The heat of passion, manslaughter defense, requires two things. First, the defendant must be provoked by the victim into such a state that they act without reasoning. The second requirement is that a typical member of the community would act similarly. The example given in court was; if a person wearing red were to enter an area control by a gang whose color was blue, and a gang member, in a heat of passion, killed that person it would not be manslaughter. This is because a typical member of the community would not be provoked into a state where they lost control. Yes he was in the heat of passion but was it reasonable to be in that state? The defense was claiming that the typical Alameda County resident could be expected to be in a similar state if they found themselves in that situation. This is sometime known as the "gay panic defense".
Since to reach a verdict all 12 jurist must agree, all that is really needed is one out twelve. That is 8.5%. So would 8.5% of the people of Alameda act that way? The jury in Alameda did not agree with that defense and found the defendants guilty of second degree murder. Unfortunately, the Fresno case was never brought before a jury. Would a typical member of Fresno County acted similar?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I don't think everyone would act that way it's just a few people that have anger problems or that are afraid what others might say if they found out. the fresno case
I think it should have went to trial so a jury could make a decision.
I think the "panic defense" is a bunch of bull.............Yeah, I panicked because I ran out of money and robbed a bank. Would I be in jail in that scenario???
Post a Comment