Free «Defense in Criminal Case» Essay

Several players interact with each other in the courtroom. Of those players we see two profiles often in the popular media: criminal defense lawyers and the prosecution. Both are responsible for taking a case from its preliminary phases to trial and beyond. Both gather evidence, interview witnesses and develop possible arguments for their cases. Both are responsible for presenting the best outcome, whether they believe in the reasoning or not. In this write-up I will develop an argument for a criminal case highlighting the evidences that as defense attorney and prosecutor I would present to the jury in a much publicized case that bitted Mrs. Bobbitt against Mr. Bobbitt. The case was widely looked as an indication of women victory against an abusive patriarchal society.

This paper presents a classical case that attracted people’s attention in the United States in the mid-1990s. The alleged crime was that Mrs. Lorena Bobbitt in the morning of June 23, 1993, had “maliciously wounded” Mr. John Bobbitt by cutting half of his penis using a kitchen knife. The crime is punishable under the law and two were husband and wife. The case is important because it touches the core foundation of societies and questions family values and violence against women and men.

It was alleged that Mrs. Bobbitt had been facing abuses from his marital partner for a long time. The abuses ranged from physical abuses to sexual abuses. On that fateful day, Mr. Bobbitt arrived home, drunk as usual and descended on his wife whom he raped several times before falling into a deep sleep. Mrs. Bobbitt, probably exhausted from the rape, went to the kitchen to have a glass of water. She saw a kitchen knife, promptly took it and headed to the bedroom where her husband was sound asleep. She then pulled the sheet and swiftly cut off his penis after which she ran out and threw the mutilation in the nearby bushes. She later called the police to inform them about the crime.

Concerning the evidence presented in the case, the police had come and picked the mutilated part of the penis from the bushes, which they took, together with her, for replanting. They were also able to retrieve the knife that Mrs. Bobbitt had used to commit the crime and presented it to court as evidence. Mrs. Bobbitt admitted to having caused the injury to Mr. Bobbitt by using a kitchen knife.

Mrs. Bobbitt had done this crime out of insanity because no sane person would do such an act to a person, especially if there is an intimate relationship between the two. Mrs. Bobbitt has acted out of self-defense since Mr. Bobbitt had been abusing her since they got married.

Defense Attorney Argument on the Case

My name is Audrey Flores, and I am the defense attorney for Mrs. Lorena Bobbitt. The case before us is a classical example, where women continue to suffer in the hands of abusive partners. Mrs. Lorena Bobbitt was subjected to a series of marital abuses by her husband that culminated into this unfortunate incident that subjected my client here to a new series of abuses. Clearly, the plaintiff, Mr. John Bobbitt, repeatedly was abusing the defendant without realizing that he had caused accumulated physical and emotional injuries and motivated intoxication, to the defendant. It is evident that my client, Mrs. Bobbitt, acted out of insanity because after the incident she took the step of calling the police that she had done something wrong.

My client has intended this marriage to work and that is why she had stayed in this marriage for all this time despite the fact that she was battered. On the fateful day, the plaintiff walked in and raped the defendant in the kitchen. This was a barbaric incident, given the fact that the defendant had even left the bedroom to avoid confrontation. After the regretful incident my client called the police to inform them about the incident and even helped to take the plaintiff to the hospital. Clearly, my Lord, my defendant suffered from a psychosis condition that led her to engage into an action that was clearly uncalled for.

My client has not been involved in criminal acts before and therefore has been a faithful wife to her husband even in the midst of the marital abuses that she was subjected to by her husband. It is also clear that my client suffered a posttraumatic disorder from the abuses she has experienced from the plaintiff and this invariantly contributed to this act.

I know that the complainant side may argue that my client failed to report the abuses to the police or even request for divorce after repeated abuses. However, we must all appreciate that my client had a duty to remain as a wife to the plaintiff despite his abusive nature.

It is evidenced that my client reported the incident to the police after realizing the implications to the complainant. My client has also revealed trying to contact consultants in an attempt of bringing back her husband to sanity so that he could stop the abusive acts.

I therefore request the jury to give a not-guilty verdict in favor of my client, based on the arguments and evidences in this case.

Prosecutor’s Argument

Thank your Honor. My name is Audrey Flores. I am representing the state of California. The defendant had a marital contract with the plaintiff as a wife. She had vowed to stand with the complainant as a wife and therefore had no business mutilating his private parts in the pretext of revenging for unreported abusive. The defendant acted intentionally because the kitchen knife was strategically placed to be used in this criminal act.

The defendant is guilty because she failed to record the abuses with the police, but instead chose to stay in the marriage without letting anyone know about it. The defendant also failed to recognize that the complainant always acted out of intoxication and therefore, the problem could be solved by addressing the issue of alcoholism.

Your honor, it is evident that the complainant, Mr. Bobbitt, is a family man who was always coming back home to meet his wife. The wife, not appreciating his intimate gesture, resorted to causing a bodily harm that threatened his life. His public image is also damaged. Depending on your judgment, this case may form a precedent where women intentionally mutilate their husbands’ private parts in case of slight marital disagreement.

The defendant fails to recognize the fact that the complainant was a married man who had conjugal rights as well as to define the boundary between conjugal rights and rape.

I therefore request this court to commit the accused to full jail term according to the law since she fails to indicate convincing reasons why she mutilated her husband.