(A) No person, while under the influence of sudden passion or in a sudden fit of rage, either of which is brought on by serious provocation occasioned by the victim that is reasonably sufficient to incite the person into using deadly force, shall knowingly cause the death of another.…
References: Hills, D. (1999). From the Incident Through the System Legally:Knowledge Base of Legal Concepts. Retrieved from http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/silvplat.htm…
The greatest criticism is that because the OAPA was passed in1861 the language is outdated and antiquated, which causes confusion. Words like ‘grievous’ in s20 GBH have been modernised by case law, DPP v Smith stated that grievous should mean ‘really serious harm’. However this still calls into question the severity of ‘really serious’. Another ambiguous term from s20 GBH is ‘wounding’, this was defined in Eisenhower, an example of case law improving the statute. Yet case law can also be misleading as with the word ‘immediate’ when defining Assault, in Smith v CSI Woking Police the assault was ‘sufficiently immediate for the purposes of the offence’. This was then extended in R v Ireland and R v Constanza to include phone calls and letters, so immediacy has become a very broad definition. Despite this there is a clear gap in law if a threat is made for the next day. As well as the unclear meaning of some terms, the definition of some has changed as the English language has developed over time, some words used for Non-Fatal Offences have acquired new meanings or are no longer used in everyday language, a brilliant example of this is ‘assualt’ which now, in everyday language, is used to mean a physical form of attack, which obviously…
Intermediate sanctions; offers various different sentencing options to those in need of a more rigorous guidance than that of probation and less restrictive than incarceration and both being primary forms of punishment. The purpose for intermediate sanctions is to reduce the issues concerning overcrowded facilities and probation officers and offices short on staff. The options used for punishing criminals such as, fines, community service, restitution, forfeiture, and pretrial diversion program. The functioning of these sanctions are designed equal to the offenders offense in terms of punishment and treatment as well as other programs recommended to facilitate and improve one’s situation.…
Intermediate sanctions tend to overlap the issues that arise when a criminal is released back into society from incarceration. Most often, the offenders, once released, return back to prison within 1-5 years (Fagin, 265). The reasons vary, but most likely it’s because the offender has not had proper preparation on how to ease back into society after being locked up for so much time. Intermediate sanctions are criminal penalties that do not include jail time or probation. Rather, intermediate sanctions fall in the middle of these types of punishments and offer an alternative to them.…
Everyone has fantasies of being a super hero and leaping tall buildings in a single bound or staring death in the face everyday and somehow finding a way to escape. All of these imaginative thoughts have been derived from the past literary works by the great writer's of the early American literary period. These early writer's entered society into a world of action and adventure, where one can see spectacular events unfolding through the eyes of a notorious man of courage and feel as though they are defending their country or saving the woman they love. This is just how Nathaniel felt in the movie The Last of the Mohicans (released to movie theatres in 1992 and directed by Michael Mann). The movie takes place in the year 1757 during the third year of the colonial wars between England and France. The movie's main character is about a white man named Nathaniel. Nathaniel is considered to be an American Romantic hero. An American Romantic hero possesses qualities of youthfulness, innocence, intuitiveness, and closeness to the natural world that set him solidly apart from the hero of the Age of Reason. Nathaniel displays all of the characteristics of an American Romantic Hero.…
This doctrine originates with Thomas Aquinas, and his treatment of homicidal self-defense, the Summa Theologica. This work states that an action having foreseen harmful effects that are practically inseparable from it’s good effect is justifiable if the following are criteria are met:…
- Court approval of common law rule that a person 'may repel force by force' in selfdefense and concluded that when attacked a person 's as entitled to stand his ground and meet any attack made upon him with a deadly weapon, in such a way and with such force' as needed to prevent 'great bodily injury or death's'.…
There was extremely weak enforcement. Law officials did not at all anticipate so many people to not follow the law, they didn’t have nearly enough resources to catch all of the criminals of the alcohol trade. The laws were easily broken; borders and ports were impossible to guard completely. The Prohibition created a massive black market which cut into the economy and created thousands of criminals. A study of 30 major U.S cities between 1920 and 1921 the number of crimes increased by 24%, and drug addiction increased by 44.6%.…
An interesting case that was currently brought before the Supreme Court was Missouri vs. Frye. I found this case interesting due to the injustice that was provided by Frye’s counsel, and that Frye insisted on committing the same crime over and over again even though he knew he had an open case concerning driving under a suspended license. There were many sources and jurisdictions related to criminal law that also relates to this case. Criminal liability is when one takes responsibility for committing a crime, and accomplice liability is when someone helps someone commit a crime. Actus reus means guilty act, mens rea means guilty mind, and concurrence means the equality of rights. Actus reus and mens rea are both necessary in order for a defendant to prove criminal liability.…
From the beginning of time there have always been crimes against persons. People went by the saying “An eye for an eye”. You stole from your neighbor, they stole from you. You hurt someone, they hurt you. It wasn’t until the 1940’s people started taking a closer look into these crimes against person, which they later called victimology. This paper will look into victimology and their theories as we go back into the past and how victimology is now.…
The basic components of a criminal offense are listed below;[2] generally, each element of an offense falls into one or another of these categories. At common law, conduct could not be considered criminal unless a defendant possessed some level of intention — either purpose, knowledge, or recklessness — with regard to both the nature of his alleged conduct and the existence of the factual circumstances under which the law considered that conduct criminal. However, for some legislatively enacted crimes, the most notable example being statutory rape, a defendant need not have had any degree of belief or willful disregard as to the existence of certain factual circumstances (such as the age of the accuser) that rendered his conduct criminal; such crimes are known as strict liability offenses.[3]…
- generally involve threats to life or bodily integrity, or a close personal encounter with…
The theory of specific deterrence holds that criminal sanctions should be so powerful that known criminals will never repeat their criminal acts.…
Provocation associated with road rage is a plea that arouses serious debate over a variety of factors. First, conduct will be assessed and it will have to be determined whether the accused’s actions meet the relevant requirements of conduct. Additionally, it must be decided whether provocation associated with road rage is a valid defense that will exclude liability, merely a mitigating factor in sentencing, or not a valid defense. The consequences that arise over allowing or disallowing such a plea and the precedent that such a decision will set is the final consideration to be taken into account.…