Analysis of Criminal Caused by a Person Who Was under the Effect of Alcohol and Stress - Case Study Example

Case Law The Problem Charlie, who had been drinking, met his ex-girlfriend in the street. He accused her of being unfaithful and threw a stone at her intending to frighten her. In fact, it hit a shopper standing nearby who was blinded in one eye. Charlie ran away and an armed policeman who was on security duty nearby and had witnessed the incident drew his pistol and shouted, ‘Stop. Armed police. Stop or I fire!’ Charlie, who had not heard the policeman because he was hard of hearing, kept running. The policeman fired intending to wound Charlie but killed the shopper who had been blinded in one eye. Introduction In the recent past there has been upsurge in the number of criminals and criminal related activities all over the world, from Africa to Asia, from Europe to America. In Africa the high rate of crime is blamed on the high rate of unemployment and the availability of cheap drugs like bang and illicit brews. In America (South and North America) the high rate of crime has been blamed in illegal drugs that are channelled through the continent on the way to other parts of the world. The same case applies to Europe where the rate of unemployment is increasing at a steady rate. Apart from drugs and unemployment as the main causes of crime, stress and depression have also been blamed. In some instances people go on a killing spree or commit suicide once they get high on drugs and alcohol because they are too stressed with life and they cannot handle the pressures of life. It is however important to note that stress, depression and alcohol cannot go hand in hand; when one is stressed they are not supposed to use alcohol and drugs as an antidote. In some situations, people commit crime because they are mentally disturbed and do not know what they are doing. There are many types of crimes that can be committed by a person. According to the Crimes Defence Attorney (CDA), some of the commonly committed crimes in the world today are sex crimes, which include rape and sexual abuse, crimes related to drugs and drug possession, sale and trafficking, violent crimes which comprise of murder, assault, manslaughter among others.1 Other types of crimes as mentioned by CDA are white collar crimes, theft crimes and federal crimes.2 The sentence given for the crime committed depends on the gravity of the crime, evidence given by the plaintiff and the defence mounted by the defence. In the case above which is the focus of this paper, there are two different categories of crimes that were committed by Charlie and the police officer. However, both crimes fall under the category of violent crimes. Before analysing the case there are a few areas about criminal law that are important in the research as discussed below. The principles of actus reus and mens rea According to Molan and Douglas, the principles of actus reus and mens rea are used to show the criminals intentions and state of mind when they committed the crime. Both phrases are translated from the Latin language, the actus reus focuses on the evil/ bad act committed by a person whereas mens rea looks at the defendants or the accused state of mind when he/she committed the crime.3 The purpose of this principle is to help the jury determine whether the accused committed the crime intentionally or he/she was provoked into committing the crime (accidentally).4 According to the criminal doctrine, criminal liability is justified if there a coincidence of actus reus and mens rea.5 This means that the temporal existence of “actus reus” at one moment and mens rea at another moment do not necessarily imply a form of criminal liability.6 Non fatal offences against the person There are different sections of the Non Fatal Offences against a Person Act of 1997.7 This section explains whether a person who is accused of assault will be changed under the court of law, if he/she will be given a hefty fine or he/she will be set free.8 For example, under Section 3 of the Act which focuses on assault and causing harm, the Act states that: “(1) A person who assaults another causing him or her harm shall be guilty of an offence. (2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable: (a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or to both, or (b) on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.”9 Other important sections under this Act which has 32 different sections are the assault section, threats to kill or cause serious harm, harassment, poisoning sections among others according to O'Mahony.10 Fatal Offences – Homicide According to Mike and Tortfeasor, there are two main fatal offences under the Homicide Act of 1957: murder and manslaughter.11 Murder is a premeditated plan, where a person has a well laid down plan that they will follow in executing the crime.12 This is in contrast to manslaughter where a person has no intention of killing but they are provoked by the deceased to commit the crime.13 Defences As indicated in the paper murder is one of the most inhuman crimes that can be committed by a person. Under the constitutions of most countries, the sentence for murder is and not limited to life imprisonment with an option of parole or no parole and death penalty.14 There are however some instances where the sentence can be reduced to fines depending on the defence mounted by the defendant attorney. According to Imhoff & Associates, some of the factors the defence attorney can use to exonerate his or her client from the blame is to claim is client acted in self defence, lack of enough supporting evidence against the client and thirdly the defence attorney can claim that his/her client was not of sound mind when he/she committed the crime.15 The appropriate court and procedure Before a person appears before the court of law, there are some things that are taken into consideration. Age is one thing that is never over looked. Before a person is taken to court his/her age has to be verified, if the accused is above 18 years then he/she is taken to adults court and if they are below 18 years old then they are taken to juvenile courts. Any person accused of violent crime like murder, manslaughter or robbery is booked under the indictable only offences.16 Such people must be tried on indictment at the Crown Court by a judge. It is important to note that there are those cases that can be handled by the resident magistrate whereas there are those that can only be handled by the Supreme Court or the jury. Any case related to murder and man slaughter is strictly handled by the jury. The accused is taken through the process by the defence attorney before he/she appears before the judge, they will told at what stage are they to plead to charges and all other necessary steps.17 The Solution As indicated in the paper, Charlie and the police officer committed two different crimes and therefore they will be charged under different sections of the law. According to the report from the police department it stated; “Charlie, who had been drinking, met his ex-girlfriend in the street. He accused her of being unfaithful and threw a stone at her intending to frighten her. In fact, it hit a shopper standing nearby who was blinded in one eye. . . .” According to the Irish Statue Book, it is written under Section 4 (Assault causing serious harm) of the Non Fatal Offences against Persons Act of 1997 that: “(1) A person who intentionally or recklessly causes serious harm to another shall be guilty of an offence. (2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for life or to both.”18 From the above explanation it can be said that the main intention of Charlie was not to harm the victim (shopper) but his main intention was to frighten his ex-girl friend. However, he ended up hurting the innocent shopper who was standing nearby. His actions were reckless. This therefore means that Charlie committed a crime of assault and as a result he should be charged for assault causing serious harm. A person can be charged for a crime if he or she had a plan in mind to commit the crime and went ahead to actually commit the crime, or if the prosecution can prove that the desire to commit the crime was in deed present.19 In reference to the principles of actus reus and mens rea, it can be said that the accused (Charlie) had a set mind and plan to commit the offence only that things did not go as he had planned. Under the Alcohol Bills Act, it is against the law for a person to cause disturbance while under the influence of alcohol, this means that Charlie should also be charged with being drunk, disorderly and causing public disturbance. The crime committed by Charlie prompted the police to arrest him but he took to his heels. In the police recorded it is written “Charlie ran away and an armed policeman who was on security duty nearby and had witnessed the incident drew his pistol and shouted, ‘Stop. Armed police. Stop or I fire!’ Charlie, who had not heard the policeman because he was hard of hearing, kept running. The policeman fired intending to wound Charlie but killed the shopper who had been blinded in one eye.” The question to answer is, should the police officer be charged of murder, man slaughter or he should he be given a hefty fine and set free? In the previous section of this paper, the paper looked at the two main fatal offences, i.e. murder and manslaughter. It indicated that before a person commits murder he/she must have planned for it, therefore it is intentional. Manslaughter is where the person accidentally kills another person. The difference can be illustrated by Yadav’s definition: “In murder, the act or omission by which death is caused is accompanied by malice aforethought, whereas in the manslaughter malice aforethought is absent.”20 Manslaughter can be categorised into two: manslaughter, where a person kills another due to recklessness or negligence, then there is constructive manslaughter where a person kills another in the process of committing another crime.21 There are different factors that prompted the police officer to fire the shot that killed the partially blind shopper. The first thing is that despite the fact that the officer ordered the culprit (Charlie) to surrender, he did not obey the order because he has hearing difficulty and therefore continued to run. The officer assumed that Charlie had ignored his orders and therefore he decided to fire with the intention of injuring him. Under the fatal offences act, the officer had no intention to kill and therefore his case falls under manslaughter. In reference to the principle of actus reus and mens rea, the accused state of mind was not set on killing but injuring the criminal so that he could surrender. After having looked at the actions that prompted the officer to kill the partially blind shopper, it is obvious that the he should be charged for manslaughter and not murder. Summation of the Paper There are different situations that prompt people to commit acts of crime. This essay has looked at a criminal case that was caused by a person who was under the effect of alcohol and stress. The paper has discussed several areas related to criminal law and there after it has analysed the two crimes that were committed by Charlie and the police officer. The paper has indicated that Charlie should be charged for assault causing serious harm and also for being drunk and disorderly. It is advisable that once he finishes serving his term, he should be taken to a rehabilitation centre so that he can be helped on how to control his temper and reduce alcohol consumption. The paper has also observed that the police officer should be charged for manslaughter and the jury has the option of sentencing him to jail or releasing him on bail because he has no intention of committing the crime. Other Similar Cases In a similar case, a gunman struck and caused trouble at the Carlsbad’s Kelly Elementary School in California.22 It was alleged that the gunman was not stressed and not of sound mind and therefore he was not aware of what he was doing. The attack affected both the student’s body and the parents. Apart from the two students who were injured in the attack, most parents, teachers and students suffered mental trauma, shock and stress. The above victim can be tried for causing assault and disturbing peace. Apart from that, in 2008, two youths were charged for involuntary manslaughter because of being drunk and reckless driving.23 The driver at that time was under the age of 18 and therefore he was not sent to jail but put on probation to serve his term. The teenager did not intend to cause the accident but he was just having a “good time” on the road when the accident that took the life of his fried occurred. Reference List Bhaduri R (2010). Kelly Elementary Shooting Leaves Two Injured. Retrieved Jan 13, 2011 from,http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/kelly-elementary-school-shooting-leaves-two-injured_100441811.html Campbell, A. & Ohm, R.C. (2007). Legal Ease: A Guide to Criminal Law, Evidence, and Procedure (2nd edition). Charles C Thomas Publisher, London. Criminal Defense Attorney (2010). Types of Crimes. Retrieved Jan 12, 2011 from, http://www.findacriminaldefenseattorney.com/Information-Center/Types-of-Crimes.aspx Doss-Raines J (2008). Two Sentenced in Involuntary Manslaughter Case. Retrieved Jan 13, 2011 from, http://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20080209/NEWS/802090329 Gaines, L. K. & Miller R. (2008). Criminal Justice in Action: The Core (5th edition). Cengage Learning, New York. Great Britain: Law Commission (2008). Murder, Manslaughter and Infanticide: Project 6 of the Ninth Programme of Law Reform: Homicide. The Stationery Office, London. Imhoff & Associates (2008). Murder Defence. Retrieved Jan 12, 2011 from, http://www.criminalattorney.com/murder/ Irish Statue Book (1997a). Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act of 1997. Retrieved Jan 12, 2011 from, http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1997/en/act/pub/0026/index.html Irish Statue Book (1997b). Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act of 1997. Retrieved Jan 12, 2011 from, http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1997/en/act/pub/0026/print.html Lacey, N., Wells, C., Quick, O. (2003). Reconstructing Criminal Law: Text and Materials (3rd edition), Cambridge University Press. Mike & Tortfeasor (2010a). Fatal Offences. Retrieved Jan 12, 2011 from http://www.lawiki.org/lawwiki/Fatal_offences Mike & Tortfeasor (2010b). Fatal Offences. Retrieved Jan 12, 2011 from http://www.lawiki.org/lawwiki/Fatal_offences Molan M & Douglas G (2006). The Elements of a Crime: Actus Reus and Mens Rea. chap02.tex V1, 8 O'Mahony, P. (2002). Criminal Justice in Ireland, Institute of Public Administration, London, p. 18. Siegel, L. J. (2008). Criminology (10th edition). Cengage Learning, New York, p. 109. Slapper, G. & Kelly, D. (2001). Sourcebook on the English Legal System (2nd edition). Routledge, London. The Site (2010). Court Procedure. Retrieved Jan 12, 2011 from, http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/law/introuble/courtprocedure Yadav, R. D. (1993). Law of Crime and Self-Defence. Mittal Publications, London, p, 71. Read More