-time job that I know of. I mean, it isn't like Devon 's family has a lot of money or anything, I just don't think Devon ever thought about working to save money. This always seemed irresponsible to me, because college is so expensive. I have worked at Ray's Department Store ever since I turned 16. Sometime around January, I noticed that both Madison and Devon were coming to school with really expensive electronic stuff, like new MP3 players and handheld video games. I didn't think it was too weird that Madison had some new stuff, because Madison works so hard and probably makes good money at the restaurant. But, like I said, Devon doesn't have a job, so I couldn't figure out where the money was coming from. I said something to Madison about it and Madison explained that there was a way to get 50% off most items. All you had to do was send an e-mail to stuff50@free.net . I thought that this explained a lot, so I didn't question it. Devon clearly didn't have the money to be getting all this stuff at full price. Anyway, when Madison told me about getting things at half off, I didn't really think about getting something for myself. I had spent most of my money from working at Ray's on gifts for the holidays and didn't have extra money around. But in March, I finally had enough to get a new CD player for my car, so I talked to Devon about it. Devon said all I had to do was send an e-mail with the item I wanted, and a reply would come with what the amount of the item would be and when I should be able to get it. Devon was acting kind of weird, like it was a secret or something, but Devon can be kind of odd sometimes. Devon never even mentioned Madison 's name. I wrote an e-mail about the CD player that I wanted and received a reply a few days later telling me how much it was going to be, which was almost exactly half of what I had seen it advertised for. I replied that I thought the price sounded good and that I wanted it. I received an e-mail back that I needed to drop the money off on a shelf in the library and that the CD player would be there after I dropped off the money. Although there was nothing in the e-mail to indicate that it was Devon who was writing back, I believed it was because Devon was the one who told me all about the e-mail and how it worked. This was all around the end of March, and on the morning of Friday, March 28, I dropped off the money and later that day the CD player I had purchased was on the same shelf in the library. I believe it was in the Russian language section. As far as seeing anyone around Chris Conley's desk, I do remember seeing Devon around the desk, but I do not really remember when this was. I do remember April 3 pretty well, not just because of the drug search by the dogs but also because both Madison and Devon were missing from lunch that day, which was odd. I was amazed when Madison got arrested for credit card fraud. I mean, Devon was the one who was getting all the stuff at half off, and here Madison was getting busted for it. Madison , unlike Devon , works really hard and has no need to resort to something like credit card stealing to be able to buy new things. KC Cline My name is KC Cline, and I am the manager at Crius Restaurant in Mansfield , Utah . I have been a manager at Crius for three years. I have lived in Mansfield all of my life and have been friends with Toni Casco, Madison 's sister, for most of my life. Madison Casco started working at the restaurant a year ago in October and I have gotten to know Madison better since then. As a friend of Madison 's family, I have seen Madison grow up into a good student and a fine adult. Madison was always intelligent, but not one to really try hard at school. Madison was always more interested in what could be learned by working in the “real world” than in what was in books. From the day Madison turned 16, Madison has been working at different jobs after school and on the weekends. Madison 's family has always put an emphasis on earning one's own way. None of the Casco children were ever given a free ride, and they all were encouraged to work to earn money to buy the things they wanted. As Madison 's employer, I wish that all workers were like Madison . It is hard to find people, especially high school students, who are as honest and hard working as Madison . For example, over the holidays I had a couple of workers out sick with the flu, and Madison helped cover nearly all of their shifts, even working double shifts when needed. Also, when a customer left his wallet at the table, it was Madison who picked up the wallet and tried to chase down the customer. When that failed, Madison called the customer's house and arranged to drop off the wallet that night. I mean, if Madison were the type of person to steal credit cards, why would Madison go to so much trouble to return someone's wallet? Madison also has a reputation for being a hard worker. Many of Madison 's customers are “repeats,” or people who return and specifically ask to sit in Madison 's section of the restaurant. Besides the fact that Madison is just not the type of person to commit credit card fraud, there is also no reason for it either. I mean, Madison earns $7 an hour, plus tips, and Madison works about 20 hours a week, so that is $140 a week, not including tips. On an average week, a server in Madison 's position will take home about $100 in tips. Admittedly, as a server, Madison would have access to people's credit card information at the restaurant. About half of our customers pay with credit cards, but I have not had anyone complain to me about any of the servers. Jamie Sung My name is Jamie Sung. I live at 1492 Bear Lane, Apartment 112 , Mansfield , Utah . The apartment complex is called the Windsor Arms. I have lived at the Windsor Arms for three years. I am a machinist at the local plant, where I work 10 hours a day, so I rarely have time to go shopping. Before the Internet became as popular as it is now, I used to spend my entire Saturday doing all my errands, but now I can just buy it all online and have it delivered to the Windsor Arms. With some websites I can specify that I want the item to be delivered after 5:00 p.m. , so that I am there to receive it, but that is rare. More often, I simply note on the delivery information that I want the item to be left at the apartment complex itself. Because the Windsor Arms is a secure apartment building, I have no qualms about having my stuff left in the central holding area. The way the apartment building is set up, there is a lobby area where all of the tenants' mailboxes are located, and a locked door secures this area. There is also a kind of counter area, where tenant's larger mail or boxes can be left. In the three years I have been there, I have not had one box stolen. Although I choose to have many of my deliveries left there, the more common circumstance is that whoever bought the item forgot to mark what apartment he or she lived in, and so the postal worker or delivery person simply leaves it in the lobby area. For example, if a friend of mine were to send me something, but did not write my apartment number on the box, then it would be left in the lobby area for me to pick up. This works pretty well, since most people go to the lobby area to collect their mail daily. Because I get so many items delivered to me, to cut down on my errand time, I am usually picking up a box from the lobby two times a week. I have never once seen Madison picking up a box. However, I have seen Devon picking up a box twice. Sometime in the middle of March, I saw Devon down in the lobby picking up a box from the counter. Then, early the next week, I saw Devon again picking up a box from the counter in the lobby. I did not notice whom the box was addressed to. I know both Madison and Devon . We have all lived in the same apartment building for years. I still cannot figure out why a good kid like Madison hangs out with someone like Devon . Devon is the type of kid that makes you worry about the future of this country. A few years ago I had broken my groceries. Madison and Devon and a few other kids from the apartment building walked by, and Devon just laughed and kept right on walking. But Madison was very helpful and stopped to hold the groceries so I could open the door. Not only that, but I live just two doors down from Devon and Lola Wilshire, and I hear Lola yelling at Devon all the time to help out around the house. In my opinion, Devon is lazy and rude. OFFICIAL DIAGRAM
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