Example Of Case Study On Criminal Law

The teen may be charged and found culpable of both counts; reckless homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol. To establish the crime of reckless homicide the following elements must be and are indeed provable. Firstly, the perpetrator acts whether they were lawful or not and cause death of another person are such that they are likely to result in the death or great bodily harm of the other individual.
The other limb of this element is that he act is performed recklessly. In the instant fact pattern the teenager was under the influence of alcohol. He smells strongly of alcohol at the time of his arrest, fails the field sobriety test and later confesses to have been drinking with his friends. In order for reckless homicide to be qualified the perpetrator must have been so drunk that he was unable to safely drive the motor vehicle (Ogundipe & Kenneth, 2010). If the teenager was able to safely control the vehicle then he wouldn’t have hit the little girl. The fact that the girl’s safety was compromised notwithstanding the fact that she died makes the teenager’s manner of driving reckless. This, compounded by the fact that the girl actually died, then renders it reckless homicide.
The issue of mens rea, malice aforethought or criminal intent must not be delved into since this would be required in the distinct analysis of the related crime of murder (Mattila, & Esok, 2010). If the teenager can show that the girl crossed the road while she was not supposed to he may get reprieve that she was the one at fault and he was not reckless. The fact that the BAC test results show he was well within limit does not help his cause since the all the elements of reckless homicide have already been established by the other set of facts the test notwithstanding (Scheier et al, 2008).
As regards Driving under the influence of alcohol, the teenager may successfully defend the charge since throughout the country the perpetrator must have exceeded the legal BAC limit for this charge to be successfully prosecuted. The fact that the teenager’s BAC was well within the legal limit accords him reprieve. However it must be noted that the BAC limit of persons under 21 is different from the BAC of persons above that age. Therefore the court must determine which scale was used then convict or acquit accordingly.

References

Mattila, M. J., & Esok, N. (2010). "Psychomotor Effects of Alcohol and Drugs." Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol & Addictive Behavior, New York: Macmillan.
Ogundipe, K. A., & Kenneth J. W. (2010). "Drunk Driving, Implied Consent, and Self-Incrimination." The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 2(7)
Scheier, L. M., et al (2008). "Cognitive Predictors of Alcohol Involvement and Alcohol Consumption-Related Consequences in a Sample of Drunk-Driving Offenders." Substance Use & Misuse 21(341).