Essay On First Degree Murder

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client is not guilty by reason of insanity. This man knows not what he does, or how he acts. As written evidence in my client's testimony, there is simple proof in which any man or woman can understand. This man is not guilty of first degree murder, as provided in section 18, in which he states, “Villains! Dissemble me no more! I admit the deed. Tear up the planks! Here, here! It is the beating of his hideous heart!” You may ask what point it exactly proves, and I shall tell you. In a private discussion in which I shared with my client, he told me he heard the beating of the old man’s heart arise over the speaking of the officers. In section 11, however, he tells us that the old man is dead. He speaks,

Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me.” This man had loved the man he killed. A mentally well person would not murder someone they love, someone they care for. Furthermore, the legal definition of first degree murder is: A killing which is deliberate and premeditated. If the state of mind the killer is in is one of malice and/or contemptment with the killing, this constitutes first degree murder. Now, while my client did choose to kill the man, had a premeditated plan, and was content with the deed, it was only for a while. He was not right in the head. As stated above, he loved the old man. The state of anger, what drove the killing, was the old man’s dead eye. He stated, “ I think it was his eye. Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture - a pale blue eye with a film over it.” This idea, the very thought of an eye being the object that drove a man to kill is evidence that this man is insane. The eye vexed him, and frightened him whenever he made contact. A mentally well and sane person would not be driven to kill and be caused so much psychological distress over an eye, or anything as low as a physical feature of a