Justifiable Homicide Case Study

According to Gosselin (2013), Justifiable Homicide is best defined as a reasonable killing act of an individual done out of self-defense to protect either themselves or others (pg. 306). Under the circumstance, if the victim kills without an evil motive the killing is socially acceptable because the victim appears to technically not be at fault for what has happened due to the violence been used by the perpetrator (Gosselin, 2013, pg. 306). Some factors that are looked at when determining if the victim acted out of self-defense are: did the victim feared for their life and had a reasonable need to use force, the threat and violence against the victim was forthcoming, did the victim react towards the threats with uncontrolled force, and did the victim have an obligation to draw back (Gosselin, 2013, pg. 306). Considering the history that Beth and Sam had in their relationship and the circumstances that Beth was in when she actually killed Sam, I would consider the killing a justifiable homicide with all criteria met. Beth feared …show more content…
(Sipe, 2013, pg. 125). Once she realized she did not see him charging at her anymore, she did not continue shooting or used any violence, she was not trying to kill him (Sipe, 2013, pg. 126). After the shooting and the rush to the hospital, Beth prayed by herself, worried for Sam’s health, hoping he would not die, and still voiced the love she still had for him (Sipe, 2013, pg. 127). This answered the question of whether or not Beth had any evil intention of using the gun on Sam. She was in a sixteen year domestic violence relationship, with no good help from any of the systems that are supposed to provide assistance, and was full of fear and anxiety. This ultimately led to the killing of Sam that I consider to be a justifiable