Case 4

Victoria lived in a house with her roommates Ben and Carl. One night, Albert entered the house through an unlocked, but closed, back door and went into Victoria’s bedroom. Albert removed a partially full bottle of whiskey and a knife from his pockets, and threatened to harm Victoria if she screamed.

At that point, Ben and Carl discovered Albert in Victoria’s room. Catching sight of Ben and Carl, Albert took off running. Ben said to Carl, “Let’s get him!” Ben and Carl chased Albert out of the house and down the front stairs. Albert got into a vehicle and drove away. Ben and Carl jumped into a neighbor’s vehicle, which had its keys in the ignition, and sped after Albert.

Ben and Carl caught up with Albert in a deserted shopping center. Ben drove into the passenger side of Albert’s vehicle and pushed it until its driver’s side came to rest against the wall of a building, trapping Albert inside. No one was injured. At that time, the police arrived and arrested Albert, Ben, and Carl.

1. What crimes, if any, might Albert reasonably be charged with, and what defenses, if any, might he reasonably assert? Discuss.

2. What crimes, if any, might Ben and Carl reasonably be charged with, and what defenses, if any, might they reasonably assert? Discuss.

David is an unemployed 20 year old man who lives in the western suburbs of Sydney. David suffers from a psychosis, which is kept under control by medication. David’s only friend is Billy who is also 20 years old.

After each consuming two cans of beer, Billy suggests to David that they go down to the freeway overpass and “bash” anyone they see. David agrees. When they arrive at the overpass they see John, a homeless man. David and Billy take turns in kicking John in the stomach. Billy cries out “Let’s get out of here!” and the two men walk away from John. John is badly injured, but still alive.

As he is walking away, David starts to hallucinate, as the alcohol he consumed earlier takes effect on his medication. David believes that John is an alien, and starts to shout

“The aliens, we must kill the aliens!” repeatedly.

Billy who has seen David hallucinate before and is amused that David is talking about aliens, shouts to David: “Yeah mate, we are going to be invaded! Kill those aliens you legend!”

David walks back to the injured John, and picks him up. Billy says nothing as David throws John over the fence of the overpass. John lands on the rocky embankment to the roadway below, and is killed.

Discuss the criminal liability (if any), including any relevant defenses, of David and Billy.

Case 5

Al and his wife Bobbie owned a laundromat and lived in an apartment above it. They were having significant financial difficulties because the laundromat had been losing money.

Unbeknownst to Bobbie, Al decided to burn the laundromat down in order to obtain insurance proceeds. He contacted Ted, who had a reputation for being available to do “odd jobs.” Ted agreed to set fire to the laundromat the next day for 20 percent of the insurance proceeds. Al told him that he would call him once everyone was out of the building.

The next day, Al invited Bobbie out for a walk. While she was getting ready, he checked the laundromat, found no one there, and called Ted. While Al and Bobbie were out walking, Bobbie mentioned that, just as she was leaving, her brother Brad had come by the apartment unexpectedly and was napping on their couch. Al rushed to call Ted. When he could not reach him, he made an anonymous call to 911 to report a possible fire at the laundromat.