This assignment is to be done individually, and must be an original piece of work.
The assignment is to be typed, with your registered name and student number, along with your section
number, clearly stated at the top of the page, and then submitted through Assignments.
Court Case Assignment
An 18 year old Puerto Rica boy, Ricky Hernandez, is charged with having killed his father, Miguel Hernandez, a year
earlier by stabbing him with a switchblade knife in their apartment late one night. The case takes place in the
United States, so the law varies from that in Canada.
The jury is charged with having to decide if Hernandez is innocent or guilty of the crime. The judge tells the jurors
that the death sentence is mandatory for murder in the first degree — pre-meditated murder. Originally only 1
juror, juror #8, states that he will not agree with a guilty verdict.
There are two main witnesses. The first is an old man, who testified that at 10 minutes after 12 midnight he heard
a loud noise, heard the boy yell that he was going to kill his father, so the old man ran to his door and saw the boy
running down the stairs.
At the same time an empty train was passing by, and a woman across the street testified that she couldn‘t sleep
