The State of New Jersey vs. Mr. Heart - Prosecutor
Imagine an elderly man inviting someone into his home to take care of him, but then his caretaker surprisingly creates a scheme that will get rid of him because of his eye. The old man trusted him with his life, and suddenly he takes it from him. The man I am describing is Mr. Heart, who is guilty of committing first degree murder. He was the victim’s caretaker for a long enough duration of time for them to develop a father-son relationship with one another, yet he killed him in the end. Members of the jury, after going over the evidence against Mr. Heart in the State of New Jersey vs. Mr. Heart case, it is as clear as day that he should be convicted of first degree murder because the facts …show more content…
Heart committed was undeniably premeditated. He took time to plan out the entire murder in his head before his scheme commenced. He knew exactly what he was going to do to kill the victim successfully and as stealthily as possible. First of all, premeditation is the act of planning ahead of the actual murder. The time taken for premeditation does not need to be a long time, but just enough for the average sane person to realize that what they are doing is wrong (“First Degree Murder Overview”). One of the things he did that was premeditated was how he would hide the body after killing the victim. Mr. Heart went through many ideas of how he could conceal the body without a trace. He also took precautions on hiding it so that he would not be a suspect in the murder. His testimony states, “If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body” (Poe 3). Mr. Heart was very meticulous about the way he would accomplish his goal without ever being caught in the act. He clearly states that he was very careful in coming up with a plan that will surely work. In addition, Mr. Heart also premeditated the way he would furtively get into the victim’s chamber unnoticed. Premeditation is “When an individual contemplates, for any length of time, undertaking an activity and then subsequently takes the action” (“Premeditation”). The suspect is guilty of this because he …show more content…
Heart maliciously killed the victim. He wanted to kill the man and he did without a lawful reason to do so such as self defence. Instead he murdered the old man in cold blood without a second thought, or a good reason to do so. His testimony states, “I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of vulture- a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold” (Poe 1). He believed that the victim’s eye was evil and because of this, he could not stand it. Since the eye irked him so much, it compelled him to kill the victim. Even though he knew that it was not a valid reason, that did not stop him from doing so. Considering, “When applied to the crime of murder, malice is the mental condition that motivates one individual to take the life of another individual without just cause or provocation” (“Malice”). We can easily see that Mr. Heart is guilty of malice because what motivates him to kill the victim is his eye. His testimony states, “but I found that the eye was always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye” (Poe 1). As you can see, Mr. Heart did not mind the old man, in fact, he loved him as if he were his own father yet he took his life anyway. Because the eye annoyed him so much, he saw that killing the old man was the only way to get rid of the eye. During the time of the crime, he no longer cared for the man because he was only worried
Imagine an elderly man inviting someone into his home to take care of him, but then his caretaker surprisingly creates a scheme that will get rid of him because of his eye. The old man trusted him with his life, and suddenly he takes it from him. The man I am describing is Mr. Heart, who is guilty of committing first degree murder. He was the victim’s caretaker for a long enough duration of time for them to develop a father-son relationship with one another, yet he killed him in the end. Members of the jury, after going over the evidence against Mr. Heart in the State of New Jersey vs. Mr. Heart case, it is as clear as day that he should be convicted of first degree murder because the facts …show more content…
Heart committed was undeniably premeditated. He took time to plan out the entire murder in his head before his scheme commenced. He knew exactly what he was going to do to kill the victim successfully and as stealthily as possible. First of all, premeditation is the act of planning ahead of the actual murder. The time taken for premeditation does not need to be a long time, but just enough for the average sane person to realize that what they are doing is wrong (“First Degree Murder Overview”). One of the things he did that was premeditated was how he would hide the body after killing the victim. Mr. Heart went through many ideas of how he could conceal the body without a trace. He also took precautions on hiding it so that he would not be a suspect in the murder. His testimony states, “If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body” (Poe 3). Mr. Heart was very meticulous about the way he would accomplish his goal without ever being caught in the act. He clearly states that he was very careful in coming up with a plan that will surely work. In addition, Mr. Heart also premeditated the way he would furtively get into the victim’s chamber unnoticed. Premeditation is “When an individual contemplates, for any length of time, undertaking an activity and then subsequently takes the action” (“Premeditation”). The suspect is guilty of this because he …show more content…
Heart maliciously killed the victim. He wanted to kill the man and he did without a lawful reason to do so such as self defence. Instead he murdered the old man in cold blood without a second thought, or a good reason to do so. His testimony states, “I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of vulture- a pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold” (Poe 1). He believed that the victim’s eye was evil and because of this, he could not stand it. Since the eye irked him so much, it compelled him to kill the victim. Even though he knew that it was not a valid reason, that did not stop him from doing so. Considering, “When applied to the crime of murder, malice is the mental condition that motivates one individual to take the life of another individual without just cause or provocation” (“Malice”). We can easily see that Mr. Heart is guilty of malice because what motivates him to kill the victim is his eye. His testimony states, “but I found that the eye was always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye” (Poe 1). As you can see, Mr. Heart did not mind the old man, in fact, he loved him as if he were his own father yet he took his life anyway. Because the eye annoyed him so much, he saw that killing the old man was the only way to get rid of the eye. During the time of the crime, he no longer cared for the man because he was only worried