Jurisdiction of the American courts
Project description
This is a fact pattern loosely based on an actual British case from the nineteenth century, but deal with it as if it happened under the jurisdiction of the American courts in this timeframe. In choosing sides, think about the defendants’ victim, how he was chosen, the reality (versus the appearance) of their situation, the need of society of law and order, etc.<br />
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Don’t worry about whether you are right or wrong. Classes usually split down the middle. I want you to either take the side of the prosecutor or the defense attorney and make your closing argument as if to a jury in this capital murder case involving cannibalism.<br />
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Seven men set sail for a seven day cruise on the Atlantic Ocean. During a storm, their ship capsized; only five of them survived:<br />
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Nigel, 78, is a retired blacksmith. He is in relatively good health and has no living relative but for his grandson and no dependents but for a parrot with an actuarial lifespan of another thirty years.<br />
Evan, 43, is the married father of five. He is a clerk in a shipping company.<br />
Donal, 40, is single and has never held any job for more than three weeks because of his alcoholism. He is Evan’s brother.<br />
Richard, 38, is Evan’s best friend. He had been diagnosed five days before the trip as having an incurable disease that will probably kill him in three to six months. The trip was conceived to take his mind off the issue, but his friends do not know that he is planning to kill himself when they finish their cruise.<br />
Charlie, 14, is the son of Nigel’s neighbor and a likely candidate for accelerated admission to Oxford next year.<br />
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During the shipwreck Nigel suffered no injuries. Evan is badly bruised but otherwise unhurt. Donal is seriously, perhaps fatally, injured when a shark decides it muchly needs a late afternoon snack. Donal is, however, conscious and the bleeding is being carefully controlled by the use of a tourniquet. Richard appears to have lost his grip on sanity, and Charlie, who received a bad blow to his head from some floating debris, drifts in and out of consciousness. The full extent of his injuries is unknown to his fellow survivors.<br />
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The survivors drift for three days in their dinghy with no food and only such rainwater as they can capture and store. (An earlier attempt to drink the salt water resulted in some bad dysentery.) Anxious to maximize their chances for survival, Nigel and Evan discuss ways of obtaining food and the likelihood of rescue. They believe that if they can drift with the current for another seven days, they will be within sight of Pango Pango. (In reality, they are only ten miles off the shore of Gibraltar, but the heavy mist has concealed the shoreline from them.)<br />
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They decide that they must have food to survive longer than four days. Fishing has proved impossible, and after some time, Evan voices the unthinkable: They must kill one of their own number, sacrificing him for the greater good. Reluctantly, Nigel agrees. Donal, who has heard their conversation, begs them to save him; Richard, who does not seem to understand what is going on around him, nevertheless shrinks from their touch and starts screaming when they approach him. Finally, they decide that Charlie, who is unconscious and seriously dehydrated, will be their unwitting savior.<br />
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They kill him as mercifully as they can, and take nourishment. The next day they are rescued. Donal dies from his wounds, and Richard has lost total touch with reality. Evan and Nigel are told that they could likely have survived more days, even weeks, so long as they had adequate fresh water supplies (which they did). They are then arrested and charged with the capital offense of premeditated murder. They go to trial. The only options are acquittal or death. Should they hang?
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