Guilty or Innocent?

[Steezie]

You are a juror on a capital murder case.

The Case: An 18 year old girl is accused of murdering her father.

The Evidence:
The father and daughter fought constantly about the daughter's social life, confrontations were frequently physical and several people have observed bruises on the daughter's arms and face.

The murder weapon was a kitchen knife jammed into the father's throat with no fingerprints. The knife was pushed straight into the throat.

At 11pm exactly, a man in the appartment across the street looked into thier appartment and saw "a man hitting what looked to be the outline of a woman". This is backed up by the man in the appartment next-door who left at 10:45pm and heard arguing.

A man in the appartment below thiers heard a muffled yell and the sound of a body hitting the floor at 11:04pm.

The man ran to his front door and allegedly saw the girl running down the stairs.

The desk clerk saw the daughter leave the building at 11:08pm at a run with her shirt sleeve torn. He didnt see any blood but he only saw her for, in his words, "only a second".

The body of the father was discovered by the building superintendant at 11:20pm when he responded to a call from the man in the appartment below.

The father has a mark on his jaw that looks like a fresh bruise.

The daughter returns several hours later at 1:08am and is arrested by police.

The daughter claims she went to hang out at a park after getting a soda and a snack at a local convience store but cannot remember the name of the park, what she had, or the store where she went and she cannot produce the recipt from the store.

The Case For The Prosecution: The daughter snapped after being hit one time too many and killed her father in a rage

The Case For The Defense: The daughter ran out after having a fight with her father and went to a local park to cool off. While she was there, she walked down the block to a convienence store and bought a snack and a drink before returning home.

Other Facts:
The daughter is 5'2'' and her father stands at 6'1''

There werent any indications of forced entry to the appartment

There were no other fingerprints in the appartment other than the father's and the daughter's.

The father is a career steel worker and 40 years of age with no known enemies.

The daughter's mother died during childbirth.

The daughter does not have a boyfriend.


So is the daughter guilty or innocent? Please explain your answer.

 

[Lynden1000]

The circumstantial evidence is certainly compelling, although I suppose the absence of fingerprints on the murder weapon could introduce reasonable doubt.

If I were a juror, I'd probably want to know more from the medical examiner- particularly whether or not the wound is consistent with the angle at which a 5'2 individual would be stabbing.

 

[RealityCheck]

Guilty, yes. I don't think I'd have any problem figuring the daughter did it. Her "alibi" is almost certainly something she made up on the spot out of fear of being arrested/imprisoned.

Would I sentence her to any sort of punishment? Doubtful. Seems like there's a pretty clear-cut case of abuse here. But then, that's not something that's been explained, in your set-up. Who's been beating up on her? Her father? A boyfriend the father disapproved of? Are there any social workers that had contact with these two? All very important questions...

 

[rebelEnigma]

The evidence presented is mostly circumstantial and nowhere near enough to form a conviction. Testimonies would have to be heard, as well as cross and direct examinations, not to mention other evidence and witnesses.

I can't make a verdict either way.

 

[none the wiser]

The circumstantial evidence is certainly compelling, although I suppose the absence of fingerprints on the murder weapon could introduce reasonable doubt.

If I were a juror, I'd probably want to know more from the medical examiner- particularly whether or not the wound is consistent with the angle at which a 5'2 individual would be stabbing.

I agree. The angle would be very important. Not many random thieves would be 5'2".

The absence of fingerprints could also indicate that the girl was not as pannicked as argued by the defense, and had the presence of mind to wipe the finger prints off after she killed her father.

Not enough evidence for me to make a call either way.

 

[Steezie]

I can't make a verdict either way.

Not enough evidence for me to make a call either way.

You are on jury duty, you have to make a choice

 

[wanderingone]

If I was on Jury Duty then I'd have heard all the background for each bit of evidence- what does the angle ( or lack of angle) of the knife indicate, why doesn't she have a boyfriend? Who else has keys to the apartment, did the father resent the daughter because mom died in childbirth, did the daughter resent the father because he... overprotected, ignored, abused, blamed her ...

If I don't have the information I mentioned (and then some) I'm saying not guilty because I don't have enough to go on.

 

[Diane_Windsor]

So is the daughter guilty or innocent? Please explain your answer.

My verdict, based on the information above, would be "not guilty". Since this is a murder charge the prosecution rightly has a very high burden of proof, and circumstantial evidence just does not cut it. As for witnesses-it has been shown time and time again that eye-witness accounts are not that reliable.

 

[rebelEnigma]

You are on jury duty, you have to make a choice

Give me more evidence and then I'll try.

 

[DLaurier]

Janies got a gun.
Janies got a gun.

 

[Adriac]

The evidence presented is mostly circumstantial and nowhere near enough to form a conviction. Testimonies would have to be heard, as well as cross and direct examinations, not to mention other evidence and witnesses.

I can't make a verdict either way.

It's worth noting that circumstantial evidence is perfectly admissible in court.

Give me more evidence and then I'll try.

There is no "either way" in a trial; either you have enough evidence to convict, or you acquit.

With that said, the amount of evidence presented is not nearly what you would see as a juror; so the more applicable answer would be that you would not be a juror, as the case would not yet have come to trial.

 

[metherion]

Several questions:

Was anything missing from the apartment?

We've heard about no fingerprints, what about footprints?

Have the video surveillance tapes from all the convienence stores near the local parks been looked at? Did she say she paid by credit or debit or cash, if not cash, have her banks records shown any transactions at that time?

Where was the body found? It could be very important. Were there any other marks on the father's body, like maybe armpit bruises to indicate he might have been carried/moved?

Does the apartment complex have hallway cameras, and do they record the arguement sounds/thud and when she left the apartment? Even if they don't contain the argument, the time of departure could be very important.

When she was arrested, was she wearing the same shirt, and was it torn or wet (as if it had been washed off), assuming the weather wasn't rainy enough to wash any blood off her?

Without the answers to questions like these, possibly others, I wouldn't vote guilty based on lack of evidence, nor would I vote for an indictment to go to trial.

There just needs to be more.


Metherion