James Patrick Driskell was convicted of the murder of Perry Dean Harder. Harder, age 29, was last seen outside his house in a pickup truck. His decomposed body was found three months later in a shallow grave just outside Winnipeg on Sept. 30, 1990. He had been shot three times in the chest. Driskell and Harder were jointly charged in a series of break-and-enters. Driskell said he had nothing to do with the criminal activity. But according to police Harder named him as an accomplice. Five days before the preliminary hearing into those charges, Harder disappeared. The Crown's theory was that Driskell had committed the murder in order to prevent Harder from testifying against him.…
This case set forth the precedent that juries, not the judge, will have the ability to exercise their discretion when deciding aggravating factors which could lead to the enforcement of the death…
In the "case of the shipwrecked sailors", three men were marooned after the sinking of an oil tanker. Subject to extreme conditions and starvation, the men drew lots after about twenty five days and decided that the loser would be killed and eaten as food. When one of the men lost the draw, he pulled out his consent, and the other two men killed him anyway, eating him. Five days later, the remaining two men were rescued and ensuing actions incurred their murder charges. This seems to be a simple case over the battle of life and death, and it truly is. The two men, Dudley and Stephens, made a conscious decision to commit not only the crime of murder, but the atrocity of cannibalism. Crime is crime and law is law- when breaks a law and commits a crime, a punishment must ensue.…
People whom observe the judicial system from afar can come to the conclusion that justice may be “blind”. However, this is not always true. In Rose’s piece of writing, it becomes the duty of twelve jurors to “try and separate the facts from the fancy” (Rose, 5). This means that the jurors would have to decide whether or not a 16-year-old boy was guilty of allegedly stabbing his father to death and committing “murder in the first degree- premeditated homicide” (Rose, 5).…
One of the main areas pointed out by the Law Commission was the bit by bit development of the law leading to a lack of coherence. This lack of coherence can be seen in the uncertain meaning of ‘intention’. Intention is a vital element of murder in regards to proving D having the sufficient mens rea. Despite multiple attempts by the House of Lords to explain what effect foresight of consequences has; s8 CJA 1967 it is still unclear. In Moloney it was ruled foresight of consequences was not intention; it was only evidence from which intention could be inferred. However, in the case of Woolin the HoL spoke of intention being found from foresight of consequences. This left it unclear whether it is a substantive rule of law or a rule of evidence and the following case of Mathews ad Alleyne confused matters more after stating there was little difference between the two. In my view this could be resolved if a definition of foresight of consequences was provided in a statutory definition; making applying the law easier for jury’s.…
Occurs during certain time of year or circumstances (e.g. a crowded environment or a food shortage)…
Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury. When the judge read the indictment to you in the beginning of the case, you all had some pretty strong feelings. That’s understandable murder is a serious crime. It’s very unfortunate that a life had to be lost, but I’m here to tell you Dudley and Stephens should not be prosecuted or charged for the murder of Richard Parker. Dudley and Stephens are the victims of a failed government. Their acts were an act of survival, when all other alternative were tried. We must ask ourselves why we owe allegiance to our government in the first place. The very reason given by Thomas Hobbes is the social contract, the agreement between the people and their government by which the government protects and promotes the interests of the people, receiving loyalty and support from the people in return. Where was the government when the four seamen were lost at sea? The government failed to find these men and protect their lives and liberties. These men knew without government state of nature was inevitable, total chaos, and disorder. This is why these men had to create their own government.…
There have been many criminal cases in the history, which brought controversy, whether murder could be justified under different circumstances. One of the famous cases tells a story of four shipwrecked men, which were lost in the high seas. The story was named "The Lifeboat Case", regarding the tragic and life-changing decision that was made in extreme circumstance. Four seamen, Thomas Dudley, Edward Stephens, Brooks and seventeen year old Richard Parker were in high seas and due to the storm that hit them very bad, they had to put themselves into an open boat. They did not have any supply of water and food, except 1 lb. tin of turnips. On the fourth day of this journey, they caught a small turtle and it lasted them for few days. After the turtle was completely consumed, they spent eight more days in hunger. On twentieth day of being in the state of prostration, Dudley and Stephens spoke to Brooks as to what should be done if there will be no help. Dudley suggested that one of them should sacrifice his life to save the rest and offered to draw lots in order to pick one. Since Brooks refused to consent and as three seamen, except the boy spoke about their families, Dudley proposed to kill the Parker, since he had no family and the fact that he would die soon anyway, because he was the weakest and he was drinking sea water. Although, Brooks dissented from the crime, with the agreement of Stephens and Dudley, the act was done on July 25th. With the prayer to forgive them, Dudley came up to helpless Richard Parker and telling him that his time has come, put the knife on his throat and killed him. After eating Richard’s body and drinking his blood for four days, the seamen were picked up by a passing ship. The rescuers carried them to the port of Falmouth and they were committed for trial at Exeter. They spent all the time from that day till the court in prison. Since it was very rare case, involving the law of the sea and extreme…
As the pace of DNA exonerations has grown across the country in recent years, wrongful convictions have revealed disturbing fissures and trends in our criminal justice system. Together, these cases show us how the criminal justice system is broken and how urgently it needs to be fixed. We should learn from the system’s failures. In each case where DNA has proven innocence beyond doubt, an overlapping array of causes has emerged from mistakes to misconduct to factors of race and class. Over the past twenty years, advancement in DNA technology has directly led to the exoneration of nearly 300 people in the United States.…
May it please the court, your Honor, Counsel, my name is Corinne Newbern, counsel for-the prosecution in this action. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, it is my intent to prove to you that during that fateful night in the Atlantic Ocean, Mr. Dudley and Mr. Stephens selfishly and cowardly stole the life of Mr. Brooks and proceeded to eat him because they valued their own lives over that of a fellow crewmate. Mr. Brooks, Mr. Stephens, and Mr. Dudley were all crew members on a ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean. They would never reach their destination though. Halfway through their journey a horrible storm struck and caused the ship to sink. Mr. Brooks and his fellow survivors, Mr. Dudley and Mr. Stephens, were all stranded on a small life boat with no food, completely at the mercy of God. Mr. Stephens estimated they could only last 25 days without food. So day in and day out they sat on this lifeboat, waiting for a ship to come. Eventually Mr. Dudley and Mr. Stephens grew desperate. The facts will show that exactly 5 days before they were rescued by a passing ship, Mr. Dudley and Mr. Stephens killed and engaged in a ruthless act of cannibalism by eating Mr. Brooks in an attempt to prolong their survival. Witnesses will provide evidence to show that the remains of Mr. Brooks were found inside the stomach of the accused. Mr. Dudley and Mr. Stephens also confessed when questioned by authorities about the events that took place on the lifeboat. They acted cowardly and selfishly stole the life of an innocent man. Mr. Brooks’ family will never be able to say good bye or have a proper burial to honor him because these two men stole that away from them.…
1) Explain the difference between ‘manslaughter’ and ‘murder’ and describe the recourse a convicted murderer has after being sentenced by the Supreme Court. [KU-14]…
The Regina v. Dudley & Stephens case is one of the most important cases in common law history regarding the relationship between criminal law and morality. This case is based upon three men, including Dudley, Stephens and a young boy that were stranded at sea on a small emergency boat after they were forced to abandon their ship because of a dangerous storm. On the 18th day, they were stranded at sea, with no food and no water, one of the men (Dudley) thought it was a good idea to draw straws to decide which man should give up his life for the needs of the others on the raft (cannibalism). As a result to the idea, Stephens agreed to the “drawing,” while the third man refused. Dudley and Stephens noticed that the boy was ill and did not have a family like theirs, so they decided that rather than sacrifice the life of a healthy grown man with a family, it would be more practical to kill the boy and eat him while they wait to be rescued. Therefore, Dudley eventually killed the boy by cutting his throat. The three men fed upon the body and blood of the boy for four days. On the fourth day after the act had been committed, the boat was picked up by a passing boat and the prisoners were rescued. After their rescue, Dudley and Stephens were promptly brought back to England to face a trial for the charge of murder. In my opinion, I believe that the men should be considered guilty based upon Natural Law and its…
One of the number one ways a person gets sentenced to capital punishment is because of murder. There are many victims of a single murder. The criminal gets caught, tried, and convicted and understands that the punishment will be severe. The person that the criminal killed no longer has a say in anything which could be hard for their family and friends because they have to go through all the steps without them. The family’s grief begins with the murderer and once the murderer is put to death there could be a sense of…
References: LeBoeuf, D., Rauch, R., Stubbs, C., Brian, S., Arceneaux, A., Rojas, O., et al. (n.d.). Key Issues. Retrieved September 12, 2013, from American Civil Liberties Union: https://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment…
Capital punishment, also known as death penalty, means the infliction of death for certain crimes, which are often called capital crimes. For most crimes committed the punishment is a sentence of time in jail or execution. However, the death penalty is a very contentious issue in some cultures and which most of time is in debate and is the most questionable punishment. Is it morally right? Is it effective in deterring crime, primarily murders? Whether or not if it is moral or not, in this following research you can find information that would help you analyze this type of punishment and its effectiveness of reducing crime.…