Jane and Steve have been married for five years. Steve lost his job a year ago and has been unable to find employment since then. Jane is a successful hairdresser. Steve has lost his self-confidence and has become so depressed that his doctor has placed him on medication. One evening Jane arrives home at midnight and Steve instantly accuses her of having an affair. Jane denies it, laughs and says, “it would serve you right if I were, you’ve become the most boring man I have ever known” Steve falls into a depressed state again and goes to sleep that night by himself in the spare room. Two nights later Jane is again very late arriving home. Steve asks for an explanation but Jane just laughs at him and tells him not to be so jealous. …show more content…
It is defined as an “Abnormality of mind”. Abnormality of mind can arise from three areas, “a condition of arrested or retarded development of mind, any inherent causes or induced by disease or injury”. In this case it could be argued that Steve was suffering from paranoia in the he “instantly accuses Jane of having an affair” or depression as he was placed on medication by his doctor. These are both inherent causes, Anthony Martin. It could also be argued that the defendant was provoked. Provocation exists at common law but is also contained under section three of the Homicide Act 1957. To establish provocation the jury must be able to find the person charged was “provoked by things said or done or to a sudden loss of self control enough to make a reasonable man do as he did.” In this case the things said or done were Jane laughing and taunting the defendant, also the fact that she said it would serve him right if she had an affair as he was the “most boring man” she’d ever known. This may be considered as cumulative provocation which the jury may consider Humphreys 1995. The test for loss of self control stems from Duffy, there was a sudden loss of self control as Steve “immediately” flew into a rage and it was “sudden” as there was no cooling off period as in the case of Ibrams and Gregory. The case of DPP v Camplin stated that the question is not whether a “reasonable man” in similar circumstances would be provoked to lose his
For the offender the only factor that affected her criminal behaviour was self-interest. Whether she followed the victim to murder or not, to some extent she wanted to extract some form of revenge. This was confirmed during the trial when the passenger who was in the car with the offender said “She was sick of them” and followed them as a means of teaching them a lesson. The offender’s defence relied on proving that at the time of the incident the factors affecting her were psychological and that her actions were uncontrollable due to her consumption of alcohol and her use of cannabis, heroin and valium in combination with her bipolar disorder. However this was dismissed upon the testimony of Susan Pullman, a neuropsychologist who proved that the offender was not experiencing mania at the time of the incident.
Discuss the criticisms which may be made on the law on murder (including voluntary manslaughter)
A rich famous athlete with plenty of money to hire the best lawyers and manipulate the
3. Arkansas Code Ann. § 5-10-104 – (a) A person commits manslaughter if: . . . (2) The person purposely causes or aids another person to commit suicide[.];
The Felony Murder Law of Colorado states that a person is guilty of first degree murder if he or she participates in, or is fleeing from, some other crime and a death results, intended or not2. This statute is the reason a 21 year old Colorado resident, Lisl Auman, was sentenced to life in prison without parole at the Colorado Women's Correctional Facility3. This case has drawn national attention and while appealing her conviction, has gained support from actors Sean Penn, Benecio Del Torro and Johnny Depp and the late writer Hunter S. Thompson.
Physicians assisted suicide (PAS) refers to interventions by a doctor that either intentionally assist a patient to die (as in giving the patient the lethal means to end their own life at their explicit request), or directly ends a patient’s life (as in a lethal medication administered by a doctor at the explicit request of the patient – euthanasia). In recent years the debate over a patient’s possible right to the aid of a physician in committing suicide has become one of the most discussed issues in medical ethics. The argument for and against PAS is not something unique to this century. It has been going on since the time of the ancient Greeks. The Hippocratic Oath has been called the most widely known of Greek medical texts. It
Defences for Murder There are only three partial defences for murder; suicide pact, provocation-the loss of self control and reaction must be instantaneous and diminished responsibility. Amongst the three mentioned two are most frequently used, these are provocation and diminished responsibility, and only one full defence, self defence. These defences are used to reduce the sentence charge by the defendant to manslaughter from murder. In the following text I will be examining how men use provocation and diminished responsibility to walk free from murder.
The Death Penalty in America has been a talked about issue for some time now. Americans have their own opinions on the death penalty. Some people feel it is too harsh of a punishment, some believe if you take a life you should lose your life. I myself do not believe in the death penalty. To me it goes totally against what Americas was built on God. Even though over the last fifteen years or so we have slowly drifted away from “In God We Trust”. Looking at the death penalty in a whole it was never something that the United States came up with. It was adopted from Britain. (Bohm, 1999)The first ever recorded death penalty in United States history was that of Captain George Kendall in 1608. He was executed for being a spy. The death of Captain Kendall started a chain of other colonies jumping on board for the death penalty. In some colonies they were sentencing people to death for petty crimes, such as steeling, or trading with Indians. Over the years after the death penalty would be reformed and revamped numerous of times. Until it was only used when murder or treason occurred. Matter of fact Pennsylvania was the first state
Involuntary Manslaughter Involuntary manslaughter is an unlawful killing where the defendant does not have the intention to kill or cause GBH. The lack of intention is what distinguishes involuntary manslaughter from murder. There are two ways of committing involuntary manslaughter. These are unlawful act manslaughter and Gross negligence manslaughter. The maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter is life imprisonment, thus giving the judge discretion to impose any sentence, which is suitable for the particular circumstances of the offence.
To be found guilty of first degree murder, it must be proven that killed someone with malice aforethought, meaning it was planned, premeditated. First degree murder is to kill malevolence, to kill either intentionally and deliberately or recklessly with the utmost disregard for human life. Premeditation may be fashioned immediately and does not require a lengthy period of contemplation. The death penalty is recognized in Thirty-eight states. Capital first-degree murder or aggravated first-degree murder is categorized in killings viewed as deserving of capital punishment. Life imprisonment or death penalty is the punishment resulted in a conviction. States who do not recognized the death penalty, aggravated murder carries life imprisonment.
You’re visiting the hospice for the twenty-third day in a row; the soft squeaking of the linoleum and the gentle buzz of the fluorescents in the waiting room greet you as you walk in. You’re visiting your Grandmother, whose lung cancer has entered metastasis, and has been slowly spreading throughout her body; she has already lost movement in her arms. She is a hollow shell of the woman she once was; her once bright eyes have been fading steadily every day, and her bubbly demeanor has become crushed and gravelly, and every day before you leave, she will only say, “Kill me.” What would you do in this situation? Would you break the law in order to respect your elder’s wishes? It is a cruel reality we live in when ability to choose the time
Senator for Utah Orrin Hatch once said, “Capital punishment is our society’s recognition of the sanctity of human life,” (Brainy Quote). While the arguments for both sides of the debate over the morality of the death penalty are vast, the bottom line is that the death penalty does not disregard human life, but rather it reveres it, as Hatch said. Morality is defined as, “The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct,” (The Free Dictionary). One who seeks to protect a person who has committed a heinous crime such as murder is arguably not in accords with what is right and wrong. Therefore, although killing is generally accepted as being wrong, the death penalty is sometimes the only solution to bring justice to a
The Death Penalty Discussion In today’s world terrible crimes are being committed daily. Many people believe that these criminals deserve one fate; death. Death penalty is the maximum sentence used in punishing people who kill another human being and is a very controversial method of punishment. Capital punishment is a legal infliction of death penalty and since ancient times it has bee used to punish a large variety of offences.
Different cultures and societies have their story of how the world began. These stories vary in the process, but they all share one common theme. All of the stories begin with nothing or chaos, that is until one being creates light, time, earth and its occupants. One common thing all myths share is the role and status of women and men. In the Greek myth women were less dominant, Hindu myth women are not even mentioned, and in Cherokee myth women are shown to be inferior.
The “Right to Die” (Euthanasia) should be further looked into as an option for terminally ill patients and not considered unethical. There has been an issue concerning the topic of “Human Euthanasia” as an acceptable action in society. The research compiled in conjunction with an educated opinion will be the basis for the argument for voluntary Euthanasia in this paper. Patients suffering from an incurable illness, exhausting all medical treatments, should be given the freedom of choice to continue their path of suffering or end it at their own will. “The Right to die” is not suicide, as you are fully aware that death will be certain, as Euthanasia spares the individual of additional pain.