Im doing a mock trial in my english class on the book "of mice and men" and I am a lawer working for George Milton. The opposing team is going to try to prove that George Milton is guilty of the murder of Lennie Small. I have to do the oppisite and I wanted to know all the pleas for murder that would be accepted by a judge in the state of maine to build my case upon.
2007-03-11 13:18:01 · 7 answers · asked by Tony 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
There are only three direct pleas to any criminal charge: guilty, not guilty, and nolo contendere.
The third is rarely used, and basically says "I am not challenging the charges, but I'm not admitting guilt either. Do what you want."
If someone pleads "not guilty", then they also have the option of asserting affirmative defenses. Such as duress (I was forced to do it), necessity (I did it to survive), self-defense, defense of others, etc. There's also mitigating factors, which reduce the level of the crime. Like provocotion (aka exterme emotional distress) which can reduce murder to manslaughter. And of course insanity (I didn't know what I was doing, or I didn't understand what I was doing was wrong).
I don't remember the story (read it long long ago), but you should go through the facts presented, and see if any of them can be applied. The prosecution still needs to prove every element of the crime, including the intent to kill. So, part of the defense can also be casting doubt on those elements.
2007-03-11 13:24:15 · answer #1 · answered by coragryph 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You could try pleading to a lesser charge, such as 'negligent manslaughter.' Or you could claim self-defense, but that might be hard to pull off. The prime requirements for murder are specificity (aimed at a specific person), intent (must have intended death as the result), and proximal agency (must have acted directly to cause the death).
Some locations reserve 'murder' for what is known as 1st degree (premeditated); other situations - such as the proverbial 'crime of passion' - may be defined by different names (such as manslaughter) or different categories of murder. Check the laws in your state; though for verisimilitude you might want to look up the California laws of the time.
The truth (as Slim realized) is that George was trying to keep Lennie from going to prison for killing Curley's wife; but few courts will recognize that as a defense. If you want to bring up issues of euthanasia you're going to be on sensitive ground; depending on your classmates and teacher you could get credit for being relevant, but you could also get into a lot of trouble.
2007-03-11 13:34:35 · answer #2 · answered by dukefenton 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i could enable them beat the assassin until eventually they were supply thoroughly out without punishment in any respect because the assassin is gonna get 3 hots and a cot for something of his existence. And we are gonna pay for all of his medical costs besides and feed the sorry S.O.B. enable me be the decide for a lengthy time period. i will clean out each and each of the prisions and deliver them at the front strains in Iraq, in the journey that they make it they could be set loose even as they got here again. If no longer a minimum of they did one issue reliable for the country by technique of protecting =)
2016-12-01 20:44:53 · answer #3 · answered by sarro 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Um, guilty with an explanation?
2007-03-11 13:24:48 · answer #4 · answered by Iseult 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Insanity ?
2007-03-11 13:26:02 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
guilty but insane.
2007-03-11 14:48:04 · answer #6 · answered by sailorman 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Please of innocence during trial and mercy on conviction.
2007-03-12 07:37:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋