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What do you think?
Directions:Consider each of the following (true) situations. Then, answer the questions
after each one. Use your answers to take part in the online discussion.
Case #1A woman methodically drowns her five
children in the family bathtub. She laid three
of the five children carefully on her bed after
she finished. The last two – the youngest and
the oldest – were left in the tub; she had run
out of energy to carry them into the bedroom.
After she finished, she made two calls: one to
the police and one to her husband, telling
them what she had done.
(continued)
Case #1 (continued)During her trial, experts testified that she
suffered from a severe case of postpartum
psychosis, a mental illness which can lead to
severe behavioral disruptions. Nearly every
psychiatric expert who was called to testify
agreed: she believed that she was saving the
children from eternal damnation by killing
them before they could become evil.
Questions1. What crime was committed?
2. Who committed it?
3. What evidence do we have that this person
committed it?
4. What do you think is the appropriate punishment
for the person who committed it? Explain why you
think that punishment is appropriate.
Case #2A woman is murdered in her Cape Cod home. Her two-year-old daughter is found clinging to her corpse. Tiny bloody footprints showed that the toddler had tried to care for her mother by giving her food and water.
The horrible crime upset many people in the small town. For a long time, police had no leads. What they did have, however, was genetic evidence: the victim had been raped prior to her murder. But with no suspects to provide DNA samples for comparison, the evidence was useless.
Continued…
Case #2 (continued)The police launched an effort to encourage men in
the small town to “voluntarily” give DNA samples for
comparison. While no one was required to give such
a sample, it was clear that police would be very
suspicious about men who refused to do so.
Questions1. Why did the police adopt this strategy of
taking DNA samples?
2. Do you think there is any problem with a person being asked to give DNA samples to show that he or she did not commit a crime? Explain.
3. Ultimately, the murderer was found using this strategy. Does the fact that this was a successful method mean that it should be adopted in other cases where police do not have any other leads?
Case #3A 34-year-old college professor with two small
children had just started a new child-care
routine. First he dropped off the three-year-
old at preschool. Next stop should have been
dropping off the 5-month- old girl with a
daycare provider. But the professor forgot.
His baby spent the next eight hours slowly
dying in a hot car where temperatures soared
to over 100 degrees. When the baby was
discovered, her temperature was 110 degrees.
Questions:1. Was a crime committed?
2. If you said yes, explain what crime was committed.
3. If you said no, explain how the death of a child
was not due to a criminal act.
Case #4A twenty-two-old mother left her three-month-
old daughter in the car on a sweltering July
afternoon while she dropped in to the Dew
Drop Inn to have a few drinks. Six hours later,
she returned to the car and found the baby
dead.
Questions:1. Was a crime committed?
2. If you said yes, explain what crime was committed.
3. If you said no, explain how the death of a child
was not due to a criminal act.
4. Was your answer in Case #4 different from your
answer in Case #3?
Case #5A man was tried on charges that he had killed his
girlfriend. The trial included extensive testimony from
an eyewitness – the defendant’s other girlfriend who
had been present at the time of the killing and who
had taken pictures (which couldn’t be found and so
weren’t shown at the trial).
The jury apparently didn’t find her eyewitness
testimony convincing; the man was found not guilty.
Continued…
Case #5 (continued)After the trial, the pictures turned up, showing in
graphic detail how the man had tortured and killed
the victim. Because of the 5th Amendment
protection against double jeopardy, the man could
not be tried again for murder. He continued his life as
a free man.
Questions:1. Why do you think that the Constitution provides
protection against “double jeopardy”? (Double
jeopardy refers to the legal restriction which means
that the government may not try a person more
than once for the same crime.)
2. Do you think justice was served in this case?
Explain.
Use your answersTo participate in the online discussion.