WHAT IS YOUR VERDICT?

Case 1: Joe, a 15-year-old, broke into his neighbor’s house, burgled the house, locked the eighty-year-old woman in her bathroom and escaped in her car. At the trial, the defense pleaded not guilty to the charges with the reason of temporary insanity caused by Joe watching too much television. He watched more than 6 hours a day, loved crime shows and had just watched a film which contains scenes similar to the crime he had committed.

Was Joe GUILTY or NOT GUILTY of burglary and false imprisonment*?

*False imprisonment generally refers to the confinement of a person without the consent of such person or without legal authority

Example:

     1. He had to do that because …
     2. She needn’t have done that considering …
     3. She might have done that because of …, but that does not mean…
     4. The court could have decided that he …

Case 2: Max went to a second-hand car dealer named Harry and told him that he only wanted a car that had air conditioning. Harry said OK and pointed out a car. Max took the car for a test drive and then bought it without checking to see if it had air conditioning. When he got the car home, he discovered that the knob marked “air” was for ventilation only. Max sued Harry for fraud and demanded compensation. 

Was Harry GUILTY or NOT GUILTY of fraud?

Example:

     1. He had to do that because …
     2. She needn’t have done that considering …
     3. She might have done that because of …, but that does not mean…
     4. The court could have decided that he …

Case 3: Joe, a 15-year-old, broke into his neighbor’s house, burgled the house, locked the eighty-year-old woman in her bathroom and escaped in her car. At the trial, the defense pleaded not guilty to the charges with the reason of temporary insanity caused by Joe watching too much television. He watched more than 6 hours a day, loved crime shows and had just watched a film which contains scenes similar to the crime he had committed.

Was Joe GUILTY or NOT GUILTY of burglary and false imprisonment*?

Example:

     1. He had to do that because …
     2. She needn’t have done that considering …
     3. She might have done that because of …, but that does not mean…
     4. The court could have decided that he …

Case 4: Max went to a second-hand car dealer named Harry and told him that he only wanted a car that had air conditioning. Harry said OK and pointed out a car. Max took the car for a test drive and then bought it without checking to see if it had air conditioning. When he got the car home, he discovered that the knob marked “air” was for ventilation only. Max sued Harry for fraud and demanded compensation.

Was Harry GUILTY or NOT GUILTY of fraud?

Example:

     1. He had to do that because …
     2. She needn’t have done that considering …
     3. She might have done that because of …, but that does not mean…
     4. The court could have decided that he …

Case 5: Sally reversed her car out of her drive and accidentally ran over her flat mate’s dog which was sleeping in the car’s path. The dog was badly injured and had to be treated by a vet. Sally’s flat mate Jane sued her for $1000 in damages to compensate for the vet’s fee. Jane argued that Sally had driven without due care and attention because she knew that the dog would often sleep on the drive and could not hear the car because he was deaf.

Should Sally be ordered to pay compensation?

Example:

     1. He had to do that because …
     2. She needn’t have done that considering …
     3. She might have done that because of …, but that does not mean…
     4. The court could have decided that he …