This week, we are looking at crimes against persons, and you get a choice this week! Please respond to one of the two options below, then be sure to respond to at least one of your classmates’ posts:

Option 1: "Assault, Battery, or Neither"

Review the following scenario:
Vera Victim is walking to towards her car in the shopping mall parking lot when a man suddenly jumps in front of her, points a knife in her face, and demands her purse. Attacker strikes Vera and rips the handle of her purse. Fortunately, Vera took self-defense class and hits Attacker with her knee and fists, keeps her purse, and runs to safety.

You are an assistant DA, so determine how you would charge attacker in the jurisdiction in which the crime has occurred (that's your own state, so check your state's statutes.) Should attacker’s actions be charged as assault, battery, both, neither? Justify your response - using the facts from the scenario, prove each element of the statute you chose to charge attacker with. Use the Internet or Strayer databases to research assault, battery, and crimes against persons.

Class, in your reply responses, think like a defense attorney - did the DA make a good proof for their case?

Option 2: "Murder, Suicide, or Neither"

From the e-Activity (below), give your opinion of Michelle Carter’s conviction for urging her boyfriend to commit suicide, and analyze the manner in which her actions rose to the level of homicide (or if they did). Justify your position - show her actions meet the elements of a homicide, or give an example of where her actions do not prove all the elements.

e-Activity: Read the article, titled “Woman sentenced to 15 months in texting suicide case,” located at https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/us/michelle-carter-texting-suicide-sentencing/index.html. Or, use the Internet or the Strayer Online Library (https://research.strayer.edu) to research articles on criminal liability for urging another to commit suicide. Be prepared to discuss.

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