Criminal Court Case Study

Criminal court cases often require critical thinking and analyzing. From anything to petty theft and murder require specific amounts of justice or discipline so to speak. After reading the Case of Mary Burnett and analyzing the testimonies I believe the defendant should be found not guilty on charges of 2nd degree murder. After analyzing this case the hard facts have been derived. The defendant is Mary Burnett who is charged with leaving her child at home unattended while she went to California. The child died from dehydration within a couple of days. The defendant spent a week away from her apartment and upon return contacted authorities of the deceased. She also gave a confession to the police stating, “ she knew she left the baby behind, that she did not intend to come back, and she knew Alison would die in a day or two.” I believe these hard facts to be enough to convict her guilty but given the defendants mental stability I believe the charges to be too harsh. Because of the mental instability of the defendant I believe she is
I found the testimony of Alice Jones to be very helpful in my decision. The witness knew the defendant very well over the course of eight years she says. She knew of her depression and her drinking she even has a similar statement to that of Dr Bloom stating, “ She started drinking to overcome her depression, but this just made things worse.” I find her account more credible in that she knew the defendant for a great deal of time longer than anyone else who gave an account. Her account makes the defendant look like a victim she calls her a “ very sweet and decent woman, and a wonderful mother” she paints a picture as though she was an ordinary house woman with troubles of single parenting lifestyle. She explains this and concludes that, “ she had lost touch with reality” which is in agreement somewhat with Dr. Bloom saying that she entered a neurotic