Charges Of Homicide Research Articles

Corrigendum: Court-Ordered Forensic Psychiatric Evaluations for Offenders with Schizophrenia with Homicide Charges in Taiwan

Corrigendum: Court-Ordered Forensic Psychiatric Evaluations for Offenders with Schizophrenia with Homicide Charges in Taiwan

Court-Ordered forensic psychiatric evaluations for offenders with schizophrenia with homicide charges in Taiwan

Background: Homicidal offenders with schizophrenia who went through psychiatric evaluations are a small but significant group during a criminal appeal. Aim: Our aims are to explore whether the types of crime, such as homicide or not, would be related to the verdicts for the alleged offenders with schizophrenia in Taiwan. Our hypothesis was that homicide cases, rather than other alleged offenses, would be more likely to be regarded as no responsibility (legal insanity) or diminished responsibility for those defendants in the forensic psychiatric evaluation opinions or the court verdicts. Methods: A retrospective comparison of the homicide offenders with the nonhomicide offenders with schizophrenia, registered between December 2000 and November 2009, was conducted in the web-based, national, open-access court verdict databank. Results: There were 33 (3.4%) in 9691 criminal homicide offenders that had a diagnosis of schizophrenia. There were 33 in the homicide group and 22 in the nonhomicide group. Among these defendants in the homicide group, 3 (9.1%) were regarded as legal insanity, and 21 (63.6%) were regarded as diminished responsibility in comparison to the zero (0%) as legal insanity and nine (40.9%) as diminished responsibility in the nonhomicide group (P = 0.029). In addition, the group with multiple evaluations tended to receive forensic psychiatric opinions as legal insanity (N = 3; 33.3%), and the group with single evaluation tended to receive forensic psychiatric opinions as diminished responsibility (N = 16; 66.67%) (P = 0.017). The group with multiple evaluations tended to be ruled as legal insanity in the court (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Homicide cases would be more likely to be regarded as legal insanity or diminished responsibility for the defendants with schizophrenia in the forensic psychiatric evaluation opinions or the court verdicts.

Unsuspected systemic Epstein-Barr virus-positive T-cell lymphoma of childhood diagnosed at autopsy in a potential homicide case.

Systemic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive T-cell lymphoma of childhood (SETLC) is a rare, rapidly progressive, and often fatal disease of children and young adults characterized by monoclonal expansion of EBV-positive T cells in tissues or peripheral blood following infection with EBV. Its distinction from other EBV-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders with overlapping features can be difficult, and particular diagnostic features may not be manifest until autopsy examination. We present the case of a 10-year-old boy with significant disability due to remote traumatic brain injury following non-accidental head trauma who died unexpectedly at home. Given the history of physical abuse and the potential for homicide charges, significant medicolegal implications arose with this case. Pathologic investigation ultimately revealed conclusive diagnostic features of SETLC including extensive proliferation of EBV-positive T cells in multiple organs. A natural manner of death was confirmed, thereby excluding delayed homicide related to complications of non-accidental head trauma.

Clinical Profile, Course and Outcomes of Male Inpatients with Mental Illness Charged with Homicide: A Chart Review from an Indian Tertiary Care Hospital.

The relationship between imprisonment and mental illness is bidirectional. The clinical outcomes of prisoners with mental illness have not been widely studied, especially in developing countries. This study was conducted to assess the same among male inpatients under judicial custody with charges of homicide. A retrospective chart review of male forensic ward inpatients admitted between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2016, was conducted. Diagnosis in the files was based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 criteria. The Clinical and Global Improvement-Severity (CGI-S) scale was used to measure the severity of illness. Mean CGI-S assessment was carried out at baseline, end of 1 year, 5 years, and 15 years. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Friedman's test, and Dunn's post hoc test. Schizophrenia spectrum disorders and other psychotic disorders, mood disorders, and alcohol use disorders were diagnosed in 62(49.6%), 22(17.6%), and 44(35.2%) subjects, respectively. Forty-one (32.8%) subjects had at least one readmission. The average CGI-S score for the total subjects was 5 (markedly ill) at baseline and 2 (borderline ill) at the end of their latest contact with the tertiary care hospital. For the 34 subjects (27.2%) who had follow-up information of 15 years, the average CGI-S score was 1 (normal, not at all ill) at the end of 15 years (P < 0.001). Clinical outcomes of prisoners with mental illness seem promising, subject to the seamless availability of services. Studies from other parts of the country are required for a more systematic understanding of the requirements of care.

A Willful Choice: The Ineffective and Incompassionate Application of Wisconsin’s Criminal Laws in Combating the Opioid Crisis

Wisconsin’s drug-induced homicide law, known as the Len Bias law, was intended to prosecute for-profit drug dealers and was rarely charged for several decades after it was enacted in 1986. In recent years, prosecutors have brought hundreds of Len Bias charges in response to opioid deaths. Often, these charges are brought against overdose victims’ friends and family members — people who are also mired in addiction and who shared or helped obtain the fatal drug. In contrast, Wisconsin’s Good Samaritan overdose law (GSOL), enacted in 2014, focuses on harm reduction. If a person calls for help when another person is overdosing, the law provides both people with some insulation from prosecution of a range of drug-related charges. These laws approach the problem of overdose death from very different angles: The Len Bias law punishes addicts for their role in overdose deaths, while the GSOL offers addicts protection from prosecution in order to encourage calls for medical intervention in overdose situations. Unfortunately, the current implementation of the Len Bias law diminishes the potential of GSOL to save lives because addicts are faced the possibility of a homicide charge when they summon help for an overdose victim. With the rise of lethal synthetic opioids in Wisconsin, the criminal justice system must adjust its current laws and practices in order to reduce overdose deaths. The criminalization of addiction represented by the Len Bias law thwarts rehabilitation efforts, miring addicts in a cycle of incarceration and drug use that ends with death in too many cases. This Comment proposes a solution: separating addicts from for-profit drug dealers in the eyes of the law by implementing a joint-user defense in Len Bias cases. Addicts are more likely to use opioids with other addicts than alone. By removing the possibility of a homicide conviction, addicts will more readily utilize the GSOL and call for medical intervention when a fellow addict is overdosing. Additionally, separating addicts from dealers allows the Len Bias law to be charged in accordance with its intended purpose, while freeing up investigatory and prosecutorial resources for the more complex task of investigating commercial drug dealers and disrupting the drug trade. This proposed solution would begin to align Wisconsin’s criminal laws with the state’s rehabilitation-focused public health efforts at combating opioid addiction in communities and reducing overdose deaths.

The Italian Mariners

On Fifteenth February, 2012 two Indian anglers were executed off the shoreline of Kerala, India, on board the St. Antony after they were terminated upon by Italian marines named ‘Massimiliano Latorre’ and ‘Salvatore Girone’ on board the Italian boat ‘Enrica Lexie’ which was venturing out from Singapore to Egypt and St. Anthony returning to its goal from an angling campaign, out of the blue there began shooting when St. Anthony was 20.5 Nautical Miles off Indian Expense inside adjacent zone territory of India's Selective Monetary Zone. The Indian Coast Watchman got hold of ‘Enrica Lexie’ at a place close to the Lakshadweep Islands and constrained it to continue it to Kochi. Charges of Homicide (Area 300 of the Indian Reformatory Code), Insidiousness (Segment 425 of the Indian Punitive Code) and so on were imposed against the caught Italian Sailors.

Towards a Principled Legal Response to Children Who Kill

This article surveys common-law jurisdictions, finding that the typical response to a homicide charge against a child is prosecution and sentencing in the adult jurisdiction. Reforms, such as alterations to trial procedure, and lower sentencing starting points have focussed on mitigating the excesses of adult trial and sentence. A principled approach requires a different lens. Practical strands of an age-appropriate response include custody as a last resort and only where there is a risk to public safety, an automatic prohibition on publication of identifying biographical details, and a child-specific jurisdiction. The prevailing societal interest is in reintegration.

Detection strategies for feigned psychopathology: test development and effects of criminal charge simulation design on response styles

ABSTRACTFeigned psychopathology detection strategy is needed for forensic settings in Thailand. This initial Thai version of the symptoms validity test (SVT-Th) was developed based on two global detection strategies including unlikely and amplified detection strategies proposed by Rogers. The participants were collected from populations of nonclinical undergraduate students and clinical psychiatric patients. Results of Study 1, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to determine the factor structures of the SVT-Th. The results of CFA supported 2-factorial model as proposed by Rogers. The SVT-Th was found to possess a high degree of internal consistency. Using a simulation designed in Study 2, the experimental group was asked to feign psychopathology to avoid criminal prosecution of homicide charges (simulator undergraduate students). The findings were compared with two control groups who were asked to reply to the questions honestly (honest undergraduate students and honest psychiatric patients). The results indicated that the SVT-Th were significantly distinguishable in the experimental group (classified as feigned response style) from the control groups (classified as honest response style). The area under the ROC curve showed high accuracy classification. The ROC curve determined the optimal cutoff score, sensitivity and specificity for the SVT-Th.

Can a Nurse Practitioner Go to Jail for Malpractice or Other Things Done in Clinical Practice?

A nurse practitioner (NP) asked whether a clinician can go to jail for wrongful death if there is a serious misdiagnosis. I have collected cases against NPs—meaning I search for them and keep files of them—for 20 years, and only once have I heard of an NP being criminally prosecuted for medical malpractice. That was an incident in 1996 where a NP miscalculated and erroneously ordered a dose for an infant, a registered nurse gave the wrong dose, and the infant died. A lawsuit was filed against both nurses for malpractice. The local prosecutor learned of the case and initiated prosecution of the nurses for criminally negligent homicide. The case is described here: “Anatomy of an Error Course” (https://www.mederrors.com/ce_sub_set_course.html). The nurses accepted a plea agreement that kept their records clear of the homicide charges if they stayed out of legal trouble for 2 years. They were sanctioned by the Board of Nursing. Carolyn Buppert, MSN, JD, is an attorney at the Law Office of Carolyn Buppert, PC, in Boulder, CO. She can be reached at .

Good Samaritans vs. predatory peddlers: problematizing the war on overdose in the United States

In the wake of dramatic increases, and demographic shifts, in the misuse of heroin and prescription opioids, drug addiction and accidental overdose have been increasingly framed as public health, not criminal justice, matters in the United States. In turn, many locales hardest hit by fatal overdose have supported so-called ‘harm reduction’ policies aimed at stemming opiate-related mortality, while openly disclaiming the propriety of strategies that punish users. Yet, as U.S. overdose deaths achieved another record high in 2015, individual users continue to fear the criminal ramifications of witnessing and even suffering an overdose. Using surveys and interviews among a sample of overdose-experienced individuals outside Pittsburgh, PA, this study reveals a marked reluctance among those at the scene of an overdose to involve emergency services, for fear of not only maltreatment, but also prosecution on homicide charges – a fear revealed to be well-justified in light of the increasing implementation and enforcement of ‘fatal drug delivery’ laws. Reflecting on Jonathan Simon’s depiction of the U.S. as a society ‘governed through crime,’ this paper considers how an emergent ‘war on overdose’ may serve to buttress and quietly sustain an unpopular ‘war on drugs’ through alternative tactics that identify new victims and offenders.

No Greater Provocation? Adultery and the Mitigation of Murder in English Law

Reformers in much of the common law world have recently turned their attentions to laws pertaining to murder and manslaughter; however, perceptions of the past maintain a hold. In England and Wales, the Coroners and Justice Act (2009) abandoned notions of provocation that developed in the seventeenth century, instead stipulating that “loss of control” would serve as the means of mitigating charges of murder to a lesser offence. If a person has reasonable grounds for losing control, of a sort that accords with contemporary norms and values, that loss of control can be adduced as a partial defense on a homicide charge. Concerns about blaming victims and gender bias have helped shape the shift away from provocation defenses. Whether a married woman's sexual infidelity might in some way serve as a partial defense that moderates her husband's killing of her from murder to something less serious has proven especially controversial. (The reverse, a wife killing an adulterous husband, receives far less attention, but then women kill their partners for any reason far less often.) Drafters of the 2009 act expressly abandoned the older notion that sexual infidelity constituted sufficient provocation to mitigate charges in a husband's killing of his wife. Angry, jealous men killing their spouses in revenge or a passionate rage might no longer cite infidelity as sufficient provocation to kill. Some people, including lawmakers and judges, expressed concerns about the change. One MP (and later attorney general) complained that “thousands of years of human experience and history should be jettisoned for a piece of political correctness.” He need not have worried: recently, the decision inR. v. Clinton(2012) reintroduced the substance of the defense in a new guise, seeing a wife's adultery not as provocation, but as a trigger for a husband's understandable “loss of control.” Among other factors, the Court of Appeal alluded to “experience over many generations” in treating a man's suspicion of his wife's sexual infidelity as reasonable grounds for mitigation.

A traffic accident and the Protection and Bounds for Unborn Child's Life by Criminal Law: Concentrating on negligent homicide charge of Fetal homicide

A traffic accident and the Protection and Bounds for Unborn Child's Life by Criminal Law: Concentrating on negligent homicide charge of Fetal homicide

Death by Bullying: A Comparative Culpability Proposal

This article explores the possibility and advisability of imposing homicide charges against bullies, a controversial approach because of the serious causation questions it poses. Nonetheless, there is precedent for holding a person criminally culpable for a victim’s suicide. A notorious case involved the head of the Ku Klux Klan who was convicted of murder after the woman he raped killed herself by swallowing poison, “distracted by pain and shame so inflicted upon her.” Some may see her shame as analogous to gay teens who commit suicide after being bullied about their sexual orientation. But perhaps the law should not demand that free will be completely lacking before a person is charged for another’s suicide. In other instances such as provocation, the criminal law recognizes that the relationship between victim and defendant shapes culpability. This article explores whether it is feasible and desirable to do so with suicides.

Looking at the Invisible: When Battered Women are Acquitted by Successfully Raising Self-Defence

Homicide is a distinctly male offence. The majority of homicides in Australia are committed by men, against men. This has shaped the laws around homicide, including the laws around the defences to homicide, to the extent that these defences are not easily accessible to women who kill. Of the comparatively low number of women who commit homicide, the great majority kill their intimate partners, and this is in response to immediate or extended violence. It is legal to use reasonable force in self-defence, even where that force results in a fatality. However, self-defence, which is a complete defence to homicide, has a gendered history, and women who kill face significant difficulty convincing juries that their actions constitute self-defence. Academics and legal commentators have expressed that it is no longer the law but rather, prevailing community understandings and institutional attitudes toward domestic violence that continue to make self-defence relatively inaccessible to women. In its Final Report recommendations to the Victorian Parliament, the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) expressed concern that women were failing to successfully raise self-defence at trial, and referred to Bradfield’s study of 76 cases between 1998 - 2000 which found that 41.4% of women charged with homicide pleaded guilty to murder or manslaughter. Sheehy, Stubbs and Tolmie’s research of 67 homicide cases between 2000 - 2010 specifically involving battered women defendants, found that 64% of battered women pleaded guilty and only 16% secured an acquittal. Stubbs and Tolmie made the observation that for battered women defendants in Australia, even where self-defence would have been available, “pleading guilty to manslaughter…in exchange for the Prosecution agreeing to drop murder charges, has emerged as perhaps the most common defence strategy…” It is problematic that battered women would elect to plead guilty to manslaughter, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment, rather than attempt to acquire an acquittal by raising self-defence. This bespeaks the substantial challenges women face trying to prove self-defence. In fact, little is known about the small number of cases that involve women who are able to secure acquittals by successfully raising self-defence. This is because acquittals are not reported, and researchers in this area must rely on the media’s selective reporting. Acquittals are “truly invisible as, for several reasons, we know very little about the reasoning of judges and juries in those cases”, and especially because acquittals are rare. In this research paper, I analyse two cases involving female defendants who are acquitted of homicide charges, against the background of the current debate on battered women and self-defence. The cases are R v Kasparian and R v Chipreo. They were chosen because they fit the topic criteria and because of practical reasons of access. I was able to obtain the transcripts for these two cases through my employment at the Supreme Court of New South Wales. I note that the defendant in Kasparian is not a ‘battered woman’ in that there was no history of physical violence in her relationship. The case nevertheless provides insight into the current issues surrounding self-defence and battered women.

Social and cultural meanings of legal responses to homicide among men: Masculine honour, sexual advances and accidents

This paper discusses Australian controversies over defences and excuses to homicide that serve partly to normalise violence in fatal conflicts between men. The ‘homosexual advance defence’ (HAD), describes a specific use of the provocation plea to seek a reduction of murder charges to a finding of manslaughter in cases of alleged male on male sexual advance. Successful uses of HAD to support claims of provocation have reflected legal acceptance of the alleged affront to masculine honour that such an advance can comprise. Likewise, the excuse of ‘accident’ has become a matter of growing debate when used to counter homicide charges arising from petty disputes or unprovoked assaults between men. The ineffective outcome of debate and the extent of this violence mirrors official resignation about this phenomenon and casts doubt on the progression of ‘civilising’ trends against social brutality. Anti-violence activists and reformers have mobilised against the use of HAD and the excuse of accident with mixed success. Reform of provocation law to abolish HAD is still incomplete, and the accident excuse continues to impact on cases involving alcohol-related violence among men. Anti-homosexual attacks and other fatal male on male conflicts have been viewed as unrelated forms of crime, yet there is a symmetry between HAD-related and ‘accidental’ killings that arise in social scenarios where sudden rage in reply to insults to male honour is a common social expectation.

Gang-Related Homicide Charging Decisions: The Implementation of a Specialized Prosecution Unit in Los Angeles

This study examines prosecutorial decisions to reject gang-related homicide charges. Focusing on a large, “traditional” gang jurisdiction—Los Angeles—the authors investigate the effect of victim, suspect, and incident characteristics on the likelihood of case rejection for 614 homicide suspects. The data were collected by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office to evaluate Operation Hardcore, a specialized prosecution unit initiated to address the complexities of prosecuting violent gang-related crimes. These data, which captured decisions made in one of the nation’s largest district attorney’s offices, provide a unique glimpse into how a jurisdiction addressed the growing problem of gang violence. Overall, the results of this study shed light on how prosecutors charge gang-related homicides and how multiple victim cases—which potentially attract more public attention—may influence such decisions. Moreover, the findings also have implications for specialized prosecution units, as they were found to reduce the likelihood of case rejection. Policy implications and directions for future research are offered.

Sociodemographic and Offence-related characteristics of Homicide Offenders in a Nigerian prison

Background: Research on the sociodemographic, historical and forensic characteristics of homicide continue to attract the attention of mental health professionals in developing countries owing to the ongoing debate on the relationship between homicide offences and the presence of mental illness in perpetrators. This attention is partly due to the potential of these variables to be risk factors for homicide offences. There is a need to update available information in Nigeria. Aim: The study was carried out to evaluate socio-demographic and certain homicide- related characteristics of homicide defendants and to determine the relationship between socio-demographic variables and charge of homicide. Method: A questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic and homiciderelated items were administered on 66 homicide defendants at Ilesa prison, Nigeria. The socio-demographic questionaires were also administered on 66 other prisoners, as control. Results: The homicide offenders consisted of 63 (95.5%) males and 3 (4.5%) females. Most of them (78.8%) were less than 40years old. Most of the victims (72.7%) were males. In 81.8% of cases, the victims were known to the defendants. The commonest method of homicide was the use of sharp objects (27.3%) followed by the use of firearms (21.2%). Marital status, level of education and type of religion were not observed to be statistically different between the two groups. Even though, most respondents belong to less skilled occupational groups, the homicide defendants were significantly more represented in these groups and they were significantly more unemployed. Conclusion: The observations indicate that some level of restriction needs to be imposed on acquisition of dane-guns and call for concerted effort to tackle the interrelated problems of unemployment, poverty, and idleness in the society.

Delayed Homicides and the Proximate Cause

Delayed homicides result from complications of remote injuries inflicted by "the hands of another." The investigation of delayed homicides may be a challenge due to a number of factors including: failure to report the death to the proper authorities, lack of ready and adequate documentation of the original injury and circumstances, and jurisdictional differences between the places of injury and death. The certification of these deaths also requires the demonstration of a pathophysiologic link between the remote injury and death. In sorting through these issues, it is helpful to rely upon the definition of the proximate cause of death. Over a 2-year period in New York City, there were 1211 deaths certified as homicide of which 42 were due to injuries sustained greater than 1 year before death. The survival interval ranged from 1.3 to 43.2 years. The most common immediate causes of death were: infections (22), seizures (7), and intestinal obstructions/hernias (6). Common patterns of complications included infection following a gunshot wound of the spinal cord, seizure disorder due to blunt head trauma, and intestinal obstruction/hernia due to adhesions from an abdominal stab wound. Spinal cord injuries resulted in paraplegia in 14 instances and quadriplegia in 8. The mean survival interval for paraplegics was 20.3 years and 14.8 years for quadriplegics; infections were a frequent immediate cause of death in both groups, particularly infections due to chronic bladder catheterization. The definition of proximate cause originated with civil law cases and was later applied to death certification as the proximate cause of death. The gradual extinction of the "year and a day rule" for the limitation of bringing homicide charges in delayed deaths may result in more of these deaths going to trial. Medical examiners/coroners must be able to explain the reasoning behind these death certifications and maintain consistent standards for the certification of all delayed deaths due to any injury (homicides, suicides, and accidents).

Homicide by Fright: The Intersection of Cardiology and Criminal Law

The prevailing lay wisdom associates emotional stress with sudden death, and recent medical reports have linked massive catecholamine surges with demonstrable cardiac dysfunction that can be either reversible or fatal. This association does not strictly prove causality, and the question remains open for additional scientific investigation. From the legal viewpoint, however, the issue has been resolved, and case law clearly holds that sudden emotional stress can cause death. More significantly, case law also holds that if the sudden emotional stress is caused by criminal conduct, the resulting death of a victim of the criminal conduct can be prosecuted as homicide. Cardiologists are often called to testify in such circumstances. In the present study, we have reviewed 8 legal cases that are the basis of current opinions in these matters. These legal principles can be summarized as follows: emotional stress is sufficient, and physical abuse is not required for conviction; a time-lapse between the induction of emotional stress and death does not necessarily mitigate the charge of homicide; the criminal act must be the proximate cause of the victim's death; however, the accused does not always need to be physically present to commit the crime. In conclusion, although the pathophysiology of sudden death associated with massive emotional stress has not been fully elucidated from a scientific viewpoint, in the legal system, the association can be causative and can be the basis for a criminal prosecution. Cardiologists may be called on to provide expert opinions in the prosecution of these cases.

Femina sacra: Gendered memory and political violence

Synopsis This article explores a specific form of state sanctioned violence enacted towards survivors of Transnistria, Ukraine, using testimonies of women survivors of Transnistria. The article theorises the woman survivor of genocide as femina sacra — the equivalent of Agamben's [Agamben, Giorgio (1995) Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. Stanford, Ca: Stanford University Press.] homo sacer, she who can be killed without charge of homicide but who cannot be sacrificed, and who is always at the mercy of sovereign power. The article then examines the politics of memory in relation to political violence and the concept of postmemory, as developed by Marianne Hirsch [Hirsch, Marianne (1997) Family Frames: Photography, Narrative and Postmemory. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.], denoting a ‘vicarious past’ or ‘received history’, and the link between feminism and ‘cultural memory’. It concludes by teasing out a series of interrelated questions about the role gender plays in the interaction of genocide, gender and memory.