I agree with you generally Derek, but, playing the devil's advocate:
Originally Posted by dereko1969 http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=1004369#post1004369
Where someone deliberately brings a knife to a party, to me that's murder.
Not necessarily. It shows premeditation and possible intent
to use the knife. Doesn't mean you intend to kill someone.
Where someone batters their wife about the head 3 TIMES, that's murder. Where someone batters their wife about the head 3 TIMES, that's murder.
Where someone batters their wife about the head 3 TIMES, that's murder.
Are you talking about a specific case? Depends what you mean by battering - if with a 'weapon' or something typically used as a weapon (e.g. baseball bat) then I agree. If with a random convenient 'object', less certain IMO.
Where someone stabs someone in the back 6 TIMES, that's murder.
Hard to argue but mitigating circumstances may come into it - again, not sure if you are referring to a specific case here.
As I brought those cases up first, I hope you don't mind me replying eventhough the question wasn't directed at me. Yes, they are all recent cases - first one is of a 19yo who killed her brother, second one is of E. Lillis and the third one was reported on RTE 9 o'clock news yesterday.
How can you say it depends? You don't bring a knife to a dinner party, never mind just a party without a sit down meal provided? Why would anyone bring a knife anywhere is totally beyond me. If the girl's intention intention was to defend herself if she needed to, assuming that she knew she was at risk, she shouldn't have gone to the party at all.
Battering somebody with a brick is no different to battering somebody with a baseball bat, golf club or a shovel. None of those are conveniently placed around the house (at least not mine) and even though I haven't paid a lot of attention, I have never seen loose bricks around people's (finished) houses, patios and gardens.
What mitigating circumstances can come into stabbing somebody in the back? They were either walking away from an argument or simply minding their own business when they were attacked.
If you fall out with your spouse, there is a legal procedure called divorce which leaves both parties
alive while going their separate ways. If you fall out with a sibling, nobody is forcing you to have any kind of contact with them or if you fall out with a lover, it's plain and simple get over it. If you need help, there is counselling, psychiatrists and what not, all acceptable and legal means of coming to terms with whatever happened.
ETA. DerKaiser, you should be perfectly within your rights to defend yourself or your family in your own home which is completely different to actually putting a knife in your handbag or pocket and going to a party or a club. Since this thread was started as debate about manslaughter, personally I'd accept manslaughter if the knife stayed in the handbag, the brother tripped or was pushed, fell onto the bag and died of a stab wound. I would still argue why would a knife be there at all, but if it was and somebody died from falling on it, THAT would qualify as manslaughter IMO.