Criminal Justice Case Study

In order to uphold the ideal of protecting and preserving the rights and liberties of American citizens, our criminal justice system was created to bring justice to those whom a wrongdoing has been committed against. Justice is rooted in protecting those rights and determining a punishment that is fair and appropriate based on the circumstances of the crime. In the case of twin brothers Dale and Mike, a failed suicide pact resulted in Dale panicking and shooting his brother killing him instantly. I will be determining whether justice has been served, the appropriate charges as a prosecutor, and the applicable sentence Dale should serve based on his crime.

Justice is defined as protecting natural and legal rights and punishing wrong using

In the case of Dale, he would likely be charged with second-degree murder, which carries a sentence from four to twenty years in prison. The elements are the same as determining first-degree murder, except the defendant would need to prove that mitigating circumstances that led to the death of Mike. It is evident the first element of murder can be proven, which is Dale did commit an unlawful killing of a human being, but he did it without malice. Malice usually involves a sense of hatred or spite, which is not the case here as Dale loved his twin brother and was best friends. In the situation of malice aforethought, which is more extreme than malice, requires four states of mind that are intention to kill, intent to inflict grievous bodily harm short of death, reckless indifference of human life, and intent to commit a dangerous felony (National Paralegal College, 2016). Therefore, an unlawful killing can be proven, but specific mitigating factors such as Dale’s panic when he realized his brother’s suicide failed, and grabbed the gun from his desk and shot Mike killing him instantly. The jury would need to find Dale acted under intense emotion and acted irrationally (Schwartzbach, A. n.d.). The failure of Mike’s suicide with the tranquilizers provoked Dale to act in the manner he

As a prosecutor, I would have also charged him with premeditated, 1st-degree manslaughter (Illinois this is 2nd-degree murder) except as a judge I feel that Dale would serve his time in a minimum-security prison since he had a clean criminal record and no history of violence. My decision for the charge was based on the fact his crime did not meet the elements of first-degree murder, that requires the intent to kill but without legal justification or while in the commission of a forcible felony and with malice or malice aforethought (Schmalleger, F., 2013). He lacked malice and malice aforethought that is one of the criteria in 1st-degree murder. In regards to the prison sentence, maximum-security prisons are generally reserved for the most dangerous and violent inmates who are a threat to public safety, other inmates and correctional staff (Federal Bureau,