If you were a member of the jury for this case, what would you do? Who do you believe?

[SirRexington]

Hypothetical scenario.

A girlfriend wakes up next her boyfriend from a nightmare where she dreamt that her boyfriend stabbed her and slit her throat. Upon waking up suddenly and in terror, her man is startled and asks her what was wrong. She explains to him she had a nightmare but she doesn't want to tell him what happened in it. Wanting to comfort her he holds her in his arms.

He is worried for her. She reluctantly decides to tell him her dream. She stutters, afraid to say. Her boyfriend begins to cry. He is confused and distraught. After a moment of pondering he decides he should leave.

He is stopped from leaving. She calls out to him from the floor where she is sitting, hands in her face. Telling him he should stay, he contemplates whether he should or not. If he leaves it might give the perception that he is fleeing a stressful situation rather than fighting for it but also that he would be abandoning her. But on the other hand he feels that maybe him leaving for a time would be for the best. Seeing the man who you just dreamt about killing you would presumably be mentally tasking.

He decides to stay however, but not in the room. He goes to another room in the house and closes the door behind him. He falls to his knees and cries. He can't understand why she would have that dream or why it felt so real to her. It deeply troubles him. What has he done to her that might have subconsciously put thoughts of violence from him into her mind? The door opens behind him and it's his girlfriend holding a knife from the kitchen in her hands. She attacks him but he grabs her attacking arm with both of his hands and pushes her up against the wall. She doesn't let go so he knees her in the stomach. Still she doesn't let go. He grips harder with his left hand and releases his right so he can knock her out. He succeeds. She falls to the floor.
He wonders for a moment what he should do. Impulsively he calls the cops. When they arrive they speak to him about the incident but arrest him due to there being no evidence she attacked him but evidence that he clearly "attacked" her. He pleas for the pokipo to understand but they read him his Miranda rights and help his girlfriend up.

Include a caption for your image…

[tartaarsaus]

For starters, can't follow-up investigation just prove or disprove the premise of her attacking him?

Without evidence that proves, beyond any reasonable doubt, that she attacked him with a knife, she should of course not be prosecuted for that.

The fact that the girl is likely far weaker and extremely emotional as well would be advantageous to any violence she has used as self-defence.

So if it was up to me, assuming no evidence of whatever the girlfriend did (as the cops state), no prosecution of woman; prosecution of man for assault or whatever.

[tartaarsaus]

But in the real world, it also has to do with how people presumably testify, what questions asked, and the general impression from that, as it paints a picture on the credibility of the claims of the woman and man.

[SirRexington]

So if the man is telling the truth (which in this story he is) what happens? Does he get charged?

[tartaarsaus]

Well, as far as the jury can know for sure, his story is just his story without evidence backing it up.

His story alone is probably not enough in itself to trigger the self-defence clause to prevent prosecution for him.

So yeah, presumably, he'd get prosecuted for assault.

[DollySummers]

I feel like he is screwed in this biased-prejudice situation. She had a dream about him murdering her. I think not. That was the big clue that she wanted to kill him. She caused him to be mentally distraught. If she really had that dream. She would’ve wanted him to leave. But she wanted him to stay. Which means she plotted against him.

Because she is a woman, and most likely has bruises. The prosecutor, juror, and judge will all be on her side.

[OlderAndWiser]

Since there are no witnesses other than the two of them, the perception of the case will depend on who testifies, what they say, and what credibility they have. Does the girlfriend testify about the dream and then admit to attacking him with the knife? If not, does the defendant testify in his defense?

[ADFSDF1996]

I’ll believe the man, there are plenty of behavioral patterns that he will show, that will indicate that he’s innocent. But of course, I don’t expect the judge, prosecutors or 11 other jurors to believe him. The court rarely favors men and those who act out of self defense.

[EleanorRigby]

In real sitution, she would probably have bruises and injuries which is evidence. He only has his word that she tried to stab him. So he would most likely be accused guilty in this case. Did she hide the knife by the time the police was there? Probably not if she was knocked out. The police could also say he planted it there tho so not much of an evidence in his favour either either.

Clearly she is guilty in this situation, and I'm not saying he deserves jail and women should be trusted based on nothing, but I think it's pretty understandable that law can't function based on someone's word.

Anyways I'm glad I'm not an actual judge, and we don't have jury duty where I live, I know there are plenty of grey area situations and I think it's a really difficult to make the right assesment.

[IronCrossBlueAnon]

You got a creative mind lol you should write for TV or something. Yea it is hard to say I mean obviously the jury does not know what is true or not but I think I might side with the guy only because the story makes sense and she is still breathing.

[SirRexington]

Thank you! I do want to have some of the scripts I've written to be published. It's a dream of mine.

[SkipStop]

Believe the man. Women lie too often so she will be my first suspect. Women create bruises by themselves making it look like someone else did it. That has been proven in other situations. Next, if she had dreams about attacking or being attacked with a knife then she would probably do it from damaged mentality.

[OldSchool_Metalhead]

Hmm, this would surely be a troubling case.

I feel like what would happen is the guy being prosecuted because there is lack of evidence of the woman going bat-crazy. Even if this guy is telling the truth.

What should be done though is a further investigation having to do with the girlfriend so maybe more evidence can be provided.

[Jjpayne]

That's tough... It's one person's word against another.. If it's just them I'd say maybe a lie detector

[Harmseygrace]

I wouldn't believe anyone until there's enough evidence to weigh against each other.

[Paris13]

Be fair and Square. xx