In my essay i have been asked to advise a client who murdered his wife with a baseball bat.?

They had been having problems for a while and were always fighting in front of their teenage son. The husband suspected the wife was having an affair. The wife forgot her phone and the husband wet through it and found a text which proved that the wife was indeed having an affair. The husband then took a baseball bat and murdered the wife. The son saw this and called the police and the husband was arrested. How do i advise him, i dont know how to start this assignemt. Any ideas please i would really appreciate it........In my essay i have been asked to advise a client who murdered his wife with a baseball bat.?
I'd advise him to run away to some 3rd world country and lay low.In my essay i have been asked to advise a client who murdered his wife with a baseball bat.?
Swing away
Was this an aluminum or a wooden bat?
Temporary insanity comes to mind. Manslaughter instead of first degree murder.*
As attorneys, when we write an opinion letter, the first thing we is write our conclusion: ';Mr. Doe, you have retained me as counsel to represent you and to give you advice concerning the charges the state has brought against you. It is my legal opinion that you will most likely not be found guilty of first degree murder, but that you may be facing a charge of manslaughter.';





You then describe the applicable law:





';In this state, murder is defined as.... manslaughter is defined as....';


I can tell from your fact pattern that this essay involves the rule of manslaughter of ';reasonably extreme emotional disturbance'; i.e. a person in the heat of passion does not develop the prerequisite mental state necessary for murder. After seeing the messages, your client went into a rage which he could not control, the fights he had with the decedent show that he was an angry man predisposed to such fits and far removed from the cold calculation and premeditation necessary for a murder charge etc. etc. Before you write your essay, you should review your materials, which may involve cases.





After you have stated the applicable laws, you describe how the laws work, that is, you describe the cases that may be relevant to your opinion. If you have a case that you read where the husband found his wife in bed with another man and he shot them both, then you explain the facts of that case and the reason why the judge(s) ruled they way that they did.





Next, you apply the facts of your case to the rule of law, either distinguishing from cases that hurt you, or describing how your case fits within the rules. This is the most important part of the essay because it shows how you can apply facts to the law, which is in what both your teacher and judges are interested.





Finally, you give your conclusion again. When I write conclusions, I write a one sentence paragraph that basically says, ';For the foregoing reasons, you will mostly likely be found not guilty of first degree murder, but guilty of manslaughter.'; or ';The Prosecution's motion should be DENIED.'; You should include some sentences on the maximum and minimum penalties your client could face, and about the possibility of a plea bargain. You might include sentences that make the reader believe that this is a letter to your client. You must write to your intended audience which is a teacher looking to see you write a client letter.





This style of writing is known as CREAC, and it is taught in American law schools.
First, you tell him to shut his mouth and get the facts of what happened. A slick lawyer will be able to ask questions in a way to get the big picture without limiting their legal options. For example, you don't ask ';did you kill her';, but, ';how did the police find out she was injured';, and, ';what did you tell the police';...





If the factual evidence shows that he definitely did it, and/or he admitted to it, you can ask questions about his state of mind to build a case for either manslaughter (extreme emotional disturbance) or temporary insanity (unlikely and doesn't work so well anymore).





I'm not commenting on the ethics of doing this, just that this is the way to do it.
I would not advice him of anything except what he is charged with, until I have heard his side of the story. Then I would tell him to keep his mouth shut to the police and anyone else. I would gather information from the investigation (from the police through discovery). I would advise my client of the evidence, and ask him questions relating to the evidence. I would file motions to have my client checked by a physiologist to establish his frame of mind (intent) at the time of the crime, and if he is able to stand trial. I would interview the state's witnesses and observe their evidence. I would question my client concerning these matters - and would discuss a possible defense to the charges. The age of the son and the relationship that existed between the father and son would be large issues to establish credibility of the witness. Hope this helps.
You start by getting the police reports, medical examiners report. Then determine the strength of the case, in your opinion. Discuss it with the client and let him make the decision whether to enter in a plea bargain. If he is unable to make and informed decision, wait for the preliminary hearing and file for discovery which allows you a more in depth look at what the persecutors case is, then make a decision as to guilty or not guilty plea. Keep in mind that 95 percent of the people in prison today are because the took a plea bargain.