Presentation Transcript

1. Crimes of Passions

   By: Jennifer Dobbins Annie Hatmaker Esther Wong
2. Our Definition of Passion “Passion” is an experience that is of such emotional intensity, it creates a removal of oneself from rational thought.
3. Crimes of Passion in Film Chicago byRob Marshall (2002) Focuses on Roxie, who shot her lover 3 times, and Velma, who killed her husband and her sister when she caught them having an affair Crimes of Passion by Ken Russell A prostitute is entangled in an emotional affair with one of her clients and eventually kills another client in order to save him Crime of Passion by Gerd Oswald Kathy Ferguson, an ambiguous woman, is driven crazy by her idyllic life as a housewife in the suburbs
4. Chicago: Cell Block Tango http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoCZEmfnE-M
5. Temporary Insanity Cognitive Insanity The defendant did not know what they were doing or they did not know what they were doing was wrong Volitional Insanity Aka “Irresistible impulse” the defendant, though able to distinguish right from wrong, due to a mental disease or defect, which includes a sudden strong emotion, he or she was unable to act in accordance to the law
6. Example of Volitional Insanity A mother’s child has been molested, and the child’s mother shoots and kills the molester. The mother could argue she was so enraged by this that she become mentally ill at the time of the shooting, and that illness disabled her self-control.
7. History of Temporary Insanity Temporary insanity emerged as a defense in the 1800s after psychoanalysis, headed by Sigmund and Anna Freud, became popular, and courts recognized that a criminal “insane” action could be taken by an otherwise sane and law-abiding person.
8. Examples of Cases in History Daniel Sickles, Congressman, NY, 1859 Charles Guiteau, 1881 John Hinckley, Jr., 1981
9. Criticisms of Temporary Insanity It “lets criminals off easy” It’s overused
10. M’Naghten Rule Descended from British law, which was established in 1843 after the attempted assassination of British Prime Minister Robert Peel by Daniel M’Naghten Governs current US insanity defense policy (varies somewhat between states; Montana, Idaho, and Utah do not use the M’Naghten Rule) Places the burden of proof on the defendant: assumed sane while the crime was committed until proved insane Tends to not acquit crimes of passion because the great amount of proof required
11. Temporary Insanity vs Crimes of Passion Both temporary insanity and crimes of passion occur in the moment when the individual experiences an ecstasis
12. Adversarial v. Inquisitorial Judicatory System • Adversarial system: judge is impartial as plaintiff and defendant present evidence, examine witnesses, and make legal arguments; grand jury to decide if a person should be indicted for a crime with little role for the judge except to decide which laws are applicable and how they should be understood by the jury (ex. America and England)• Inquisitorial system: active role played by judge, who fully examine evidence in criminal case, discuss with witness; cases that come to trail stage only when judge is convinced that the accused is guilty, new evidence or arguments are not presented (ex. France)• Adversarial depends on skill and experience of lawyers; if defendants are unable to obtain effective legal representation, their positions will not be articulated well• Inquisitorial requires a highly skilled and independent judge (in France, judges are selected through a special training academy to prevent politically-motivated or ignorant judges)
13. American Social View of Crimes of Passion Crimes of passion are called temporary insanity cases in America In America, there have been many films like Chicago, Crime of Passion (1957), Crimes of Passion (1984), etc that portray characters in the movies committing crimes of passion. In general these films are received with mixed reviews. The idea of someone being taken over by their emotions is not believable to most people. But at the same time, it’s an intoxicating idea.
14. Clara Harris Case Clara Harris killed her husband in an unmeditated attack after catching him cheating Killing came from rage, uncontrollable and destructive, not passion In truly passionate moments, do we feel uncontrollable urge to hurt and/or kill? Brown says “no”
15. Clara Harris Case, continued Therefore, intimate partner violence is not a “crime of passion” according to Brown Using term “crime of passion” kills compassion for victims and nurtures a culture of acceptable violence Q: if rage was uncontrollable and she felt ecstasis, did Harris killed out of violence, contrary to Brown’s theory?
16. Crimes of Passion around the World: France Crimes of Passion are called crime passionnel It was a valid defense for murder in the 1800s It ended in the 1970s when the Napoleonic Codes were updated. French woman kills her wealthy and influential French banker lover. Says it’s a crime of passion. Gets ten years of jail.
17. Fin-de-Siecle Paris Crimes of passion: committed between lovers or spouses, usually after infidelity or supposed wrongagainst partner What is now “intimate violence” In turn of the century France, acquittals for crimes against persons, especially crimes of passion, increased significantly These crimes were “carried out in a fit of madness or overwhelming emotion”
18. Medicalization of crime: diagnosis of sudden madness in crimes of passion, 4 were still charged guilty while others who were perfectly sane were acquitted Of 9 cases where legitimately insane, “Passion and jealousy were not signs of mental illness” The Third Republic believed that “expressing emotion through violent behavior was legitimate in certain situations” Court system mirrored this view, especially rise in acquittals, even after confessions
19. Jurors were not required to adhere to law as they were basically temporary judges Witnesses were permitted to speculate, tell hearsay, and “craft their own depositions” This allowed all to know the circumstances surrounding the crime, i.e. marital relations, overall character of the accused and victim Not like American courts Acts of violence were “understandable, excusable, or even deserved”
20. Georges Charles Koenig Georges undoubtedly stabbed wife (Marie), still acquitted Marie was “loose” and had many lovers both before and after her marriage Behavior was “notorious” and she refused to demonstrate shame Georges was aware, attacked spurred by threat to seek legal separation, though he “behaved well” He abused her some after her affairs became public, culminating in stabbing
21. Crimes of Passion around the World: United Kingdom It’s called provocation. Cannot secure the killer’s acquittal but will most likely shorten the sentence in earlier years Tried for manslaughter instead of murder Reforms in the past 50 years have excluded provocation as a viable excuse for murder Men given lighter sentences for the same act?
22. Crimes of Passion around the World: India The same woman today can kill her husband or lover if he proves to be an inconvenient obstruction in the larger scheme of things. Thwarted boyfriends are killing relatives in ways to lash out against their former lovers Examples: Following a quarrel with his wife over her suspected affair, JitenderPandey, 35, first threw his two-and-ahalf-year-old son from their 2nd floor house in west Delhi’s Kailashpuri. He then attacked Manju with a rod. Aspiring model and actor Moon Das called off her relationship with boyfriend AvinashPatnaik from Rourkela. He could not deal with rejection, drove down to Mumbai and shot her mother and uncle dead. When Das escaped after locking him in the apartment he shot himself dead
23. Evolutionary Reasons for Crimes of Passion: Maladaptive Crimes of passion are perhaps maladaptive because in early times, primitive prefrontal cortex did not stop actions of violence against former friends if angered. No one goes near dangerous things, goes against biological fitness.
24. Bibliography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_of_passion_(disambiguation) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_of_Passion_(1957_film) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_of_Passion_(1984_film) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_(2002_film) http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Judicial+authority+and+popular+justice:+crimes+of+passion+in+...-a0157081639 http://www.brenebrown.com/crimes-of-passion/ http://www.hht.net.au/whats_on/past_exhibitions/jpm/crimes_of_passion http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Plea+of+temporary+insanity http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Irresistible+Impulse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%27Naghten_Rules http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_J._Guiteau http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity_defense http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity_defense http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Sichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_of_passionkles http://pattayatoday.net/index.php?action=show&type=news&id=7967 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/9758/COVER%20STORY/Crimes+of+passion.html