Saturday, March 21, 2020

The Basic Concepts of Criminal Defense

The Basic Concepts of Criminal Defense Free Online Research Papers The basic concepts of criminal defenses are to prove your client innocent or get them a lesser criminal charge. Therefore you and or your staff (paralegal(s)) needs to research the type of crime your client is being accused of to see if there are any prior cases similar to the charges that are being brought about your client. Once you find cases similar to your case, the first item to look for is the result of the case guilty or not guilty, original charges filed or lesser charges determined by the jury. Appropriate defenses are developed by determining what made the cases defense or set it up for failure. Was there any or enough evidence? What facts are you able to find in those cases that my benefit you case? What failed that case that you should be cautious of? What failed that case that may help your case? Once you find the pieces you need you will then entice your research of the pieces to benefit your clients’ defense. The criminal defense used in the felony case I chose apparently was battered wife defense. In researching the term battered wife defense I found various definitions but the most descriptive info I found was as follows, Battered woman syndrome describes a pattern of psychological and behavioral symptoms found in women living in battering relationships. People v. Romero, 13 Cal Rptr 2d 332, 336 (Cal App 2d Dist. 1992); See Walker, L., The Battered Woman Syndrome (1984) p. 95-97. There are four general characteristics of the syndrome: 1. The woman believes that the violence was her fault. 2. The woman has an inability to place the responsibility for the violence elsewhere. 3. The woman fears for her life and/or her childrens lives. 4. The woman has an irrational belief that the abuser is omnipresent and omniscient. According to www.dictionary.com, omnipresent means present everywhere at the same time. Omniscient means having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things. â€Å"Apparently battered womans syndrome has been used in criminal cases since the late 1970s. Experts must qualify to testify on this syndrome as they must in any other case.† (divorcenet.com/states/oregon/or_art02). The defense developed in the case was appropriate due to the fact that Dixie Shanahan had been abused for years on end even though it would come and go in spurts. I don’t think there could or would be more appropriate defense per her case accept for maybe temporary insanity. I actually can see both sides of it though. When reviewing the description of the assignment it says that she went directly to the closet got the gun shot him dead blank then wrapped his body and closed off the room for a year. Per her defense she said that he already had the gun and she got a hold of it more or less. In any event she was in fear of her life and the lives of her children. What ever happened at that moment, she pulled the trigger. She is guilty of murder or voluntary manslaughter. Being that I have been in a similar situation, seeing my mother battered for the first seven years if my life as a child and also being the target of that abuse here and there myself during those seven years I can understand that fear. My mother lost what would have been my twin brothers due to being knocked down a flight of stairs. Six years later, I saw my mother and my now step father almost murdered in front of my 7 year old eyes. If I hadn’t made a sound that made them stop then me and my little sister and brother may have been with out the parents that raised us. Luckily, they didn’t see me, but I had caused enough ruckuses to make them run from the scene of the crime they had just committed. My mother never knew that I had seen everything being that I was too afraid to tell her. As a result of that night, we moved to a different state. I couldn’t see the whites of my mothers’ eyes for almost 2 years because they were solid red due to the blows that she had received from a 24 board. After 3 years of being on the run away from the psycho my parents decided to move back to our home state. I started having major seizures again (being epileptic) and apparently I started acting out. I finally told my mother that I had seen everything. I actually feel guilt for that sometimes because I could have been a witness against them yet as a child fear totally took over. Being that I saw so much and also experienced physical abuse as a child I can understand why the Dixie did what she did and why the citizens of her community and the governor gave her leniency. Due to what I experienced and witnessed I am a very head strong person and I can say with no guilt that I would do the same thing if I was as weak as her and had gotten to my limit as did she. Though being as head strong as I am due to experiencing what I did experience, I would leave the first time around if a man ever tried to do to me what my mother and Dixie experienced. With all the laws we have today pertaining to spousal abuse and bodily harm in general no one can say that there is nothing that can be done for actions that occur in that mannerism. A case I found that was quite similar to the one I chose for this project was the recent case of Mary Winkler, the wife of the Tennessee Minister Matthew Winkler, who was at the time the minister of the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer, Tennessee. It is almost a duplicate situation of Dixie Shanahan’s case. She was continuously physically, mentally and sexually abused. All of which lead to her a point that she could not handle it anymore. She admitted to getting the gun yet claimed that she thought it didn’t have a bullet in it. She shot her husband from behind in the back. Yet, she plead insanity was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and released in august of this year from a mental institution. She didn’t even get half of the time that Dixie got. (cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/12/winkler.oprah/index.html). As you can see as time goes on changes happen. Even years prior to Dixie’s case she could have gotten the death penalty, though she did n’t. It all depends upon the time of the crime, how and where the crime occurred and last but not least the minds of the jury, how they see your situation evidence or no evidence it is the jury that makes the final decision. Research Papers on The Basic Concepts of Criminal DefenseUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyCapital PunishmentThree Concepts of PsychodynamicThe Fifth HorsemanEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseTwilight of the UAWRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Description and Care of the Monkey Puzzle Tree

Description and Care of the Monkey Puzzle Tree Monkey-Puzzle Tree is a wild, scary evergreen with open splaying and spiraling branches. The tree can grow to 70 feet tall and 30 feet wide and forms a loose, see-through, pyramidal shape with a straight trunk. The tree is so open you can actually look through it. The leaves are dark green, stiff, with sharp needles that cover the limbs like armor. Monkey-Puzzle tree makes an attractive, novelty specimen for large, open yards. It is seen in large numbers in California. Specifics Scientific name: Araucaria araucanaPronunciation: air-ah-KAIR-ee-uh air-ah-KAY-nuhCommon name(s): Monkey-Puzzle Tree or Puzzle TreeUSDA hardiness zones: 7b through 10Origin: Chile (national tree) and the Andes of South America.Uses: garden specimen; indoor tree specimenAvailability: somewhat available, may have to go out of the region to find the tree. Monkey Puzzles Range There are no native monkey puzzle trees in the United States. The natural monkey puzzle tree is now found in two small areas in the Andes and on the coastal mountain range. It is a highly fire-adapted species, occurring in an area where fires have long been caused by volcanic activity and, since the early Holocene, by humans. The tree can grow in North America along the coastal zone from coastal Virginia, down the Atlantic, west through Texas and up the Pacific coast to Washington. Description Dr. Mike Dirr in Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates says: The habit is pyramidal-oval in youth, later with a slender bole and ascending branches near the top....cones are about twice the size of hand-grenades and hurt even worse. Tolerates extremes of soil, except permanently moist. Etymology The origin name Monkey-puzzle derives from its early cultivation in Britain in about 1850. The tree was very popular in Victorian England. Legend has it that an owner of a young tree specimen in Cornwall was showing it to a group of friends, and one made the remark, it would puzzle a monkey to climb that. The popular name became, first monkey-puzzler, then monkey-puzzle. Prior to 1850, it had been called Joseph Banks Pine or Chile Pine in Britain even though it is not a pine. Pruning The Monkey Puzzle needs to be isolated from other trees for the best display of its graceful and natural limb sweep. Maintain a central leader and do not top for best effect. Branches should be protected and only pruned if dead wood appears. Dead branches are hard to work on but will cause the tree to decline if not removed. Monkey Puzzle in Europe Monkey-puzzle was introduced to England by Archibald Menzies in 1795. Menzies was a plant collector and naval surgeon on Captain George Vancouvers circumnavigation of the globe. Menzies was served the seeds of the conifer as a dessert while dining with the governor of Chile and later sowed them in a frame on the ships quarterdeck. Five healthy plants made it back to Great Britain and were the first plants to be planted. Culture Monkey puzzle tree does best where the summers are cool and humid, and they are popular landscape oddities in England.Light: Full sun to partial shade.Moisture: Likes a moist, but well-drained soil and regular watering.Propagation: By seeds or by tip cuttings from vertical shoots. Cuttings from lateral-growing shoots will develop into sprawling shrubs. In-Depth Description Monkey-puzzle prefers well-drained, slightly acidic, volcanic soil but will tolerate almost any soil type provided drainage is good. It prefers temperate climates with abundant rainfall, tolerating temperatures down to about −20 Â °C. It is far and away the hardiest member of its genus and the only one that will grow in mainland Britain, or in the United States away from the extreme south. In Canada, Vancouver and Victoria have many fine specimens; it also grows on the Queen Charlotte Islands. It is tolerant of salt spray but does not like exposure to pollution. It is a popular garden tree, planted for its unusual effect of the thick, reptilian branches with a very symmetrical appearance. The seeds are edible, similar to large pine nuts, and are extensively harvested in Chile. A group of six female trees with one male for pollination could yield several thousand seeds per year. Since the cones drop, harvesting is easy. The tree, however, does not yield seeds until it is around 30-40 years old, which discourages investment in planting orchards.