Gilbert W Johnson 03/21/2015 CRJU-2020 Columbus Technical College Furman v Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972) Facts of the Case: Mr. Furman was burglarizing a private home when a family member discovered him, he tried to flee and when spotted tripped and fell the gun that was on him at the time went off and killed a resident of the home. “Burglary the criminal offense of breaking and entering a building illegally for the purpose of committing a crime”. “Murder, to kill (a person) in a deliberate and unlawful way”. Furman was convicted of murder but he did not intend to kill the resident during the burglary, but he killed someone during the commission of a felony. Furman intent to burglarize someone home was illegal conduct.
CRJ 150 McCleskey v. Kemp The case began with Warren McCleskey, an African-American man who was sentenced to death in 1978 for killing a white police officer during the robbery of a Georgia furniture store. McCleskey appealed his conviction and sentence, relying on the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of Equal Protection to argue that the death penalty in Georgia was administered in a racially discriminatory -- and therefore unconstitutional--manner. Jack Boger, then director of LDF’s Capital Punishment Project, argued the case before the Supreme Court on Mr. McCleskey’s behalf. Joining him on the briefs were Julius Chambers, James Nabrit III, Anthony G. Amsterdam, Deval Patrick, Robert Stroup, Vivian Berger, and Timothy Ford. In support of McCleskey’s argument, LDF presented the United States Supreme Court with strong statistical evidence showing that race played a pivotal role in the Georgia capital punishment system.
Manslaughter is defined as the unlawful killing of another human being without malice aforethought. I. Discuss the evidence to sustain a charge of murder against Deft: To be liable for murder, the element of malice aforethought must be present. The evidence shows specific intent to kill, premeditation and deliberation in several ways. The facts tell us that Deft searched for several months but was unable to find the killer, Deft went to the 38th street pier in search of the killer, and that Deft pulled out a handgun and shot Kyle in the chest.
However, the death penalty may kill innocent people who are wrongly sentenced to a crime they did not commit. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the United States in 1976, 138 innocent men and women have been released from death row, including some who were within minutes of being executed. In some states, such as Texas, Missouri, and Virginia, investigations have been opened to determine if they had killed innocent men and women. One of the most frequent causes of reversals in death penalty cases is that poor defense lawyers are provided. A study at Columbia University found that 68% of all death penalty cases were reversed on appeal, with an inadequate defense as one of the main reasons for reversal.
Evidence showed that respondent set fire to the apartment of his neighbor, Hope Collins, in an attempt to kill his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, who were spending the night together in the apartment below. The intended victims escaped unharmed, but Hope Collins’ 2 year-old daughter Cynthia died in the fire. At trial, the state presented evidence of respondent’s intent to kill his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend, but not of specific intent to kill Cynthia Collins. The state also offered expert forensic evidence to show that the fire had been started deliberately. The respondent did not contest this forensic evidence at trial because his retained arson expert had reported that the State’s evidence conclusively established arson.
He did not only kill his father’s pregnant fiancé, he also murdered their unborn child. Why would they give Jordan special treatment because he was 11 years old? Yes, he is young, but he was at an age to clearly set apart right from wrong and what he did was definitely wrong. The way I like to look at it is that murder is murder no matter the name or the age of the person. Jordan committed a serious crime and he should have to pay for his actions.
This can be seen by the case of White (1910). in this case the defendant put cyanide into the victims drink how ever the defendant died from a heart attack before drinking the drink but the defendant was not the factual cause of death but still he was guilty of attempted murder. This is because the court held that the defendant had everything in motion to do his unlawful act. Another case illustrating factual causation is the case of Pegett (1983). In this case the defendant used his pregnant wife as a human shield.
During the late 1970s a number of high profile miscarriages of justice – such as the Birmingham Six, Guildford Four etc – came to light. One of these cases, involving the murder of Maxwell Confait, led to the government setting up the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure. Note – Maxwell Confait had been found murdered – strangled by the flex of an electric lamp and then partially burnt as the killer(s) had attempted to cover up the crime. Three boys were convicted of the murder but three years later it was proved that the police had fabricated their confessions. The Royal Commission reported back in 1981 and came to the conclusion that a better balance between bringing criminals to justice and protecting the innocent was needed.
This is the point where he fires several shots into Key's legs and thighs forcing him to fall into a fence. Key begged for his life, but Sickle took the gun and fired pointblank at his chest. Sickles was acquitted of murder and allowed to be freed after his attorney said, "Sickles could not be held responsible because he was driven insane by the knowledge his wife was sleeping with Phillip Key." The insanity defense was created for people who don't have the intent required to perform a criminal act because a. they don't know what their doing is wrong or b. they cannot control their actions even when they know it's wrong. I believe that Daniel Sickle did what many others have done and continue to do, manipulate and abuse a plea intended for people who cannot help themselves.
Factual causation is established by applying the ‘but for’ test. The test ask the question ‘but for the actions of the defendant, would the victim have been harmed?’ This was seen in the case of R v Pagett 1983 where the defendant held his pregnant girlfriend captive. When confronted by police, the defendant used the victim as a shield and fired shots at the police who returned fire, killing the victim. He was acquitted of murder but was found guilty of manslaughter, amongst other offences. The defendant appealed the manslaughter conviction on the grounds that he could not be liable for the victim’s death as he did not physically kill her.