Criminal charges in late 1950s New Jersey - manslaughter vs murder?

[halocentury]

I had been searching for information concerning the US - New Jersey court system. As a Canadian I'm a bit out of the know. I managed to find parts of the information I wanted, as in which court this crime should've gone to, and the procedure of how it ought to go from police station to courts, but the events take place in the 1950s. I was hoping to

Comments

[judit100]

Very interesting!! :)

[marycatelli]

If the other guy had a knife, and the police believe that Nick acted in fear of his life -- which would mean they believe the other guy really was threatening him with a knife -- that's neither.

If they don't believe he thought he was in danger of his life, it would be voluntary manslaughter since it was in a heat of a moment under a situation where a reasonable person would get rather disturbed.

[halocentury]

My intentions with this story is to send Nick away to prison for some length of time, so I would need the police to believe Nick's life wasn't in danger. I'm already removing the use of the knife from the crime so what other circumstances would be needed to ensure prison time?

[jenshih_blue]

You might find what you need at the following website:

http://www.hg.org/

It has articles, definitions, and other items pertaining to US Law.

[halocentury]

Oh, this is great. Thanks for providing the link!

[jenshih_blue]

You're welcome. =D

[duckodeath]

If the other guy started the fight and stabbed Nick, why wouldn't Nick killing the guy be considered self defense?

[halocentury]

Well, from someone who wasn't in the situation, they could argue that as soon as the guy was not moving, unconscious and no longer a threat, Nick should've stopped. Mind you, Nick wouldn't have noticed right away due to still being in defensive mode.

If there was no knife involved in the fight, and Nick still beat him to death, how would the circumstances and a sentencing be different?

[duckodeath]

Well, I'm neither a lawyer nor an expert on the state of New Jersey and the history of its laws, but I did a bit of googling and I would say that even without the knife, Nick could still have been in reasonable fear of his life and even if it wasn't self-defense, him killing the guy in the heat of the fight that the other guy started could possibly be considered a form of manslaughter called "passion as a result of reasonable provocation." You can find out more about it by searching for passion manslaughter new jersey and (currently) carries a sentence of 5 to 10 years.

Otherwise it would probably be reckless manslaughter (similar sentence I think) if the prosecutor has it in for Nick and decides that Nick knew exactly what he was doing when he ended the fight and that no reasonable person would have acted the same way in the same circumstances.

[halocentury]

All of this information helps me a lot, as I was ideally looking for a sentence that involved something close to 10 years. Incidentally, since you mentioned a prosecuter, would a crime like this go to trial, even with Nick pleading guilty?