Describe the year-and-a-day rule that existed at common law and discuss why it is no longer applicable

What will be an ideal response?


• Common law rule providing that the victim of an attack must die within a year and a day for the defendant to be charged with homicide. The reasoning was that there were too many intervening causes that could explain or contribute to the victim's death after passage of time.
• The rule has been abrogated by judges (since the rule was created by judges) and legislatures alike. Scientific knowledge has evolved and cause of death is not as mysterious and unclear as it was in times past. With the emergence of cessation of brain function as the legal definition of death, a bright line has been obtained.
• Legislatures have passed statutes of limitations laws which generally control and have extended the period to as long as forever to prosecute a homicide case.

Criminal Justice

You might also like to view...

List and describe the four main types of facilities that house juvenile offenders

What will be an ideal response?

Criminal Justice

According to the text, sexual abuse accusations often:

a. are discounted b. involve upper-class families c. are made in conjunction with marital disputes d. require extraneous witnesses

Criminal Justice

Multistage sampling involves combinations of stratified and/or cluster and/or simple random samples or other sampling procedures

Indicate whether the statement is true or false

Criminal Justice

The party requesting a modification must prove that there has been a substantial change in circumstances requiring a modification of the original order.

Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)

Criminal Justice