Criminal Justice: CJB:U4-WP, Essay Example

In the act of attempted murder the Court needs to prove that the accused acted in a “deliberate and intentional manner” (Lectic Law Library, 2010), thereby having disregard for human life and the accused actually did attempt to kill someone.  The act of pointing  a loaded gun at someone would qualify here.  It now has to be what is defined as a substantive step towards committing the crime. Preparation is not committed a substantive step.  At this point the gun has not been fired and this would qualify as preparation.  In this case once the gun went off, although not killing the intended victim, an act of homicide took place.  It now may be argued as to whether this was a substantive step resulting in an act of murder.  The pivotal case by the defence was the malfunctioning of the gun and the court granting a dismissal of the murder charge.

The Impossibility clause adopted by the defence relates to the crime being factually or legally impossible to commit.  This alone is very often not considered as an adequate legal defence.  In the USA some 37 States have ruled this out as an adequate defence to crime.  In this case the differentiation is between that of assault and murder. Consider :  People v. Micelle (2002) 104 Cal.App.4th 256, 269. “To point a loaded gun in a threatening manner at another (especially if accompanied by threats to shoot, as here) constitutes an assault, because one who does so has the present ability to inflict a violent injury on the other and the act by its nature will probably and directly result in such injury.” (Becker, 2010).  The crux of the matter is that this was considered to be an incomplete act as the result did not end in killing his attended victim.  Although a fine line the court ruled in precise interpretation of the law although this is questionable on both ethical and moral terms given the accused intention and behaviour.   As a minimum this case should have been treated as voluntary manslaughter ” voluntary manslaughter consists of an intentional killing that is accompanied by additional circumstances that mitigate, but do not excuse, the killing” (Hill, 2005).  The crime could be considered as involuntary manslaughter if the defence proved that there was no intent in the murder committed. ” involuntary manslaughter does not result from a heat of passion but from an improper use of reasonable care or skill while in the commission of a lawful act” (Hill, 2005). Hence the bungling of the firearm may be considered that there was an act of intent against Bert but not against Pratt.  The fact that he was pointing a loaded gun in the direction of both parties would be considered as intent to do harm against both parties.

Works Cited

Becker, M. (2010). Assault with a Fireharm. Retrieved 8 3, 2010, from SHouse Law Group: http://www.shouselaw.com/assault-firearm.html

Hill, G. N. (2005). Voluntary Manslaughter. Retrieved 8 3, 2010, from Free Dictionary: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/manslaughter

Lectic Law Library. (2010, 8 3). Murder, Attempted. Retrieved 8 3, 2010, from Lectic Law Library: http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/m052.htm