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Criminal Law Keyed to Osler
United States v. Roston
Citation:
956 F. 2d 1287 (9th Cir. 1993)Facts
Defendant was on a honeymoon cruise with his wife, Karen. Passengers had notice tension between the two during the cruise, and the defendant admitted that they had been fighting about the amount of sweets she was eating and her not knowing how to use the complex silverware on the ship. This resulted in a fight the two had.
Karen was thrown overboard of the ship. The railing was 3’6″ and she was 5’3″ making it unlikely that she simply fell. Additionally, forensic evidence has proved that she was unconscious when she hit the water and died of drowning. Her neck and eyes showed signs of hemorrhage and her neck bones were warping, suggesting manual strangulation. Material from the jogging track on deck were found in her clothing and parts of her earring and hair were found on the track several feet from where she was thrown overboard. Defendant’s face was also severed scratched.
Defendant argued that two Israeli nationals on board killed her and threw her overboard. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. On appeal, the defendant argues 1) that no rational juror could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that he killed his wife with malice and 2) prosecution was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was not committed in the heat of passion.
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