You Decide
Read the facts of the case and the arguments of the key players.
Imagine being in the role of the judge.
Prepare your response to this You Decide by answering the questions under the Your Assignment heading in the You Decide content item in Week 3.
Your Week 3 You Decide assignment responses should be in APA format using the APA template (Links to an external site.). In total, your completed assignment should be approximately 1,100 1,200 words in length (not including the cover sheet and reference page).
Use a minimum of two sources to develop your responses. One must be an article from the DeVry University Online Library. https://library.devry.edu/
David Browne comes from a family of criminal offenders. His father is currently serving a life sentence for murder and his mother has been in and out of prison her entire life on drug offenses. His two older brothers have served time for violent offenses, such as sexual and physical assaults.
As a juvenile, David was caught being cruel to the neighbors cat. David is now 23 and has established a decent adult rap sheet. One evening he is hungry and walks to the local burger joint. It is late and the restaurant is empty. There are only two young females on duty. Upon seeing this he decides to rob them. During the course of the robbery, he decides its best not to have witnesses, so he shoots and kills the two clerks. Later, police are able to link him to the crime using the video surveillance. During the course of the investigation, police also learn that David openly bragged about committing the murders.
The defense asks for a bench trial. The fact that David committed the double homicide is not at issue.
During the trial, both psychological and biological explanations are presented to the judge.
Abigail Demers State Prosecutor
Trial has received a lot of media attention, and the prosecutor, Abigail Demers, is seeking the death penalty. The charges include two counts of first degree murder. During the trial, Miss Demers argues that David is a psychopath who lacks empathy and should receive the death penalty for the cold blooded murder of two innocent girls
Samuel Powers Defense Attorney
During trial the defense attorney, Samuel Powers, does not dispute that David committed the two homicides. However, as part of the defense, Mr. Powers states that David and other violent offenders in his family possess a defect in their MAOA gene. Mr. Powers further argues that David should not receive the death penalty because he cannot control his actions, thus Davids actions cannot amount to first degree murder.
Using material from this week’s reading assignments and outside sources, address the following.
1. Given the prosecutions argument,
a. in approximately one paragraph, briefly explain some of the main characteristics of the psychopathic personality; and
b. in approximately one paragraph, describe the difference between a primary psychopath and a secondary psychopath.
2. Given the defense attorneys argument,
a. summarize in two to three paragraphs the research that has been conducted on the MAOA gene.
3. Summarize and support your overall position on how you would decide this case in two to three paragraphs.
a. Given your research, do you find David guilty of first degree murder or a possible lesser degree of homicide? What factors led you to this verdict?
b. Given your research, what is your sentence? Does David receive the death penalty, life without parole, or something else? What factors led you to this sentence?
