Criminal Defense free essay sample

When a person is charged with a crime the type of defense that they choose could ultimately determine their fate. There are many different types of defenses that exist in our criminal justice system. In this paper I will be taking a brief look at two different cases that have implored two different types of criminal defenses. I will look at the nature and types of defenses used in the cases and what evidence was used to demonstrate defense. I will describe how justification and excuse played a role in the cases and I will also be describing the outcome of each case. The first case that I will be examining will be in the case of the sleepwalking defense. On May 3, 1987, 23 year-old, Kenneth Parks, drove 14 miles to his wife’s parents house and viciously attacked them, killing his wife’s mother and severely wounding her father. â€Å"Accounts say he removed a tire iron from the car and entered the house, where he proceeded to beat his mother-in-law to death and choke his father-in-law into unconsciousness, while stabbing them with their own kitchen knife (Ramsland). In this type of defense, the defendants attorney attempts to show that the defendant IS insane and is unable to be held responsible for the crime that they have committed. Typically, there are two different plea options that are available to defendants, not guilty due to mental illness and psychologically ill.In medical terms, psychological illness can be any type of scenario that creates havoc in an individuals mind. Any individual can be affected by an illness during any given period of time and there is not any real categorization as to what could decide whether an individual is insane or not (Iodination v. Texas, n. D. ). For instance, any random person could be suffering from a psychological illness and still be fully capable of holding own a job and carry out everyday activities that we are accustomed to.A psychological illness can occur in any individual and can vary with time, along with other contributing factors. A psychological illness can generate a problem in the court room, because lawfully the courts need an obvious justification as to what insanity is. In legal terminology, insanity is a psychiatric state that makes an individual legally incompetent an unable to completely see that what they have done in regards to committing a crime. As far as legal terminology goes an individual can have a psychological illness and not be noninsured to be insane.This occurs because an individual might have a psychological illness and yet still be aware of some parts of the crime they had committed. A good example could be, an individual is suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder and the subject goes out and commits murder, this is absolutely not related to the illness in any way. In this particular case, the guilty yet emotionally ill argument can be used to lower the severity of the punishment. The defendant would still be found guilty; however they would receive a less severe punishment as well as receive mental rehabilitation.The guilty on the basis of insanity is used when the state of the individuals mind is that they had no thought as to what they were doing. Because the individual was not aware of their actions there is no reason for punishing the individual for it. Its safe to assume that the individual cant be punished and subsequently ordered to seek treatment in a rehabilitation center. Abandonment and withdrawal is defined as an affirmative defense when the attorney will try to demonstrate that the client was about to commit the crime, but instead changed thei r mind and did not omit the crime. In this case, the attorney needs to prove the details in order to back up their plea. In affirmative defense the defendant doesnt really try to prove that the prosecutors accusations are false, instead they will come up with elaborate plan and their own proof to support their side of the argument. By doing this, it usually proves a part or all of the prosecutors allegations as false. There will be times that the defendant may agree with certain information that the prosecutor provides, however, the defendant will come up with an excuse to how everyone that they did not and could not have committed the crime.In a coercion or duress case, the defense will state why the defendant did not want to commit the crime, but unfortunately had to do it due to a threat or pressure from an outside source. The pressure can be directed at the defendant or some type of hostility can be displayed towards their family members. As a result, in order to keep themselves and their family safe, the defendan t was left with little choice and had to commit the offense. In conclusion, the defenses discussed in this paper have been play down in any courtrooms in the United States.