(1) David had been telling everyone in town, including his livein mother, that he was going to kill his wife, that she was going to have an accident some day. One night after going to bed, David choked his wife to death for refusing to make love to him. He dragged the body down to the first floor to dismember it in the bathtub. He called down to the basement, where his mother slept, woke her up, and asked her to come up and lie on the first floor couch. The mother came upstairs, half asleep, and dozed on the couch. Under oath, the mother claimed to see her son dismembering the body in the bathroom but turned her head away so she would not see. Dave cleaned up the bathroom a bit, and disposed of the bags in a local lake. On the way out, he asked his mother to clean up the bathroom toilet and tub, and she did. The next day, the mother also agreed to corroborate David's story that his wife ran away. Under oath, David said he told his mother he killed his wife and was disposing of the body where no one would find it. His mother reportedly sobbed a bit and said "it will be for the best, son"
This case does NOT qualify the mother as an accomplice, the reason being that the mother was asleep when the crime was committed. No presence, companionship, or counsel was provided by the mother before or during the offense. She cooperated by cleaning up the bathroom, but is insulated (by state statute) from accomplice after the fact because of her relationship as a parent.
At most, she passively acquiesced or passively approved. The statement "it will be for the best, son" does not qualify as active encouragement or instigation. Further, since there's no Good Samaritan law (in this state), the mother as well as David's coworkers and people about town cannot be held liable for not preventing the murder.
(2) Your wife of forty years is dying from a horrible, incurable disease. Because she cannot do it herself, she asks you to get her some poison so she can kill herself. You comply, placing the poison
in a glass by her bed.
YES you are aiding and abetting a suicide, and the real criminal act is placing the poison within reach of your wife.
(3) One of the passengers in a car you're driving robs a hitchhiker you've picked up and are about to drop off.
NO nothing was said or done to indicate your approval or disapproval of the robbery by simply being driver of the automobile.
(4) You are too drunk to drive your own car any more, so you let your best friend drive the rest of the way home. He's driving pretty carelessly, but still better than you could do. Unfortunately, your car collides headon with old lady who dies from the injuries.
YES you are an accomplice to vehicular manslaughter and can be charged and penalized the same as the driver because (a) you put your vehicle (an instrumentality) in the hands of a criminal, (b) you sat sidebyside with the criminal, and (c) you permitted the criminal to continue driving (committing crime) without protest.
(5) You are the owner of a rental car company, and two of your cars have been missing for about 2 months. The guys that rented them were kinda shady but they paid you in advance for a 1 month rental. It turns out they skipped town and racked up $50,000 in unpaid parking tickets with your cars, and the city is suing you for that money.
YES, under the principle of vicarious liability, you, the registered owner (master) of the property are responsible for the fine.
(6) Should parents be held criminally liable for offenses committed by their children?
DEPENDS, on whether state constitution is interpreted to define parenthood as an insulated (immunized) class or so essential to society that they cannot be exempted.
(7) Should stores that sell "rolling papers" (drug paraphernalia) be considered accomplices when they bust people and can prove that the papers (instrumentalities) were used in commission of a crime?
DEPENDS, on which MPC (mens rea) standard is used. A few jurisdictions may use less than
"purposely".
(8)
PRACTICUM:
For each of the following cast of characters, indicate whether the criminal justice system should prosecute them as accomplices under the circumstances and why; if not, what additional circumstances would be necessary for prosecution?Scenario #8:
An estranged husband finds out his wife is sleeping with another man, so he buys a gun and takes a taxi over to that man's apartment where he waits outside and shoots his wife 34 times in the back while she comes out. She lays there and bleeds to death while the husband runs over to a friend's house to hide from police.
Cast of Characters:
(1) the manufacturer of the murder weapon
(2) the merchant who sold the murder weapon to the husband (3) the taxi driver who drove the man to the apartment complex
(4) third parties in the apartment complex who may have seen the husband waiting (5) the other man the wife was seeing
(6) third parties in the apartment complex who failed to call the police or an ambulance (7) the police who didn't provide protection
(8) the ambulance service that eventually showed up (9) the apartment complex where the crime took place (10) the friend who concealed the husband from the police
INTERNET RESOUCES:
Catholic Encyclopedia: Accomplice Complicity Complicity, by George Fletcher, Israel Law Review
The Structure of Complicity, by Miriam GurArye, Israel Law Review Keri's Cal Bar Review Notes: Accomplice Liability
Nolo Press Encyclopedia, When You Can be Charged for Not Doing Anything PRINTED RESOURCES:
Cohen, N. & J. Gobert (1976) Problems in Criminal Law. St. Paul: West.
Fletcher, G. (1978) Rethinking Criminal Law. Boston: Little, Brown.
Samaha, J. (1999) Criminal Law. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: West/Wadsworth.
Last updated: 06/19/03
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