Kurt vs. June Case: Manslaughter Defense
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If Kurt survived, he would be charged with assault or battery offense. This is because after arguing with June and being told to leave, he refused and started kicking June thus the battery charges. June also heard Kurt screaming and trying to kick at the door after she had locked herself in the bedroom. The assault occurred when Kurt threatens bodily harm to June and then it was followed by battery when he punched her (Simon).
The first element of assault (Kurts crime) is the act where one intends to cause uneasiness of an offensive or harmful contact. Another element of assault the action caused apprehension in the victim that an offensive or harmful contact occurred. Since there was an action of punching after the two argued, there exist the element of assault thus applying in this particular scenario. However, Kurt intentionally used force to June by hitting her and threatening her by breaking the door. But he can argue that his actions were of small degree since a punch would not cause an enormous amount of physical harm. His use of force of can thus be termed as minor and the court the court may find that no assault occurred (Yeo).
The elements of battery (another Kurt of crime) include intent since battery is an intent offense. Here the actor commits an unwanted contact. Battery thus involves contact. In this case, Kurt punched June thus the application of the element in this scenario. Another element of battery is contact; since Kurt punched June, there was the element of contact in the scenario. The punch also might have caused harm to June, which is another element of battery. Since June ran to lock herself in the bedroom, it means she felt the effect of the punch thus fear was inflicted on her (Simon).
June would be charged with manslaughter crime since she unlawfully killed Kurt although her actions did not involve malice aforethought. She killed Kurt while defending herself from his threats and punches as Kurt had already broken the door and would have harmed her. The elements of manslaughter include lack of intent to kill. In this scenario, June did not intend to kill were it not for Kurt threats. In this case, June committed unintentional homicide by killing Kurt (Casenote Legal Briefs).
Kurt defense for his battery charges would be necessity. He would argue that he had the need to interfere with the right of June since the latter did not agree to what he wanted and the two ended up arguing thus prompting to Kurt punching her. It is not clear why the two were arguing. However, it may have been an issue that would have led to the punches (Yeo).
On the other hand, Junes defense for her manslaughter charges would include self-defense. Since after the two had started arguing, June told Kurt to leave and the latter refused and began to punch and kick. After June had run out the front door, Kurt dragged her back, and she ran into the bedroom and locked the door. With these acts of malice and intent to hurt, June had to defend herself and thus she shot and killed him. June had no intentions of killing Kurt; she even welcomed him to his house despite the fact that she was her ex-boyfriend which means the two were not in good talking terms (Casenote Legal Briefs).
Work cited
Casenote Legal Briefs: Criminal Law Keyed to Boyce, Dripps & Perkin's. Aspen Pub, 2010. Print.
Simon, O E. Total Self-Defense: And Assault Prevention. Place of publication not identified: Golden Bell, 2002. Print.
Yeo, Stanley M. H. Fault in Homicide: Towards a Schematic Approach to the Fault Elements for Murder and Involuntary Manslaughter in England, Australia and India. Annandale, NSW: Federation Press, 1997. Print.
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