I just caught "Minority Report" on Channel 5 earlier on. Actually I have already seen the movie a few years back when it was shown here, but since droolicious Tom Cruise and a young Colin Farrell (before his bi-sexual role in "Alexander") are starring in it, I decided to watch again. Besides, the storyline is good - intense, stimulating and captivating.
The movie's famous tagline : Can you arrest someone for a crime that has not been committed ... yet? Interesting question. Can someone be arrested based on the intention of committing a crime alone? Does it make sense to arrest a supposed murderer if the supposed victim is still alive and well? If he is charged in court, what will the prosecutor say? Will it be "Do you plead guilty to intended murder of __________?"
And how will the judge react? "I sentence you to life imprisonment (?) for the intended murder of ____________." That will surely trigger appeals. "But Your Honour, my client has not murdered anyone. He is innocent beyond a doubt." Who to call for witnesses? The intended victim? "He wanted to kill me!" And the defending lawyer will argue, "How do you know? You are still alive!" Interesting turn of events if something like this really happens.
This depends on the mens rea (intention) and actus rea (action). If the crime was committed with actus rea but no mens rea, it will be classified as culpable homicide and the murderer may be jailed for a certain term depending on how serious the crime is. No matter how remorseful the murderer is, the victim's life could not be brought back.
If there were both mens rea and actus rea, then it would be a straight case of sentencing the offender to capital punishement. The complication arrives if there was only mens rea but no actus rea. Can the intended offender still be convicted? Afterall, he did think of committing the crime, but the crime was never committed. I cannot find anything in the Penal Code to justify the arrest of an intended offender just by the intention of crime alone. The only exception is if you think of murdering the President, as that is a crime by itself already, as stated in clause 121A of the Penal Code.
I cannot believe I still remember all these. Looks like I have not spent time in law school for nothing after all!
The movie's famous tagline : Can you arrest someone for a crime that has not been committed ... yet? Interesting question. Can someone be arrested based on the intention of committing a crime alone? Does it make sense to arrest a supposed murderer if the supposed victim is still alive and well? If he is charged in court, what will the prosecutor say? Will it be "Do you plead guilty to intended murder of __________?"
And how will the judge react? "I sentence you to life imprisonment (?) for the intended murder of ____________." That will surely trigger appeals. "But Your Honour, my client has not murdered anyone. He is innocent beyond a doubt." Who to call for witnesses? The intended victim? "He wanted to kill me!" And the defending lawyer will argue, "How do you know? You are still alive!" Interesting turn of events if something like this really happens.
This depends on the mens rea (intention) and actus rea (action). If the crime was committed with actus rea but no mens rea, it will be classified as culpable homicide and the murderer may be jailed for a certain term depending on how serious the crime is. No matter how remorseful the murderer is, the victim's life could not be brought back.
If there were both mens rea and actus rea, then it would be a straight case of sentencing the offender to capital punishement. The complication arrives if there was only mens rea but no actus rea. Can the intended offender still be convicted? Afterall, he did think of committing the crime, but the crime was never committed. I cannot find anything in the Penal Code to justify the arrest of an intended offender just by the intention of crime alone. The only exception is if you think of murdering the President, as that is a crime by itself already, as stated in clause 121A of the Penal Code.
I cannot believe I still remember all these. Looks like I have not spent time in law school for nothing after all!
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