Criminal Liability of Each Party Based on the Facts -Criminal Law - Law Assignment

Internal Code: MAS 4665

Law Assignment Help

Case Study: Michael lives in an inner city neighbourhood at the end of a long street. Michael’s neighbours are Jennifer and Steve, who have a 14-year-old son named Alex. Michael grows a small crop of cannabis at the back of his property, which he sells to people in the neighbourhood. Jennifer and Steve are aware of Michael’s ‘business’ and have – on occasion – referred friends to Michael to buy cannabis. One day, loud banging at his front door wakes Michael. He opens the door to find Jennifer, looking furious. “You sold weed to Alex!?” she yells: “how could you!?” Michael tries his best to apologise to Jennifer, but she continues: “If you go near my kid again, I’ll fucking kill you!” slamming the door in Michael’s face. Over the following days, Michael becomes increasingly paranoid and concerned. In particular, he is worried Jennifer may go to the police and tell them about his cannabis crop. A week prior, Michael had lent his laptop to Steve as his computer was being repaired. Michael is concerned the laptop contains evidence of his drug deals and wants to get it back. He calls Steve on his mobile and asks him to return the laptop. Steve angrily replies: “after what you did, I think it’s fair compensation!” Michael is furious. He grabs a large knife from his kitchen and begins running toward Steve and Jennifer’s house with a menacing look. Alex is on his bike outside his house and sees Michael running towards the house with a knife. Fearing the worst, Alex quickly runs around to the side of his house to his Dad’s shed and grabs his father’s rifle. Alex makes it back to the front of the house, right when Michael is at the front doorstep and Jennifer has just opened the door. Alex yells “Hey!”, Michael turns to face him and Alex pulls the trigger. Question: You must provide a response (max 2000 words) to one of the problem provided. You will write an advice about the criminal liability of each party based on the facts provided, using appropriate legislation and case law to support your response. This will be assessed on the following criteria: ? That you have a good understanding of the legal principles involved ? That you have a good understanding of relevant case law and/or legislation in that area ? That you are able to distinguish the key issues to be discussed in the problem ? That you are able to apply the law to the issues you have identified, drawing only on relevant facts as opposed to background information ? That you have made a good attempt at analysis ? That your response demonstrates the logical development of argument ? That your response shows that you have read widely within the materials set out in the course outline ? That your response is well written