How should the law deal with siamese twins when only one has committed a crime?
This is a really hard one, because you if you place the guilty one in jail you are also jailing the innocent conjoined twin.
And in the eyes of the law, making sure an innocent person is not punished is more important than the pursuit of punishment for the guilty.
So how should the law deal with a situation where only one of the conjoined twins has committed a serious crime (i.e. murder)?
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OK , i been thinking. It would clearly be a case of aide and abet. Because if the guilty twin commits a crime than it should be up to the other to stop him/her. If the other does not stop the other than they are an accomplice. I mean , if the innocent twin had control of the limbs, then he or she had the control. If the innocent twin is just a "head" and has no control over the limbs then perhaps pineapples' idea of some kind of isolation helmut should be used. But if so then the other twin would be limited also , as how would they be able to control the body while the main controller is absent in isolation. Ordinary citizens are expected under the law to stop a crime (under reasonable circumstances) or at least aide in the criminal's arrest if they have info. Family members however, are excluded from this rule. So if you commit a crime and your father hides you in his house, he will not be prosecuted because he has very close biological/family ties with you. So the innocent twin, in theory, does not have to help the authorities because they are biologically tied. Now, EVEN IF the innocent twin was found guilty of being an accomplice, he/she would still receive a lesser sentence than the guilty twin. So how would you punish the guilty twin with that extra punishment, but not impose that extra punishment onto the "less guilty" twin? This is such a convoluted topic! I wish a judge would come on this site and give us an opinion! Perhaps the innocent twin could whip the other silly ? It really is a tricky one. I wonder if this same exclusion for biological/family ties applies in Australia. I have never heard of any cases, ever of this happening. But it definately has my interest up. So while i am away this week i will call a few legal advisors and see what they think and get back to you with their oppinion on this rather confusing matter. Yes it would be a good idea to have a judges oppinion on this . I will see if i can muster one up....thanks Argento this is a fun one! EDIT NEXT DAY: At this point i have not been able to find a judge or barrister who knows how to answer this. I will keep trying . 1
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I believe in the old saying 'it's better for 20 guilty men to go free than one innocent man to be sent to prison'. Say one twin has a gun and kills somebody, to the other twin's dismay. Would it not be better for both to be sent free than for the other to face a life of prison for which he has done no crime? Hi Argento, I still have not been able to get a judge. But i searched the net and came up with this . http://www.nickkam.com/2009/12/ http://www.neatorama.com/2009/12/30/ |
