While hunting on unposted and unoccupied property in Oceola Township,

Michigan, Duane Willsmore noticed an area with branches arranged in a crisscross pattern.

When he kicked aside the branches and sod, he found a watertight suitcase in a freshly dug

hole. Willsmore informed the Michigan State Police of his find. A state trooper and

Willsmore together pried open the suitcase and discovered $383,840 in cash. The state

police took custody of the money, which was deposited in an interest-bearing account.

Michigan's "Lost Goods Act" provides that the finder and the township in which the

property was found must share the value of the property if the finder publishes required

notices and the true owner does not claim the property within one year.

Willsmore published the required notices and brought a declaratory judgment action

seeking a determination of the ownership of the money. Thomas Powell, the owner of the

land on which the suitcase was found, claimed he was the owner of the suitcase. After

Powell incorrectly named the amount of money in the suitcase, he asserted his Fifth

Amendment right not to testify at his deposition and at trial. The trial court awarded the

money equally to Willsmore and the Township of Oceola. Powell appealed.

1.Do estray statutes serve a useful social purpose? Explain.

2.If you had found the suitcase, would you have turned it in to the government?

3.Should the government be entitled to half the find? Explain.