[Kate!]

Susan is married to Robert. Robert is a control freak, he tells her what to do, where she can and can't go, what to wear and who she can have as friends. He never physically hurts her, however she feels increasingly trapped and isolated. She doesn't feel able to confide in anyone.

One day she's had enough and puts poison in the sugarbowl knowing that Robert will have his usual cup of tea with two sugars when he gets home from work that evening. She goes out on her normal weekly grocery shopping trip and on the way home has an attack of conscience and resolves to dispose of the poison and not go through with it. However, Robert has come home from work as he's been made redundant and has already had a cup of tea. He dies.

There is a post mortem as Robert was a generally fit and healthy man, and Susan breaks down and confesses. She's charged with murder, and the case for the Defence argues for the lesser charge of manslaughter, citing his unreasonable behaviour and her emotional state of mind.

You're on the jury. Would you find her guilty of Murder? Or the lesser charge of Manslaughter?

[Ninastar]

I'd charge her guilty of murder, because she has murdered.

[Kizzy]

Murder, she could have just left him?.....

[Locke.]

Murder, the poor guy didn't deserve this

[Marsh.]

Who's Mary? I thought Susan was the murderer?

[AnnieK]

If she could prove how mentally tormented by him she was, she would probably get manslaughter.

[Kate!]

Originally Posted by 08marsh

Who's Mary? I thought Susan was the murderer?

well spotted .... Typo. I've corrected it.

[Shaun]

I don't see any dilemma, she's a murderer

[Kate!]

Originally Posted by Shaun

I don't see any dilemma, she's a murderer

Lol, yes but she's suffered incredibly mental torment like Annie said

I'd go for manslaughter.

[smudgie]

She should have left him and divorced him on mental cruelty.

[Niamh.]

Guilty obviously, she could have just left him like other people said, he wasn't physically abusive so it's not like there was a threat to her life if she left him

[Kate!]

Yeah, there's no question she's guilty and deserves a sentence, but would you all return a verdict of murder or would you take into account what she's been through and class it as manslaughter, either way she's going away for a long time, but there's more leeway for coming out in old age on a manslaughter verdict.

[smudgie]

Originally Posted by *Kate*

Yeah, there's no question she's guilty and deserves a sentence, but would you all return a verdict of murder or would you take into account what she's been through and class it as manslaughter, either way she's going away for a long time, but there's more leeway for coming out in old age on a manslaughter verdict.

Premeditated means murder.

[Marsh.]

Yeah, I think the fact she wasn't defending herself from immediate danger and plotted to kill him means she deserves to go down for murder.

However, I'm not sure how mental suffering is taken into account in cases like this. Surely all murderers have some kind of mental condition to be able to do what they do. Tough one.

[Josy]

Yep murder.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by *Kate*

Yeah, there's no question she's guilty and deserves a sentence, but would you all return a verdict of murder or would you take into account what she's been through and class it as manslaughter, either way she's going away for a long time, but there's more leeway for coming out in old age on a manslaughter verdict.

By guilty I meant of murder. You can't go around killing people because they have s**t personalities, which is basically what she did. If she was unhappy all she had to do was leave him, he wasn't physically threatening towards her

[Natalie.]

Murder

[Kate!]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

By guilty I meant of murder. You can't go around killing people because they have s**t personalities, which is basically what she did. If she was unhappy all she had to do was leave him, he wasn't physically threatening towards her

That's true, I hadn't looked at it from that aspect, my instinctive sympathies were fully with her, maybe that's misguided.

I've never done jury service, I wonder if I could be impartial enough if faced with a case like this, it would be very interesting.