Criminal Law

State V Deft

Homicide: Homicide is the killing of a human being by a human being.

Here, Deft approached a man at a pier and shouted, "Are you Kyle?" Kyle responded, "Could be, who wants to know?" Deft then pulled out a picture of his child and said, "This child wants to know what kind of low-life scum could hurt an innocent child." Deft and Kyle yelled at each other and traded insults for several minutes. At one point during the heated exchange of words, Kyle admitted he had killed Deft's child and then began moving toward Deft and reaching his hand into his jacket. Deft immediately pulled out a handgun and shot Kyle in the chest, killing Kyle instantly. Here, there is a killing of a human being by a human being.

Causation: , 'but for' the defendant's conduct, would the result have occurred? If the result would not have occurred absent the defendant's conduct, then factual causation exists.

Here, Deft contends that “but for the” unanimous letter telling him where Kyle would not have sought out Kyle to confront him. In addition, Kyle admitted he had killed Deft's child and then began moving toward Deft and reaching his hand into his jacket. A reasonable person may infer this to be an aggressive move. Hence, Deft immediately pulled out a handgun and shot Kyle in the chest, killing Kyle instantly.

Proximate Cause.: The result of which is foreseeable.

Here, Deft contends that it was foreseeable, that when he received the anonymous letter that he was going to confront Kyle. Furthermore by Kyle moving forward towards Deft and placing his hand in his jacket was a threatening gesture and he reacted towards that treat that he may perceive at that moment.

Murder: Murder is unlawful homicide with malice aforethought. This mental state includes a specific intent or a reckless criminal intent.

Here, Deft contends that there was a heated argument but that he only reacted by Kyle’s actions and that he did wanted to see that justice was done for the killing of his...