On February 11, 1983 Robert Augustus Harper, Jr., filed Amicus Curiae on the case of Joyce Bernice Hawthorne v. State of Florida, 740 So.2d. 770. This was the third appearance of Hawthorne in the First District Court of Appeal of Florida for First degree murder, second degree murder and now manslaughter. The question raised in the Hawthorne v. State amicus was related to the expert testimony of Dr. Lenore E. Walker, a Clinical Psychologist with extensive involvement in the study and research of “battered woman syndrome.” Amicus indicated Dr. Walker’s testimony would provide the Trier of facts with expert opinion on a battered woman’s belief that resorting to the use of deadly force against her husband was required, if the woman had perceived imminent death or bodily hard to herself and/or her children. Dr. Walker would clarify battered woman’s syndrome to the jury including clarifying all the relevant stages, cycles of violence, symptoms and reasons why women choose to stay with the abuser. Amicus states that the appellant brief argues that evidence supported Dr. Walker’s qualifications as an expert and so focuses its own brief on the scientific knowledge of the field in support of an expert’s opinion on battered women syndrome. In doing so, amicus turned to guidelines, case law, scholarly legal materials, expert’s methodology received as “generally accepted” in scientific journals written by authorities in the field of battered woman syndrome. It told the appeal court that other courts have looked at many or even all of these examples as proof of an experts methodology as being “generally accepted” by the scientific community and in doing so found reliability in this experts opinion and reliability of the techniques use... ... middle of paper ... ...d their courts and the same should apply in Florida courts. It was clear in his dissenting opinion of the current appeal court and the lower court that the area of expert testimony requires more definitive direction within the trial and appeal court system of Florida. Works Cited American Psychological Association (n.d.). Hawthorne v. State. Retrieved on November 16, 2013 from http://www.apa.org/about/offices/ogc/amicus/hawthorne.aspx Westlaw (February 6, 1997). Joyce Bernice Hawthorne v. State of Florida. Retrieved on November 16, 2013 from https://a.next.westlaw.com/Document/I3dd08cf00d9b11 d9821e9512eb7d7b26/View/FullText.html?listSource=Foldering&originationContext= clientid&transitionType=MyResearchHistoryItem&contextData =%28oc.Search%29& VR=3.0&RS=cblt1.0
The evidence presented to myself and the other juror’s proves that Tyrone Washburn is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the murder of his wife, Elena Washburn. On March 12, 1979 Elena Washburn was strangled in the living room of her family’s home. Her body was then dragged to the garage, leaving a trail of blood from the living room to the place it was found. Her husband, Tyrone Washburn, found her in the family’s garage on March 13, 1979 at 1:45 A.M. When officer Dale Chambers arrived at the scene he found her lying face down in a pool of blood. The solid evidence in this case proves only one person, Tyrone Washburn, is guilty of murder.
Therefore, this case plays on the idea that, when an individual feels his or her life to be in danger, self-defence is accurate. In the case of Ms. Lavallee, both reasonableness and ethics were questioned. Since Ms. Lavallee is a victim of battered woman syndrome, when she pulls the trigger at that life-threatening moment, cannot be understood except in terms of the cumulative effect of months or years of being brutally abused. Overall, this case is an exceptional example of how self-defence comes to play within the criminal justice system. It is important for the law to revaluate cases for a better understanding of the balance of inclination over pain. For instance, although Lavallee was thinking that her life was in danger with action she committed, there is reason and story behind her crime. When the case is viewed from this perspective, it becomes clear that the battered woman’s knowledge of her partner’s violence was so profound that she knows the extent and nature of the violence beforehand, which allowed her to determine that this time it was different, and would probably result in life threatening
The Scope of the State's Power in Matters Affecting Health: The Case of Jacobson v. Massachusetts 1905
First I would like to address the definition of Battered Woman Syndrome. Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) is a condition often used by the defense in cases like this one to relieve the defendant of some or
McCulloch v Maryland 4 Wheat. (17 U.S.) 316 (1819) Issue May Congress charter a bank even though it is not an expressly granted power? Holding Yes, Congress may charter a bank as an implied power under the “necessary and proper” clause. Rationale The Constitution was created to correct the weaknesses of the Articles. The word “expressly” particularly caused major problems and therefore was omitted from the Constitution, because if everything in the Constitution had to be expressly stated it would weaken the power of the Federal government.
Recommendations: It is recommended that our law office regretfully deny service to Ms. Carry based upon the precedent in Kentucky. Based upon the analysis the issue, it is apparent that Ms. Carry would not receive a promising conclusion to her situation. Due to the facts involved and the cases discussed (which are somewhat on point) Ms. Carry does not make a claim in which relief can be granted.
The battered woman syndrome is more of a psychological issue so sometimes the judges may have a hard time understanding the underlying causes that lead to the victim making the choice that he or she did. At times it would not be allowed to be used in
There have been many Supreme Court cases that dealed with many concepts of the law, like obscenity for example. As a matter of fact, obscenity is a concept that Miller v. California deals with. To be more specific, this case deals with what is considered obscene, and if the specific obscenity mentioned in this case is protected by the first amendment, the freedom of speech. I will now explain this case in more depth.
Meyer v. State of Nebraska. 262 U.S. 390, 399, 43 Sct. 625, 626, 67 L.Ed. 1042. (1923)
They reasoned that since Barnett didn’t either argue against the dismissal of negligence claim at the time of its dismissal or include the claim in subsequent revisions, she had no support for her claim that the court had erred in dismissing her claim of negligence. The court also ruled that the language of section 3-108(b) of the Tort Immunity Act meant that complete, unconditional immunity was to be offered if supervision was present. As a result of this interpretation, the issue of if the lifeguards had committed willful and wanton misconduct was rendered irrelevant. Since the issues of material fact raised by the appellant weren’t actually issues of material fact, the Supreme Court affirmed the District and Appellate Court’s motion and subsequent affirmation of summary
CASE NAME: A Book Named "John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman Of Pleasure" V. Attorney General of Massachusetts
Also the prime suspect had other charges pending against him such as possession of illegal substances and the homeowner of the vacant crime scene said the man was a recovering addict. During the conversation with the officers Johnson refused to give up his DNA sample. The man profess he had not commit any murders and did not commit any crimes regarding the matter. Officers then compel him to give his DNA sample with a warrant compelling him to follow the order. Moreover, after the crime was committed it was discovered that Johnson try to sell one of the victims’ cell phone. He was trying to get rid of the evidence that could implement him on the crime. Witness came forward to verify this story that Johnson indeed try to sell the cell phone for cash. In addition, witness said that Johnson try to be the pimp of the victims that he was
Remy, Richard C., Gary E. Clayton, and John J. Patrick. "Supreme Court Cases." Civics Today. Columbus, Ohio: Glencoe, 2008. 796. Print.
There are many cases where self- defense has been used as a plea where the victim felt they were in harms’ way or unable to escape a specific situation that ended badly. The definition for self- defense is: 1. Defense of oneself when physically attacked 2. Defense of what belongs to oneself, as ones work or reputation 3. (Law) the right to protect oneself against violence or threatened violence with whatever force or means reasonable or necessary. According to an expert on battered women, a woman must experience at least two complete battering cycles before being labeled a battered woman. (Walker) According to Dowd, “he believes the proper use of BWS assists the fact finder to understand the state of mind of the battered woman at the time she fought back against her abuser.”(1) Women should be able to use BWS as a plea when habitual abuse occurs within a relationship with a significant other and results in violence or worse death.
Stewart, I., and Joines V. (1987) TA Today, Nottingham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Russell.