Lets say one conjoined twin renders the other twin unconscious and then proceeds to rob a bank. Can you send him to jail, since the other twin, to whom he is permanently joined, is completely innocent? Seems you either send an innocent man to jail or let a guilty man run free. Can anyone clear this subject up for me?
2006-10-09 11:17:51 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
be damned hard not to!!!
2006-10-09 11:19:10 · answer #1 · answered by L6 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The answer, unfortunately (As the debate is highly entertaining), may be very simple in law.
If the other twin is completely unconscious and therefore in no way assisting the offending twin, then he commits no crime. It may be said that he, by using 'his' body (if for example the twins share arms), does commit the act of theft from the bank. However, a crime requires both a physical element (the 'actus reus') and a mental element (the 'mens rea'). As the unconscious twin lacks the requsite mens rea ('intention'), he commits no crime, and is therefore an innocent man.
The offending twin meanwhile is guilty of a crime and can be sentenced to prison accordingly. However, the other twin will now be imprisioned illegally, regardless of the moral situation. This takes precedence of the imprisonment of his twin. Hence, he will apply to the High Court of England and Wales for a writ a habeus corpus, which declares his imprisonment illegal. At that point he must be released even if this means his brother must too be freed.
Hope this clears up the legal side of things, even if the moral question is left unanswered.
2006-10-10 03:25:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the guilty twin is going to serve a long prison sentence, the state can pay for surgery to separate the "guilty" twin from the innocent twin. If the "guilty" twin survives surgery, then the "innocent" twin does not have to worry about serving a prison sentence with his "guilty" twin. Think about it - the taxpayers are paying to keep the "guilty" twin behind bars - so why not pay for the surgery to keep the "innocent" twin out of bars. Of course, I'm probably missing something but think about it - what if one twin commited murder - a judge will not dismiss a murder case because the suspect is a conjoined twin?
2006-10-12 15:24:50 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, I am not sure how you could render one twin unconscious. You could not drug the twin without it effecting both. Plus, can cojoined twins function while one is unconscious. I am not sure how it works, but it would seem plausable that each twin would control some motor skills which would make knocking one out moot because both would be rendered incapacitated. But it brings up an interesting point. I would predict that they would not jail both twins if one could commit a crime without the others participation. But, I guess the best thing to do would be to surgically seperate them and send the offending twin to jail.
2006-10-09 11:24:37 · answer #4 · answered by Mr Mojo Risin 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sending an innocent man to jail is surely a greater crime than being lenient on a guilty man.
2006-10-09 11:45:26 · answer #5 · answered by James 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's an unlikely situation, but I guess you couldn't jail the innocent 'half'.
Maybe similar to that recent case where a hit and run driver got freed because he and and the other guy in the car each claimed the other was driving.
2006-10-09 11:23:09 · answer #6 · answered by migdalski 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
unlikely to ever happen, since most conjoined twins dont make it to an age where considered liable for their actions - an interesting question though.... I wonder what the law is on this... someone email the Lord Chief Justice...
2006-10-09 12:29:18 · answer #7 · answered by ben 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Could you rob a bank with someone else, unconscious attached to you in some way?
Hypothetical in the extreme..
2006-10-13 10:01:01 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, you cannot send an innocent man to jail.
This has actually happened...one of a pair of conjoined twins used to regularly get drunk and do stupid stuff, that the other twin couldn't stop (the drinking of one made them both drunk) and when one was charged with assault, they case was thrown out of court.
2006-10-09 11:21:31 · answer #9 · answered by Mr Glenn 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
If one of them commits a crime, like it or not, the other one must be an accessory before and after the fact!
2006-10-09 12:09:24 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
give the guilty one the chair and then the innocent one is free from evil.
2006-10-09 11:32:54 · answer #11 · answered by KU 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋