Physical altercation between Mike and Tony

Mike seems to be the individual from which everything stems from. Essentially he is a normal guy who is just a little down on his luck. It is because of this circumstance that he takes actions into his own hands. Mike’s action to take the counterfeit money can be classified as “the easy wrong over the hard right”. The moment that he took and then spent the counterfeit money, he is guilty of forgery under the Model Penal Code Article 224. This article states “Forgery is a felony of the second degree if the writing is or purports to be part of an issue of money..” (Model Penal Code, 1985). Tony, who is knocked unconscious by Mike, was the one who provided the counterfeit money to Mike and therefore would be charged with forgery as well.

On the matter of the physical altercation between Mike and Tony at Tony’s apartment, Mike would face a charge of aggravated assault and depraved heart second degree murder. The aggravated assault charges are the result of Mike striking Tony over the head with his pistol. The presence of the pistol and the physical contact are both traits of an assault and aggravated assault when a person threatens to kill another person or to cause serious bodily harm (Montaldo, 2017). The grounds for depraved heart second degree murder are in reference to the death of Tina, who falls out an open window during a dispute. She is newly married and quickly finds out that her new husband is a hot head. In her attempt to get away from Mike in Tony’s apartment, she falls out an open window. Mike who is under the influence of alcohol shows little remorse in his new bride falling to her death. This conduct shows and extreme indifference to life (Storm, 2012).

The next charges come at the bar scene after the marriage of Mike and Tina, prior to the incidents at Tony’s apartments. The bar is where things begin to escalate for Mike. He and Tina are just celebrating their marriage, like any normal couple. Mike probably drinks more than he should and as a result begins topple out of control. Tommy, the bar tender, does the reasonable thing and cuts Mike off from ordering more drinks. This doesn’t agree with Mike. He brandishes a pistol and fires off a round. Aside from the presence of the pistol and the discharging of it, Mike also has to be charged due to the bullet striking both Tommy and Marie. Tony was only grazed, however Maria is killed.

The Model Penal Code states in Section 210.1 “that a person is guilty of criminal homicide if he purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently “causes the death of another human being.” (Model Penal Code, 1985). These guidelines are met when Mike pulls the pistol and fires it, killing Maria and wounding Tommy. For the instance, Mike would face charges for criminal homicide and attempted criminal homicide in the bar incident.

As for the cab driver Marie, she took action as soon as she realized that the money was counterfeit. Let alone how she knew that it was counterfeit from just looking at, she wanted something done for her inconvenience. After returning to the drop off point where Mike was left, Marie broke into the resident to get her due justice. In searching the house, she fell and hit her head. Marie would be charged with breaking and entering under the MPC.

Discussion 2

The assignment for this week was interesting and I enjoyed it because I was able to apply everything I have learned on the course of these eight weeks. Just to summarize my finding for each criminal situation I am going to start with Tina. In the scenario, I felt like Tina could have only been charged with accessory, or aiding and abetting because after Mike told her about the phony money she did nothing. Next, there was Tony, he did not commit any crimes that I could think of but he did try to prevent Mike from committing more. The only crime Tony could have possibly been charged with would have been accessory as well if he did not contact the police when he was no long unconscious, simply because Mike told him everything he did. Tommy and Maria did not commit any crimes, they just happen to be two innocent people at work on that night. Marie would have been charged with burglary for breaking into Mike home to steal money that he owed her. Most states and the Model Penal Code use the same basic definition of burglary, which is: An unauthorized breaking and entry, into a building or occupied structure, and with the intent to commit a crime inside (“Burglary Overview – FindLaw”, n.d.). Now we come to Mike who committed more than a few crimes those two days. First, there were two counts of larceny by trick or false pretenses from when he bought the ring with fake money and paid for the taxi ride.  Mike could have also been charged with disorderly conduct (public argument caused by public intoxication), two counts of aggravated assault (his gunshot grazing Tommy and hitting Tony with the gun), simple assault (forcing/pushing Tina into his car), and murder (killing maria).

The Model Penal Code grades battery (called simple assault) as a misdemeanor unless “committed in a fight or scuffle entered into by mutual consent, in which case it is a petty misdemeanor” (Model Penal Code § 211.1(1)(Storm, 2012). The Model Penal Code grades aggravated battery (called aggravated assault), which is battery that causes serious bodily injury or bodily injury caused by a deadly weapon, as a felony of the second or third degree (Model Penal Code § 211.1(2)(Storm, 2012). The Model Penal Code defines disorderly conduct as engaging in fighting or threatening or violent tumultuous behavior, making unreasonable noise or an offensively course utterance, gesture, or display, addressing abusive language to any person present, or creating a hazardous or physically offensive condition by an act that serves no legitimate purpose (Model Penal Code § 250.2) (Storm, 2012). The Model Penal Code criminalizes theft by deception when a defendant purposely “creates or reinforces a false impression, including false impressions as to law, value, intention, or other state of mind” (Model Penal Code 223.3(1) (Storm, 2012).

Reference:

Burglary Overview – FindLaw. Retrieved from https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/burglary-overview.html

Lisa M. Storm. (2012). Criminal Law