Chance Medley: A Necessary Evil Indirect

Chance Medley name originally came from the Anglo-French chance-medlee, meaning a mixed chance. This verdict was originally used in murder cases where the killing did not involve premeditated malice (as in a sudden fight). The verdict was used to convict individuals who were not guilty, however, the killer had to be punished even though it was an accident. The verdict was very popular especially in late 17th century, mostly used in cases of deaths which were caused by accidents (as already mentioned above), such as being hit by a cart, or being shot by a gun, however – unintentionally, in order to point out that the defendant did kill someone, however he was not at fault. Sometimes the term was also traced as “acquitted”. Nevertheless, in 18th century, the usage of verdict slightly …show more content…
The term is from English law, which describes the “casual killing of a man, not altogether without the killer’s fault, though without evil intent; homicide by misadventure”. I have used 2 definitions of Chance Medley, and both definitions have used the phrase “without evil intent” or “murdering someone, however with no evil intentions”. Even though the verdict has not been used since 1731, in fact, I feel that this verdict needs to be brought especially because of this particular case. It is obvious, that Frank needed to get help when he was a child, that reflects through his actions in high school (not focusing on school, not listening to the teachers, getting into a fight). Even now, it is obvious; that he needs a specialist’s help, due to his high alcohol consumption and anger issues which even prevented his boss from giving him a promotion. Due to his past, his actions can be explainable, however it is not an excuse to intoxicate yourself with alcohol and get into nasty fights at the