Self-Defense

1.Self-Defense:

Shawn and Denise were married and lived in Texas. Shawn had been physically abusing his wife Denise for several months. One fateful day Shawn assaulted Denise brutally, and she left him. Some weeks later Shawn met up with Denise and convinced her to return home.

In the meantime, Denise had applied for a gun permit and purchased a gun. The next time Shawn started beating Denise, she shot and injured him. Denise is charged with attempted murder.

Based on the above information, answer the following questions:

Can Denise claim self-defense as a justification for shooting Shawn? Why? Cite case laws to support your answer.

What are the trends in the U.S. courts with regards to convicting women who use the battered-woman defense? Use the Internet to perform your research.

How is the battered-woman defense related to self-defense?

Would your answer change if Denise had killed Shawn? Why? Cite any appropriate case law to support your answer.

Justify your ideas and responses by using appropriate examples and references from Westlaw (including primary sources such as cases, statutes, rules, regulations, etc.), government Web sites, peer-reviewed legal periodicals (not lawyer blogs), which can be supplemented by law dictionaries or the textbook. This means you need to use more than just your text and legal dictionaries.

2.Juvenile Crimes:

You work for a defense attorney. The attorney is retained to represent a 10-year-old girl accused of murdering an 11-year-old boy. The two children had a fight while they were playing together in the girl's home. She pushed him down the stairs. He sustained serious head injuries and died.

Using the Internet, research the statutes of Ohio, and determine whether the girl will be tried for the murder as a juvenile or as an adult. According to Ohio statutes at what point will she be tried as an adult or a juvenile? Is it appropriate for a child of this age to be charged with murder? Is her age a mitigating circumstance for her crime? Why?

Justify your ideas and responses by using appropriate examples and references from Westlaw (including primary sources such as cases, statutes, rules, regulations, etc.), government Web sites, peer-reviewed legal periodicals (not lawyer blogs), which can be supplemented by law dictionaries or the textbook. This means you need to use more than just your text and legal dictionaries.