| Problem 9.1 Walt decides to shoot Yolanda, whom he blames for all his troubles. As he is driving to her home to carry out the murder, Walt hits a jogger who has darted out from behind a tree. Stopping immediately, he rushes to help the jogger, who is already dead. Walt is upset until he discovers that the dead jogger is Yolanda. Assuming Walt was driving at a safe speed and the collision was uanvoidable, is he guilty of murder? Problem 9.2 Belva is cheated when she buys a car from Fast Eddie's Car Mart. She attempts to return the car, but Eddie just laughs and tells her to go away. Every time Belva has to make a repair she gets angry. Finally, she decides to wreck Eddie's car to get even. Following Eddie home from work one evening, Belva tries to ram his car, hoping to bend the axle or frame. Instead of bending the frame, the collision smashes Eddie's gas tank, causes an explosion, and kills Eddie. a. Is Belva guilty of any degree of homicide? If so, which degree and for what reason? b. What was Belva's motive in acting as she did? Should the motive be considered at any stage in the criminal justice process? Why or why not? Problem 9.3 a. Why do you think so many teenagers consider commiting suicide? What could be done to reduce this number? What would you do if your friend told you he or she was considering commiting suicide? Suppose your friend asked you not to tell anyone. What would you do in that case? b. Why do you think that elderly commit suicide more often that any other age group? What could be done to reduce this number? Problem 9.5 For each case below, assume that (1) the man and the woman have sexual intercorse, (2) the woman later reports the activity to the police, and (3) the man contends that the woman consented. Should the man be prosecuted? Give your reasons. a At midnight, a man breaks into the home of a woman he does not know. He goes to her bedroom, awakens her, pulls out a knife, and threatens to stab her unless she has sex with him. She tells him that she does not want to have sex. But then says "If you are going to do this, you'd better use a condom." He agrees. b.A famous boxer serves as a judge at a beauty contest. After the contest, he invites an 18-year-old contestant to his room. She meets him there. Later, she says, he forced her to have sex. c. A male high school student, aged 17, and a female high-school student, aged 14, go out on a date. After attending a party, they agree to have intercourse in his car. The next day, he brags about this at school, and she goes to the police. There is some evidence that he is part of an informal organization of high-school seniors who are involved in a competition to have sex with as many girls as possible. d. Scott and Sherri are college juniors who have had three dates. On these dates, they have never engaged in any sexual activity beyond a brief good-night kiss. On their fourth date, he invites her to an all-night drinking party at his fraternity house. She drinks too much, goes up to his room alone around 1 a.m. and falls asleep. In the morning, she wakes up to discover that they had intercourse during the night. e. Jim, a 25-year-old high school teacher, becomes very good friends with Lori, age 17, a student in one of his classes. On their senior class trip to the state capital, she knocks on his hotel room late at night, and they have sexual intercourse. |