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Crimes of Passion Mock Trial

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Crimes of Passion Mock Trial
Our Scenario for the Psychology 405 mock trial is Crime of Passion with an insanity plea. During this trial I will have multiple roles. I will be the Defendant and person charged with the crime, Dax. I will also be an expert witness for both the defense and the prosecution, as the lead forensic investigator. The prosecution for this case will consist of the prosecuting attorney, B, and the prosecution’s expert psychological consultant, M. The Defense will consist of the defense attorney, C, and the defense’s expert psychological consultant, H. Both the attorneys will have the opportunity to cross-examine me as both the accused defendant and as the forensic investigator.

The agreed upon scenario with known facts are as follows. Dax is engaged to a female character Simi. Dax’s boss/supervisor at work is Kodiak. Dax was fired from his job and the close of business of the date of the incident. Dax was at a bar establishment after the firing and before returning to the apartment, and alcohol was consumed. Both Simi and Kodiak were found dead in the apartment and Dax has confessed to be the person responsible for the death. Simi’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. At this point Kodiak’s cause of death is inconclusive due to the heavy and multiple areas of trauma on the body.

While playing the role of the accused defendant, Dax, I will be represented by Courtney and she with be trying to get an insanity plea, claiming that during the act I was in a state of temporary mental insanity. Temporary Mental Insanity is defined by dictionary.law.com as, “in a criminal prosecution, a defense by the accused that he/she was briefly insane at the time the crime was committed and therefore was incapable of knowing the nature of his/her alleged criminal act. Temporary insanity is claimed as a defense whether or not the accused is mentally stable at the time of trial.” This definition goes on to say, “One difficulty with a temporary insanity defense is the problem

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