Stanley V. Mary Bennett

In each trial, from theft to murder, the jury all have the same duty. Their burden is to determine whether the defendant is guilty for the crime they are accused of, or not. They are expected to take testimonies and facts into account and go forth with a decision from there. In Mary Bennett’s case, the jury must determine whether or not she is guilty of second degree murder of her infant daughter. For the defendant to be guilty of second degree murder, the jury must determine if Bennett intended to kill her daughter, made a conscious decision to do so at the moment, and was aware of the consequences of her actions (“Mary Bennett,” pg 5). Bennett decided to leave her daughter alone and unattended so that she could visit her fiancé in San Francisco.

When Bennett had come home, she found her daughter dead due to dehydration. When asked what had happened, she first told police that she left her daughter with a babysitter. Later, she had admitted to leaving her infant daughter alone and knew she would die in a few days. Through evidence and witness statements, I was able to conclude that the defendant, Mary Bennett, is guilty of second-degree murder of her six-month old, infant daughter.
The statement given by Policeman A, further validates that Mary Bennett is guilty for the death of her daughter.

The police officer states that he arrived at her apartment at 11 p.m. on January 30th. He witnessed Bennett sobbing while holding her dead infant in her arms. He states that he took a statement from the defendant at that time. When giving her statement, Bennett had claimed that she left her daughter with a babysitter, but later stated that she knew that she was leaving her daughter alone. Policeman A is considered a credible source. He is a professional and must follow certain procedures regarding crime scenes. Police officers are expected to take statements and then write a report that is unbiased. His memory does not skew the facts because they are written down at the time of the incident. The police officer is also a witness. He had witnessed the Bennett’s actions and witnessed her making conflicting

statements.
The testimony of Dr. Parker, a psychiatrist, also further confirms my opinion of Bennett being guilty of second-degree murder. Dr. Parker is a trained professional and his opinions should be taken as credible. Not only is he a trained professional, but he has participated in hearings before and is well aware of the testing involved. This furthers his credibility. Dr. Parker had interviewed Bennett four times in the past three months after the death of her infant daughter. He believes that she may be suffering from depression and anxiety at the moment, but is well aware of her actions and what they had caused. He also believes that she was mentally competent on the day she had left her infant daughter alone. Dr. Parker states, “She was aware that she was leaving her child unattended and that the child would be in great danger,” (“Mary Bennett,” pg 2).
An opinion that made me think further on whether or not she was guilty, came from Dr.

Bloom. Dr. Bloom stated that Bennett’s problems began after the birth of her daughter. He believes that she was suffering from postpartum depression. He also stated that her fiancé had left for California, which made her even more emotionally unstable. Dr. Bloom explained that she had used alcohol to cope, but eventually she was “depressed, desperate, anxious and an alcoholic.” He believes that this had sent her into a neurotic state, making her obsessed with seeing her fiancé. He states, “This single hope was the only thing she could focus on, and when she acted on it she was completely unaware that she was putting her daughter in danger.” Though Dr. Bloom’s statement made me second guess my opinion, there were a few things that made his opinion less credible. Dr. Bloom never stated what kind of professional he was, all he claimed to be was a professional. He also has never been involved in judicial hearings before, and is not aware of the proper testing. Because of these two facts, I found him less credible than Dr.

Parker.
The statement from Caroline Harper, Mary Bennett’s neighbor, helped the persecution paint a picture of who Bennett was. She explained that she also saw Bennett on the night of January 30th. She described Bennett as looking distraught and without her infant. After, she exclaimed that she was not at all surprised by what she had did. Caroline testified that Bennett was always having parties and her trash bin was always filled with empty whiskey bottles. She made it clear that she did not agree with Mary Bennett’s lifestyle and believed her to be an unfit mother to her daughter. Though Caroline’s testimony should be taken into account, I believe she is not as credible as their other sources. She made sure to put Bennett and her lifestyle down instead of giving the jury facts. Even though her statement helps paint a picture of who her neighbor was, Caroline is obviously biased and her statement should not be taken as fact.
The defense team also had a character witness to help paint a picture of who Mary Bennett was. Alice Jones’ gave the statement that she believed Bennett to be a sweet, decent woman and a wonderful mother. She explained that she noticed that Bennett was depressed after her fiancé had left her. She confirmed that Bennett did use drinking as a coping mechanism, but it furthered her depression. Alice explained that Bennett lost all sense of reality and had to go fix things with her fiancé. She also stated that she does not believe her friend intentionally left her daughter unattended because she loved her so much. Alice Jones’ puts another perspective on the defendant. Her statement paints an entirely different picture of Bennett. Though she does know the defendant in a different light, her statement is still biased.
The last to give their official statement was Mary Bennett herself. She had stated that she had no idea what she had done, and had trouble putting together the pieces. She explains that hse was frightened and anxious and felt like she had lost all control. She had also said that she must have just assumed that someone else was taking care of the infant because she was so fixated on going to see her fiancé in California. I do not believe Bennett’s statement to be credible. Early on in the investigation, she made statements that had conflicted. I believe that Bennett’s statements cannot be trusted. The first reason is that she made conflicting statements early on. The second is because facts are known to be skewed after so many months.
From all of the evidence and witness statements, I believe that Mary Bennett is guilty of second-degree murder of her six-month, infant daughter. I believe that she was aware of what would happen when she left her daughter alone and unattended. The statements of Policeman A and Dr. Parker further validated my beliefs of Mary Bennett. She should stand trial for the death of her daughter, because today she is mentally competent and was mentally competent on January 30th.