Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Criminal law and their elements
Legal elements of crime
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
1) Were actus reus and mens reus present at the time this crime was committed? Explain.
Actus reus was present during this case. The act of Kenneth Parks getting up and driving to his in-laws house and murdering them is proving actus reus. On the other hand mens reus is not present because Kenneth Parks did not intend to purposely kill his in-laws and also was not in the right mental state. He was genuinely in a hypnotic state where he has no control over his mind or body.
2) Why do you think the supreme court dismissed the crowns appeal?
The supreme court dismissed the crowns appeal because the evidence of Kenneth Parks not intentionally doing the crime is substantial. First of all, Kenneth had a good relationship with his in-laws and
Actus Reus: It was never unclear if the accused was responsible for the act occurring. There were several eye witness testimonies placing her as the offender which was backed up by CCTV footage from a camera in the lane. Furthermore, at the beginning of the trial the offender pleaded not guilty of murder but guilty of constructive manslaughter and that it was caused by reckless driving on her behalf. By claiming manslaughter the offender immediately takes full responsibility for the act regardless of what charge they are handed.
Based on the evidence and trial proceedings, I believe that Kenneth should not have been given the opportunity for a plea bargain. Both men had tortured their victims a lot, so it does not make sense to allow one to have the slightest chance of gaining freedom in the future. Kenneth did help with the torturing, raping, kidnapping and killing of women, but he has the chance of getting out of jail. The jury ruling seemed to have fallen for what has been written as Kenneth’s charm because they did not condemn either man to death. Certain states in America have the punishment of death for perpetrators such as this duo but they wrote it off. In my honest opinion, this sentence seems to be too lenient because what Judge George said about them living a life of comfort is true. They should feel pain and regret for what they did.
On Bloodsworth’s appeal he argued several points. First he argued that there was not sufficient evidence to tie Bloodsworth to the crime. The courts ruled that the ruling stand on the grounds that the witness evidence was enough for reasonable doubt that the c...
Because he was not harming anyone or violating the ruling, the case should then be overturned on the account of the innocence and lawfulness of Charles Schneck.
The respondent appealed with the Dallas Court of Appeals, Fifth Supreme Judicial District, 706 S.W.2d 120 (1986), Judge Vance affirmed the conviction, and a rehearing was denied.
make there decision, but in the end there was no way that the jury was going to believe a
Hamilton made an eloquent appeal to the jury to judge both the law and the facts; as a result was acquitted. This finding of not
With the help from F. Lee Bailey, who spent five years appealing the verdict; all the way to the Supreme Court, released Sheppard from prison granting retrial for inherently prejudicial publicity (Rompalske 20). Although Sheppard was found not guilty in 1966, his life had been des...
...t I do not think that the evidence presented is enough for a conviction to sentence any man or woman to death.
Actus reus is an act that is committed or was committed with guilt. The criminal liability is only present if the act was committed voluntary and it resulted in criminal harm. Mens rea means in latin “the guilty mind”, it further describes the intent level of the criminal nature within the act. The act alone is not criminal if the metal state has not been evaluated and proven to be stable and sound (Neubauer & Fradella, 2015).
...ttempted jmurder of Bert should not be dismissed. The court was clearly wrong to dismiss the charge of attempted murder of Bert on the ground that Jack could not have killed Bert due to the malfunctioning of his gun.
...st Arthur Andersen because of flaws in jury instructions. The instructions were too ambiguous to determine if obstruction of justice had happened. The overturned conviction was too late for Arthur Andersen. The firm lost it all when an email was sent. The unethical actions of Nancy Temple and David Duncan cost many their jobs. The ethical values of Arthur Andersen employees at the time should have been enforce, had this been done the conviction and dissolution of the firm would not have happened.
The principal in the first degree would be the person that committed the whole or parts of the physical elements of the crime. In order to be prosecuted, it would be a necessity to prove that the principal in the first degree committed the actus reus with the adequate mens rea.
A defence in criminal law arises when conditions exist to negate specific elements of the crime: the actus reus when actions are involuntary, the mens rea when the defendant is unaware of the significance of their conduct, or both. These defences will mitigate or eliminate liability from a criminal offence. Insanity, automatism and diminished responsibility are examples of said defences. They each share characteristics but can be distinguished in their scope and application.
Arguably the simpler of both systems – the bipartite system is mainly used in the common law countries, as well as in France and other French-speaking countries. Distinguishing between actus reus, which is the external side of the criminal offence and mens rea, which is the internal, the basic principle of this system is that for every criminal offense, a combination of both actus reus and mens rea must be present. This idea was first expressed by Edward Coke, who by using a common law precedent, namely that a potential thief who acquires the possession first and then forms the intention to steal is considered to be not guilty of theft. His reasoning was based on the fact that the intent (mens rea) to steal developed after and not synchronously with the actual act of stealing (actus reus).