Criminal Law Essay

CRIMINAL LAW ESSAY TWO

Deft was asleep one night when an unknown intruder broke into his home and murdered Deft's only child. Deft was very upset and publicly vowed to find the killer and see that "justice was done." Deft searched for several months but was unable to find the killer. One year after the murder, Deft received an anonymous letter stating that "Kyle is the killer you are searching for and you can find Kyle at the 38th street pier." Len wrote the letter after Len read about Deft's attempts to find the killer. Len was sitting in a bar when he heard Kyle boast that Kyle had killed Deft's child. Len hated Kyle, but only hoped that Deft would give Kyle a serious beating.

Deft went to the 38th street pier and asked a group of workers if they knew where Kyle was. The workers pointed toward a man standing near the edge of the pier. Deft approached the man 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. No weapon was found in Kyle's jacket.

Deft has been charged with murder and manslaughter. Len has been charged with murder. Is the evidence sufficient to sustain the

I. charges of murder or manslaughter against Deft? Discuss.

II. charge of murder against Len? Discuss.

You have already submitted this essay on Saturday, Sep-27-2014 at 1:44:43 PM .

Model Answer

CRIMINAL LAW ESSAY TWO ANSWER

I. Deft’s murder charge. A murder charge against Deft is proper if the facts show that Deft committed a homicide with malice. It is clear that Deft committed a homicide...