OK, but I think it would be unlikely he would be working so closely with his father unless it were a small town. It would create some implications with the reliability of his testimony but I don't have the expertise to say how problematic it would be for the prosecution.
Also, I don't think it would be impossible, but the way you describe it, it's unlikely she would be tackled. But I could see some scenarios where it could happen like that. More likely she would be tased, shot if she refused to drop her weapon, etc.
It is a small town where the murder takes place. Specifically, Jacob and Martin are having coffee, they walk out of the diner. Jacob goes ahead while Martin pays for the coffee. Car comes, bam. Jacob is ran over and mangled but still breathing. Martin is distraught and shocked. Jenny gets out the car with the snub nosed revolver by her side. She gets close and shoots Jacob. Martin, as well as any witnesses nearby would be integral witnesses to the crime. Martin would be examined as a key witness as he was the arresting officer on the scene but also was there during the crime.
The way the scene is done is that Martin is in front of his father. When the gun is shot, Martin is taken by surprise. Jennifer simply puts the gun to her own head and in a reflex moment Martin simply does what he thought was right. He tackles her, the gun is knocked away, and he manages to arrest her. Jennifer doesn't fight back.
I would like to point out that having a loaded pistol in the car without a concealed pistol permit is illegal in Washington state, so that's another charge they could slap her with probably. I assume she doesn't have a CPL.
She stole the car from somebody in town and the pistol was stolen from a storekeeper down in Chelan county. Does my idea of the trial make sense?
Yeah the trial looks alright to me, although I'm not particularly knowledgeable about trials. But she robbed a gunstore? Or just robbed the gun off some other shopkeeper?
She walked into a store down in Chelan County and the old man who ran the store fell off a ladder and died. She stole money from the till and grabbed a snub-nose from under it.
So she has admitted to grand larceny, robbery, and murder. However due to the insanity plea these are just footnotes. Her behavior has been noted from even before the murder and her history of homelessness and psychiatric evaluation just show these are crimes she was unaware were right or wrong.
Exactly. The prosecution is under this belief that she is actually quite sane and levelheaded and wouldn't have survived this long if she wasn't of sound mind. The defense believes otherwise. So it's a good match between both defense and prosecution.
Heh, heh. You opened this discussion by saying she is a side character. It seems to me Jenny and her trial just became an entire novel ...
I like to make sure things are thought out. Jenny's trial is a large scene that is pivotal to the story as she is very integral to the story but she's mostly in the background.
Question: did she go into the store and started to rob it before the old man fell off the ladder or after? in most states, if she was in the act of robbing the store when the old man fell and died, then she would be held for his murder too. A death during a criminal act counts as murder. I don’t know about Washington but in Texas it would count as murder.
It sounded like they were saying the guy just fell off and died randomly and she seized the opportunity to swipe the cash. But that's a good point, once the gun was traced back to the store, the prosecution would try and lay felony murder charges on her either way, even if it were to just get leverage.
In the summary, “DAA somebody Hale” was mentioned. What does “DAA” stand for? A quick search showed a website for King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office but also such and such County Prosecutor plus deputies.
Tip: To find all the cases talked about in this thread, try Google Scholar with the 'case law' marked. Another thing, guilty by reason of insanity is pretty rare to use and isn't easy to pass. I'd study the Federal Rules of Criminal Evidence. Also, learning about the McNaughten Test and I know there are a few others the court can give.