Ap Boston Massacre Trials
NO NAME
APUSH, Hyland, 6th Period
9-26-2012
Trial Verdicts After quite some time of thought, I find the first man, Capt. Preston, to be not guilty of murder at any degree. He did not actually murder anyone because he did not have a gun during the Boston massacre, making it impossible for Preston to actually kill another man. There was also no disputable evidence that Capt. Preston ordered his men to shoot. After all, the eight men were provoked to shoot without command to do so. After this whole case, and a lot of thought, I find each of the eight British soldiers guilty of voluntary manslaughter. They were not found guilty of murder because they were provoked, but not to the point where they killed anybody under self-defense, which would deem them as not guilty. They are found guilty for manslaughter because they were being threatened, but not to the point where their lives were in any danger. In the trial, John Adams specifically stated " Adams conceded, however, that if the assault "was not so severe as to endanger their lives ,this was a provocation, for which the law reduces the offense of killing down to manslaughter." This supports my verdict as voluntary manslaughter, they should be punished according to the punishment. In closing I will restate my verdict in a more summarized fashion. I find Capt. Preston not guilty of murder under any degree. I find the eight red coat soldiers guilty of voluntary
APUSH, Hyland, 6th Period
9-26-2012
Trial Verdicts After quite some time of thought, I find the first man, Capt. Preston, to be not guilty of murder at any degree. He did not actually murder anyone because he did not have a gun during the Boston massacre, making it impossible for Preston to actually kill another man. There was also no disputable evidence that Capt. Preston ordered his men to shoot. After all, the eight men were provoked to shoot without command to do so. After this whole case, and a lot of thought, I find each of the eight British soldiers guilty of voluntary manslaughter. They were not found guilty of murder because they were provoked, but not to the point where they killed anybody under self-defense, which would deem them as not guilty. They are found guilty for manslaughter because they were being threatened, but not to the point where their lives were in any danger. In the trial, John Adams specifically stated " Adams conceded, however, that if the assault "was not so severe as to endanger their lives ,this was a provocation, for which the law reduces the offense of killing down to manslaughter." This supports my verdict as voluntary manslaughter, they should be punished according to the punishment. In closing I will restate my verdict in a more summarized fashion. I find Capt. Preston not guilty of murder under any degree. I find the eight red coat soldiers guilty of voluntary