Guilty or Not Guilty?

You are a defence lawyer. You are in court representing your client, Mr X, who is accused of aggravated burglary, rape and murder.

It is alleged that Mr X broke into a house during the night, where a mother and her daughter were sleeping, with an intention to steal. However both mother and daughter were assaulted and then murdered. Mr X was apprehended close to the scene and was high on a mix of drink and drugs and claimed to have no recollection of the previous few hours.

The main case against Mr X is strong forensic evidence which places him at the scene of the crime. However you are aware that because the police were so sure they had caught the killer, the formal procedures for the handling and processing of this evidence were not properly followed. If these irregularities were to come out in court, the evidence would be disqualified and the case against Mr X would almost certainly collapse.

Mr X has previous convictions for burglary, for which he has served time in prison. The file also shows he was once accused of rape, however this charge was dropped due to lack of evidence.

If Mr X is found guilty he faces the death penalty. If the case collapses he will walk from the court a free man.

So what are you going to do?
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Comments (12)

With todays forensics,, they can dig up bodies from years ago,, so new tests can be donne,,,,,,
Who are we to judge,, without all the facts,,,yes ,, because he has previous,, its easy to assume he's guilty,,,,

But are we not innocent,, till proven,, beyond reasonable doubt,,,guilty,, dunno
The forensic evidence which places him at the crime scene is very strong. If the evidence was not allowed it would only be for technical reasons.
Irrespective of the bad handling of evidence,, it would be given in court,, dis-puted,, but registered in the minds of the Jury,, These 12 people will bring the verdict,,,,,,
i personally would send him down and throw away the key if there is enough evidence against him

in 2007 my ex decided to befriend me, take me out with a few friends for a night out, he made sure my dog and kids were out of the house and then waited for my friends to leave before beating me so bad and threatening my life that he was arrested for attempted murder
with all the photographic evidence too of the bruises etc i had he still got away with it

there seems to be no justice nowawdays blues
Livin the dream, the problem is that once a jury are instructed to disregard evidence, it cannot be used. If there is no other evidence available the judge would either instruct the jury to acquit the defendant or abandon the trial.
i totally agree with you

i had never stepped foot in a court before so was not sure what to expect but there was so much evidence against him and yet they could not come up with a verdict, they said it was my word against his, never heard so much rubbish in my life

no wonder so many people dont bother to take others to court if thats what your going to get very mad
many countries today have laws that are so out of date it makes the justice system a joke. the law and the courts are a complete wate of time where i come from you sort out your own problems as i beleive the saying an eye for an eye.
many years ago i found out that my sisters boyfriend at the time was knocking her about and threatened her if she left the house without him. After making a couple of phone calls i booked a place for him in intensive care for 18 months and the doctors said he was a very lucky person to be still alive hence after 18 months in intensive care he never touched my sister again, sadly today that is the only form of true justice.
what would he have got if i went to the police and took him to court maybe a slap on the hand and told not to be a bad boy and that is supposed to be justice I DONT THINK SO.
doh excuse all the typo's..it was the gremlins..I swearangel
to be or not to be...confused what should it be?
is this a riddle? blues
there is no justice in this world

craig is right, they get a slap on the hand and told not to do it again

my ex beat me so bad and actually tried to do to me what a cobra snake does to his prey where they suffocate you to death, after my ex had held me down and beat me he then continued to hold his hand against my mouth and tried to suffocate me, 2 hours he put me through hell, telling me he was going to kill me, the police say it was all planned and he had every intention to kill me that night

i had photos of me, i had hand print bruises on me where he had held me down, bruises on my legs where he had knelt on me to pin me down, i had a suufocation ring around my mouth, my mouth was black inside where he had held my mouth so tight, a pinch mark bruise across my nose where he had held my nose so tight, my ear was black inside and out where he had hit me so hard, i had cuts and bruises else where he had hit me and held me down or where i had hit the floor and yet with all these photos he still got away with it

how ? what do you need to do or prove to these people who call themselves a jury, wil it take him to actually kill someone before they actually do something

its all sooo wrong and i hear stories like this all the time

very mad
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created Nov 2010
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