Criminal Case Scenario

Criminal Case Scenario

The situation involving Phil, his neighbor as well as Vince, raises significant issues that are worth consideration in holding Phil liable for the death of Vince. Phil's actions, as described in the scenario gives the District Attorney enough reasons for prosecuting Phil, and some of the significant issues, in this case, include anger management, malicious damage to property as well as the death of Vince that resulted from his unlawful behavior.

Even though Phil had the right to be annoyed by the general noise emanating from his neighbor's house, he had an option of pressing charges against his neighbor because the actions of his neighbor led to public nuisance. However, Phil's inability to control his anger prompted him to take the law into his hands, and in the process, he ends up engaging in an unlawful activity by shattering his neighbor's window glass by using his high power air rifle. The pieces of glass that broke as a result of Phil's deliberate shooting ends up killing unsuspecting Vince, who resided on the lower floors. Apparently, Phil had no intentions of committing any form of murder; however, his reckless behavior led to a loss of human life, and this makes him a murderer.

In the Common Law of jurisdiction, Phil is liable for trial under the rule of felony murder. Felony murder occurs when the illegal activities, shattering of the neighbor's window by Phil in this case, of an individual lead to the death of another person. Upon conviction, Phil will be subjected to a maximum of life in prison, remand terms or even death depending on the class of felony committed. Besides, the type of punishment to Phil also depends on the three-strike laws of the United States of America. Of immediate relevance to the Phil's case is the Tison v. Arizona, 482 United States 137. This section allows for the imposition of a death sentence in occurrences where there were no objective of committing murder but rather, the defendant deliberately and to a large extent played a part in an illicit activity acknowledged to carry a severe risk of casualty.

Conversely, Phil through his defense attorney may appeal for a bail or shorter jail terms, but this depends on the state of his case. Should Phil get a remanded, his chances of getting, a bond becomes impossible since in the legal statutes prohibits bailing off the defendant in remand as this may compromise the efficiency along with the reliability of the criminal investigation. Nevertheless, if Phil’s District attorney fails to hold Phil in pre-trial detention, his defense attorney may successfully argue his case, and may help him in beating the charges against felony murder charges on Vince.

The uniqueness of this criminal law scenario makes the establishment of justice exigent, and this calls for effective understanding and interpretation of the law. However, through the actions of Phil, the public can learn how to cope with difficult neighbors, and this is essential in the promotion of peaceful coexistence. Besides, behaviors of the two neighbors call for the need for awareness creation on the state laws along with human rights. Another important lesson from this scenario is the interpretation of the law, which is vital for the future judges and attorney because they not only get to learn how to be rational in arguing their cases but it also enables them to gain professionalism in their specialties.   

Bibliography

DeLisi M and others, "Murder By Numbers: Monetary Costs Imposed By A Sample Of Homicide Offenders" (2010) 21 Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology

McManus F, "Noise Law In The United Kingdom - A Very British Solution?" (2000) 20 Legal Studies

Karlan P, "Convictions And Doubts: Retribution, Representation, And The Debate Over Felon Disenfranchisement" SSRN Electronic Journal

Gerard Rainville and Brian Reaves, Felony Defendants In Large Urban Counties, 2000 (US Dept of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics 2003).

Loeffler C, "Does Imprisonment Alter The Life Course? Evidence On Crime And Employment From A Natural Experiment" (2013) 51 Criminology

Helland E and Tabarrok A, "Does Three Strikes Deter?" (2007) XLII Journal of Human Resources

Heinonline.org, "Executing Those Who Do Not Kill: A Categorical Approach To Proportional Sentencing 48 American Criminal Law Review 2011" (2016) <http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/amcrimlr48&div=40&id=&page=> accessed 24 January 2016

Tomic A and Hakes J, "Case Dismissed: Police Discretion And Racial Differences In Dismissals Of Felony Charges" (2008) 10 American Law and Economics Review

Gomez L, Punishing A Person For Another's Crime (2012)

Sutton J, "Structural Bias In The Sentencing Of Felony Defendants" (2013) 42 Social Science Research

Eisenberg T and others, "Judge-Jury Agreement In Criminal Cases: A Partial Replication Of Kalven And Zeisel's The American Jury" (2005) 2 J Empirical Legal Studies

McEvoy K, "Beyond Legalism: Towards A Thicker Understanding Of Transitional Justice" (2007) 34 J Law & Society

Aleven V, "Using Background Knowledge In Case-Based Legal Reasoning: A Computational Model And An Intelligent Learning Environment" (2003) 150 Artificial Intelligence

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[1]
                [1]             Matt DeLisi and others, "Murder By Numbers: Monetary Costs Imposed By A Sample Of Homicide Offenders" (2010) 21 Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology.

[2]
            [2]         Francis McManus, "Noise Law In The United Kingdom - A Very British Solution?" (2000) 20 Legal Studies.

[3]
                [3]             Pamela S. Karlan, "Convictions And Doubts: Retribution, Representation, And The Debate Over Felon Disenfranchisement" SSRN Electronic Journal.

[4]
                [4]             Gerard Rainville and Brian Reaves, Felony Defendants In Large Urban Counties, 2000 (US Dept of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics 2003).

[5]
                [5]             Charles E. Loeffler, "Does Imprisonment Alter The Life Course? Evidence On Crime And Employment From A Natural Experiment" (2013) 51 Criminology.

[6]
                [6]             Eric Helland and Alexander Tabarrok, "Does Three Strikes Deter?" (2007) XLII Journal of Human Resources.

[7]
                [7]             Heinonline.org, "Executing Those Who Do Not Kill: A Categorical Approach To Proportional Sentencing 48 American Criminal Law Review 2011" (2016) <http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/amcrimlr48&div=40&id=&page=> accessed 24 January 2016.

[8]
                [8]             A. Tomic and J. K. Hakes, "Case Dismissed: Police Discretion And Racial Differences In Dismissals Of Felony Charges" (2008) 10 American Law and Economics Review.

[9]
                [9]             Lauren Theresa Gomez, Punishing A Person For Another's Crime (2012).

[10]
                [10]             John R. Sutton, "Structural Bias In The Sentencing Of Felony Defendants" (2013) 42 Social Science Research.

[11]
                [11]             Theodore Eisenberg and others, "Judge-Jury Agreement In Criminal Cases: A Partial Replication Of Kalven And Zeisel's The American Jury" (2005) 2 J Empirical Legal Studies.

[12]
                [12]             Kieran McEvoy, "Beyond Legalism: Towards A Thicker Understanding Of Transitional Justice" (2007) 34 J Law & Society.

[13]
                [13]             Vincent Aleven, "Using Background Knowledge In Case-Based Legal Reasoning: A Computational Model And An Intelligent Learning Environment" (2003) 150 Artificial Intelligence.