Some people are miserable bastards and deserve to be shot.
That's awful. They should starve the parents to death.
Mugwumps, hi-jumps, low slumps, big bumps
I bet she was feral. I watched a show about this kinda stuff on the History channel once... She'd have never been anywhere near sane or well-adjusted no matter how much time she was given after that amount of neglect, especially at that age. Poor girl... She probably couldn't comprehend life enough to even know it existed. I suppose that's a good thing...
I don't understand how they're being charged with something as light as manslaughter. I could be suffering from culture shock and misunderstand the severity of the charge, but in America that charge is associated with accidental deaths based on negligence. To call this negligence is to call the Great Depression a time when money was tight.
Signature by rubah. I think.
No, the cat was feral. It was also fed and allowed fresh air.
Jessica was a human being who was locked in a room for five years without light, air or food. She might not have been able to comprehend 'life', but I'm sure as hell she could comprehend pain.
In US law, manslaughter is defined by two different categories: voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary manslaughter requires that the defendant intend to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm upon the victim, and the victim died as a result of the defendant's actions. Involuntary manslaughter occurs when there is not an intent to kill, and the victim dies due to culpable negligence on the part of the defendant. This crime would most likely be considered involuntary manslaughter.Originally Posted by fire_of_avalon
And for the Americans here, how much, in pounds, is a stone and a half?
ARGUMENT FROM GUITAR MASTERY
(1) Eric Clapton is God.
(2) Therefore, God exists.
Oh god.
I think he was referring to cases of "feral children" like Genie and more recently with the case of the 17-year-old boy who was starved and kept in a cage.
I can't fathom how it's possible for these parents to be this cruel. This inhumane. I mean how? How??
A stone is about 15 pounds...maybe 14, I think. So a stone and a half would be 22 pounds.
Holy hell, this girl weighed less than 25 pounds. Seven years old.
And FoA, I agree, but that's all it would classify as.
I dare say they intended to inflict grievous bodily harm.
I don't know if they could prove that in court. Murder would be a pretty hefty charge, but gross negligence would present itself. They might deserve to be punished more, but you've got to go with what you can prove in court.
I don't think you can come up with a convincing defense for locking your child away and starving her to death. One couldn't reasonably say one didn't know what effect these actions would have.
You have a point, but when they're confronted with a murder charge, they could simply say "We didn't mean to kill her, we just didn't care", and that would get them by. Again, it's disguisting and I'm sure we all think they deserve more punishment than they deserve by law, but that's the way it is.
This is an issue with so many areas to look at. I think deep down, what worries me the most is the fact that the parents could claim that they were unaware of what they were doing, perhaps blaming it on alcohol, and COULD actually pull it off because we've become a society that is scared of putting responsibility for people's actions on people. We'd rather blame some sort of external problem such as alcoholism than the parents because it's somehow easier on our conscience.
Though, the other area I wonder about is, are the parents of sound mind? This tragedy would be made ever worse of the parents were actually innocent of the malice and mistreatment of their daughter because they truly were not of sound mind and judgment, but even though I don't know the details of this case aside from this article, I have a feeling that's not the case.
Since this happened in Germany, I don't know what the standards for murder would have to be but I think you could make a case that this was at least aggravated manslaughter and perhaps even Murder 2 if it had happened in the US because there could be proven that the parents had an intent and were well aware of what they were doing to this child. It would be a harder case to win, but it is possible.
This is a terrible, terrible tragedy. I hope all the truth in this case is revealed and those responsible are punished. No child or person deserves this type of treatment. May she rest in peace.
Take care all.
You are right they probably couldn't be successfully tried for murder, but definitely voluntary manslaughter. If you throw in some child neglect charges I'm sure they could get a hefty punishment.
I'm sure the prosecution could argue that the couple knew that starvation leads to death, and thus knew that their actions or inactions would result in the child's death.
Posting Permissions
