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A Vampire has been thrown in jail and is now on trial with multiple murder charges. You, his attorney, are his last chance at getting out and being set free.
What would your defense argument be? How would you justify his need for blood and the death of the people that he bit, fed off and killed.
What would you say to the jury and judge to make them return a favorable judgment.

Easiest bet would be to plea insanity, as the majority of society would feel that they were...

He only takes what he needs nothing else and nothing more. and plead insanity, probs be the best option.

Surely you'd just need to provide evidence that the vamp NEEDED blood to survive but even then the court would surely send poor vampy down, ruling that they could survive on the blood of animals?

If I was a lawyer defending a Vampirfe my plea for him would be "INSANITY" and with that he would be set free or be in a mental institution but still if he was to go there he would kill more victims in the night.

Well, if he was a vampire of fantasy my argument would be that he is technically dead. You cannot sentence a dead man.

Insanity plea is always a good one. Maybe a rehabilitation program where they are taught about other food sources like animals etc.

A prison cannot hold the fictional vampire anyways unless they make some great modifications, which costs money which could mean an increase of the taxes, and as a lawyer making good money, I would not like that

:-P

He was killing only to survive, society let him down by denying his exsitance, had we acknowledged his need for blood to survive perhaps programs and blood would have been made available to him preventing these deaths, what he needs is to be understood, he needs our assistance to survive wihtout the need to kill. We could take his life but we would be doing to him as we are condeming him for his actions, let us help this creature, help him to coesist with us in peace and not need to killl to survive, for he may be vampire, but he is a living creature just as us, and what gives us the right to condem him for his actions if it was his need to survive that drove him to them.

Excellent UTAHVAMP, I really like that, I'd vote to set him free :P

i guess i'd play up the fact that they're vampires and it's i their natures to be vampires.

They're vampires and they need to feed...there'd have to be laws concerning that obviously. It would probably get complicated.

Insanity would work the best...

Even animals who attack humans when threatened or for food are hunted and slaughtered. Humans have no tolerance for the concept that they are sufficient prey for a number of animals. They would rather slaughter anything that threatens them.

I would advise the vampire to turn into mist and go away. ;)

Insanity..what else is there?

lol. Jarak stole my idea. You can't sentence a dead man, so he's off.

On the downside, you can't be tried for killing a dead man, so he's fair game for anyone to destroy.

I would call for a jury of his peers.. or that he be turned over to his own for trial.

Dabbler, Amusingly i feel his own wouldnt have a problem with him killing humans - Hell, bet they've had a few accidents themselfs >.<

I would get the vampire to bite the judge, then that would bring the case to a conclusion and as the lawyer I'd charge plenty!

i would say it is a sickness not a crime but a matter of survial

I was about to go to the same defense stragedy, if you hunt deer out of season , and you can prove that your preservation is at risk without it then you qualify for a dismissal.

but if malice is found .. then I think that would weaken the case. So if a vampire "roughed up his food then I would reconsider taking the case. Yet if the vampire had a few donors to testifiy that they usually supply the vampire I think we could reduce it down to delirium in passion.

You would have to plead insanity. Saying he had to kill to survive would not work at all. If I am starving, that does not give me the right to go to my neighbor house, kill him and take his food. There is no one on this site that would say "well he had to do it because he is a vampire and it's okay" if his victim was their mom, dad, wife or husband.

Yea I can see your angle.. I would strongly suggest my client switch to donors.

Now what if my clients victims are now vampires.. do we challenge the courts with Habius Corpus'? " I mean yea so you got a victim... yet they appear to be alive to me.. we planly have no case here your honor."

I see dabbler point aswell. In return, if they are still up walking around, than he probly would not be in jail to begin with.

temporary insanity.....

well there is the adjustment phase, If your client made it out on bail he couldd go dig up the victim and sire them.. If the body wasn't taken to autopsy before it turned that would be the way that case could be imagined to develop, a pinch play to be able to earn the stacks of cash and further case load from kindred..

I'd tell him to plead guilty... with condition that they be required to reduce teh inmate population (esp. death row) *laughs* similar to previous thread Idea.

The defense argument would have to be insanity like everyone else has suggested. Though maybe if he was incarcerated he could take care of his feeding off of the murders and rapists.

i would also have to see who they choose to kill. They could have been dealing with the worlds crime poppulation. Killing those that deserve to die. I would also work on the possiblity that he or she is not the only one and do we plan on killing them for just trying to stay a live and what would that do to us. would it make us more of a target or not.

Screw the insanity plea. Self defense, happens all the time whether in prison or out. He was protecting himself from those of whom were ignorant enough to hunt him. They threatened his life with force, of which the only valid reaction he could muster was the case of either bodily harm or manslaughter. Homicide being the case just ment they would not stop. It was not his fault they had a ruthless aggression.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The beast within is just a stereotype that society has placed upon him. He was just trying to defend his life from harm.

Look on the bright side, at least we have fewer inmates to pay as tax payers ourselves. In my opinion, he did us a favor without both realizing it as well as defending defending his honour.

This crime in my view, is "JUST CAUSE".

Actually, who's to say that the vampire doesn't have this all planned out and during the trial goes on a drinking binge and leaves the court dry? I think that would be pretty well thought out.

Killing to survive. Just like humans had to.

i don't think that it's really probably that a vampire would be tried in a court of law. it doesn't seem like it would ever happen in real life. but if it did happen i would just argue it's the nature of the beast

Clearly a case of addiction sould not be tried as murder, My clients practice attracts impressive people, people that seek to donate their resources in exchange for prestige in a Society Setting, the actions that occure in that Society are not practiced only by my client.. who we now know as a vampire.. but is he the savage "beast" that rampaged that sorority slumber party, I will attemt to show the jury.. and this court as well, that my client was ingaged in ligit (perhaps unsettling) ritual with consenting donors at the time of these terrible undeniable vampire attacks..

the vampires of legend and fiction are not human - therefore they have no right of trial. a living human who drains the blood and then kills his victims is not a vampire, but a serial killer. so the only possible defense would be insanity.

insanity plea, 10 to 12 years in a mental institution. time off for good behavior

karnstein said it right. There are no real vampires. My only difference is I would not be able to defend the person, because of the fact they are a killer

Had My client claimed to be a vampire your honor, I would think it insane and the defense would sweep this under the rug, but the case is based on scientific evidence, found and verified by Para-Biological Thearoretic Specialist Your honor my client , and this case is a message to other kindred, that they will be branded monsters, they will have every "Mayham"type act stack on them.. , every missing person.., When in fact the practices(although they appear unpleasent and even parasitic to this court are not .. to be implied to be Barberous, and defaulted to such Gorey Idealism. My Client is a Blood Tottler (no more dangerous then a frat boy out for a little OoO Action *wink..

nobody "needs" to completely draina person of blood or kill them jus to satisfy vampiric lust. humans cannot hold more than a few grams of blood in their stomach, and even vampires of legend did not need to take enough blood to kill their host.

so if hey are on a charge of multiple murder, the arguement that they had to kill to survive does not stand.

if the argumet is that it is not murder, because mortals and vampires are not of the same species, then it is not a matter for a human court of law - the killer is a dangerous non-humanand can therefore be exterminated without any need for tial.

If the defence was > he was only doing what comes naturally then it would hardly be worth defending him as he would never be set free to kill again.

I request a recess and request consoul into cambers..

Te defenses investigation as uncovered a conflict of interest.. Te Head of Prosicutions daugter is a vampire.. we feel tat te prosocution is acting in revenge to an individuel e feels is responseble for is daugters "condition"
Wen indeed ad my client commited tese atrocoitys ten my client would likely be dealt wit by a ststem allready in place to deal wit tese matters
I offer te prococution a out of court settlement in tis case...

Id say its all part of nature.. There must be death to bring upon us new life..

LOL I see many have chosen the Insanity Plea already. LOL Me how ever would call into question the very existance of my Client being a supposed Vampire. After all can you really trie something that many claim do not exist. And if he is in fact a Vampire. Is he really subject to our laws. The court would be forced to determine for a fact, what a Vampire was under the Law. They would then need to determine what rights the Vampire has. And what was said Vampire entitled to inorder to live its life as a fuctioning member of society. And only then could the court even begin to determine that the said Vampire had broken or exceeded these rights. Otherwise it would be like putting Santa Clause on trial for "Breaking and Entering." LOL

No need of a defense... surely the State will offer a plea deal.

Its a circumstantial evidence which pins this as a wrong time wrong place senario.

Yes there may have been contact between the deceased, and the client. But there is no evidence to prove these murders.

What evidence is there? other then the parties engaged a little to heavily in a fetish. It was accidental that these vitims happened to have died engaging in things which for the lack of a better term was their own fault to begin with.

Them having a history of dangerous pastiimes, with dui's on record as well as other non-safe and non-conventional behavior. My client was merely doing what he was told. It is not his fault, nor is there any criminal intent behind this situation. My client left these individuals by all account its not from his actions, but their own which is responsible for us being here today.

I agree with the people that say plead insanity, because I think that's pretty much the only good solution...
Unless you said that it was self defense...every time.

Which is kind of unbelievable.

I would definitely have to agree with the pleading insanity because I'm sure that most of the jury would never believe it to begin with...they'll just see it as murder...and a serial killer at that because of what happened. Taking what they need...you can't explain that one because these people are alive, so he wouldn't be on trial. I guess technically if you used that excuse the vampire for be on trial for a form of rape...taking without permission what does not belong to them.

In all honesty I would really be supprised that the trial was going to happen to begin with. LOL After all, I would imagine the Government would have probably spirited the Vampire away before it became too public. Paying off or threatening anyone even remotely connected to the case. And the Vampire would disappear into some Secret Lab Facillity never to be seen again. LOL

plead insanity..or how about religious convictions?

Even though I cant remember on the details I guy killed his parents and was on trail for it and all we heard about in the news was how he was convinced he killed them for there blood as he was a vampire and he needed blood he defense and the end said he was crazy but he still got sentance for murder * 2

Supposing that the Vampire of legend is a mutation of a human, thereby making him/her a new species we could go the "responsible party" route.

A dog, for instance, can be guilty of attacking and killing a human, but the owner of that dog would be the responsible party. So, if insanity didn't work, we could try to determine a separate responsible party.

The only problem with that theory is that in the example of the dog, typically the dog is put down. If you could make a case and say that this vampire would be put in the custody of another person who would best be able to handle him/her - you might have a chance.

In the strictest sense I'm guessing the insanity plea would be the way to go.

Exposing the "well it's a predator's nature to prey on things" is a valid viewpoint, but like the bear or bobcat that wanders to close to people too often, I'm sure they'd opt for putting said vamp down.

That and the unlikely hood of them getting a jury of his peers, and if one member of the prosacution is associated with a vampire then that will be a conflict of interest.

The Fat that my client is here in the court addressing this matter, should show the court his understanding in wishing the matter resolved, had my client commited these brutal acts he would have been sought after by designated elements for dealing with the code of his Society, A sSociety I remind the Jury and the court that without the "police actions" of that Society, we would be in a much more volitile situation. As we speak I am sure that the actual murder is no more. Be it a member of his own species, or a Vampire Hunter(who I remind you keep tabs on as many vampires as possible, waiting for them to step over the line, in acceptable behavior. The Defense Rest Your Honor

First of all, he would have to be judged by a jury of his own peers, 12 vampires. If not the court system could not guarantee a fair trial, thus braking his civil rights. .. And second, he would be protected by the Disabilities Act.. Being a Vampire is not his choose but part of who he is .. He must feed to survive.. Much like a diabetic need insulin. We must make accomodations for people with disabilities..even Vampires

Entopomorpic Orrenation, would move such a trial to a civil case.

Next case on the Docket .. Poltergeist Insurance Polices, If a ghost wrecks your
insured home entertainment center should you get a pay out? Would a Claim Investigator need to find what provoked the ghost to push it over? Or would the investigator need to see further activity to decide?

mine would be self presivation. Due to the fact that someone/something turned him this way he needs blood to survie and it is everyone right to self presevation.

If that doesnt work...go the insanity plea.

prove they need blood to live ,, that it's not their fault , it's innate and can't control it ...

I totally agree with Kontradiction on this...no matter what is said in the vampires defense, the vamp will be found guilty and fried.

The vampire is doing us all a favour and gettig rid of all the scum out there. No more panic over jail space.

totally plead insanity have a reputable doctor shrink the person and then tell the jury he was delusional

If this man (or woman) is found guilty then YOU...the jury, should find yourselves guilty the next time you go to Outback...or to Subway. What this vampire did was nothing different.

It was lunchtime and the alleged victim is all that is on the vampiric menu.

Guilty or innocent he's going down. He doesn't suit societal sensibilities

Yes, because he is different it would be very, very difficult to get him freed. But maybe that difference is something that could be used to his benefit.

Think I'll say I was under the influence of Bobby Gillespie!

To me---if it was a true vampire, it would never make it to court for various reasons. One being a true vampire would not be held by mortals. Two if the vampire was trapped - mortals kill that which they fear and it would be fear that there were more. Out of sight out of mind. Killed to protect the belief that there are no such things as vampires.

Thus, if it goes to trial, it is a mortal portraying a vampire. S/he would have to truly believe they were a vampire to get the insanity plea. Otherwise, it is a clever cover up for plain old cold blooded killing.

Yea would have to go with the insanity plea. But would need a mental evaluation and the Doctor stateing that the person was insane for it to be pludgitble in court of course. That or the day old excuse (which doubt would work Lord know's people tried it) "The Devil made me do it." Who know's maybe saying would be a look of insanity to judge/jury.

The underlying case could be moved to a Federal Case, Or Civil Court
Being proven a vampire and submitting to a trial would be a sign of innocents, it is also a chance for an arrangement between a likely Society
Consultant, someone that knows that not all vampires are brutal, nd that people who claim to be vampires are likely to be "decorative" in their delusional state. Since the court can planly see that my client is not lusting after the flesh and blood people around him, he is here calmly sitting at that table. Vampire attacks, or posed vampire attacks will continue to be found, people killing people they suspect to be vampires, people of the court, do not allow your stereo type of accounts of vampires
prejiduce you with fear.

Lets face it people, if we were presented with a true vampire, the first thing the government would do is not Try the individual but cut them open and see what makes them tick. Isn't that what we normally do to an unknown species of anything? If the vampire survived the "exam", he would then be locked up somewhere and tested by the military.

I would say that it was "youthful indiscretion" that led the creature to murder.

By the way "youthful indiscretion" is what was used to dismiss W.'s drinking and cocaine snorting

Jarak made an excellent point that the vampire should not be sentenced because it is dead. I would first formulate some sort of argument saying that the vampire cannot be sentenced under the court's jurisdiction for that same reason.

If the vampire is being tried for first degree murder, for example, you can formulate an argument around the common elements of the crime. Most states define first degree murder as a wilful, deliberated, and premeditated killing of another human being with malice. Depending upon the specific circumstances, you can argue that a vampire hunts spontaneously and out of necessity, probably without the required amount of premeditation and deliberation to fit the crime. The act of hunting for the vampire is not the same as, say, a disgruntled husband who plans for weeks on how to kill his wife's lover. We are talking about that level of premeditation, malice, and deliberation. That's probably the kind of argument I'd begin with.

I'm sorry, I forgot one more point that I wanted to make. I'm not positive if the insanity argument would work in the case of the vampire. I think the insanity standard is tough to meet in many courts. In some states, to be considered legally insane, you have to not be aware of the nature and quality of your acts. Or, if you do know of the nature of your acts, you must not know that what you did was wrong. In other states, you must not have the substantial capacity to understand that your acts were illegal to be considered criminally insane. If the vampire is aware of the nature of killing its prey, it will probably not be considered legally insane. If I were to argue for insanity, I would say that the vampire did not know that his acts were wrong. Overall, I doubt that this would be a winning argument.

If the vampire pleaded insanity he would be put into a high security prison and would have no access to food afterwards... Maybe the Vamp could get his "friends" to do a bit of "bribing" ;)

Twinkie Defense

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_White

Fire up sparkey, there are plenty out there willing to donate, also bloodbankes and the like there really is no reason to murder anymore except for the enjoyment of it. Insanity? fair call but than they'd be locked up in the looney bin like for eternity. That would really bite the big one.

I think we really have been going about this all wrong. For those who have been shouting the insanity plea. You can advise him to take it but it is up to him whether or not to take it. Now if the court is trying to try the defendent as a Vampire. And that being the major motivation behind the murder. (And unless are said Vampire is admitting to being a Vampire.) Our best defense would be to prove that not only are Vampires of the mystical sense are not existant. But attack every scrap of evidence that the prosocution has to even label our defendent as one. After all. If the court has determined that the murder victime died from a Vampire attack, and our defendent is not a Vampire, thenhow could our defendent be the murder of said victime?

he should ask for the death sentence, they can only fry ya once and hes already dead so it would be double jepardy to do it twice lol

I believe some one pointed this out earlier but I'm not sure.

The insanity plea can only be used if the person in question does not know the difference between right and wrong. Even then it's a tough argument. Insanity pleas are only used in something like 10% of trials and are only won 4% of the time. Not a realistic way to get your client off. Not to mention if the insanity plea does work, it only keeps them out of jail until they understand the nature of their crime....so in the end the still get "locked up"

i would say give him community service and make him into the new death penalty system instead of leathal injection wich is cruel and unusual (says our goverment)

The insanity plea is only a benefit in the penalty phase of a trial. The client will likely be found guilty of the charges but get a differed sentance in a maximium security mental insituite.

and dont forget ya cant kill a vampire , hes already dead...or undead....whatever lol

There was a law passed after the witch trials that keeps courts out of matters super natural, I just have to find it, there would need to be another charge brought .

My clients citizanship should be considered in the factor if he was indeed here in the U.S. before the founding of law, might he not be exept from those laws, I will press the issue that the prosacutions Daughter is a vampire and this trial is a conflict of interest.

I hear ya Thirsty. Think of all the electricity saved by having a vampire be the newest form of capitol punishment!

Go green everybody!!

I don't think there is much you could do other than plead Insanity.

it may not be a good look on vampires but his only chance is to plead insanity and he will prolly only get like 6 months in a asylum.

But imagine the side effects of putting a vampire in prison unless it's in solitary.

Well since as most of the jury, if not all the jury would be pessimisitic to the whole idea of a vampire even exsisting. Even if you did plead insainity, it still wouldnt make it right. They couldnt put the vampire in prison because that wouldnt slove anything.

the most likely thing that would happen, is that it would be made a big media hit, and then be sentenced to death.

I can't help thinking that if it was a vampire of legend - he wouldn't actually let himself get caught in the first place.

If on the other hand, it was someone mortal who genuinely believed they needed to kill to survive, then definitely psychotherapy would be needed, and a full psychological profile could support a plea of insanity.

well in our country people are adjudicated and being punished for things which a human being must not do anything unusual in normal circumstances. like we have a law here that a mad man cannot be punished for any criminal offence but he is being kept in cutody of rehabilitation centeres. in this case however a vampire i think for them as well this is usual with them to drink blood. so i think the plea can be prayed for.

I would express concern for my clients competency & request that he/she be hospitalized and met with by psychiatrist. I would hope that the psychiatrist would say that he/she suffered from “Schizophrenic reactions” marked by visual hallucinations. I would try to have my client found incompetent to stand trial.

blame blood banks, they dont give free blood anymore and he had to feed off of people, and id make it sound good like the people he killed were mass murders and thieves, even it up a bit

So it all could've been solved if the blood bank offered free samples? LMAO :p
Awesome...why not? The health department gives out free condoms to prevent STDs...why shouldn't blood be available to vamps to prevent murders?

Sounds logical.

I too would go with the insanity plea, as the jury is going to more swayed by that then by the my cleints need for blood to survive as the other attornys defence would be that there could have been other ways to get blood other then going on a killing spree.

LOL I dare the court to prove that my client is a Vampire. Nay. That even Vampires exsist. The fact that our prosecution has even brought this case to trial is preposturous. I mean really. Does the court really plan to continue harass my client in this way. What next? Ghosts? LOL

The alleged victims were known terrorists, paedophiles, drug dealers or rapists and had killed thousands in total. The vampire was doing society a favour, by performing what it does in nature. It was selective in its methods as no innocent human was harmed. ;) Thus it isn't considered a danger to the general public and merely performs a public service saving taxpayers thousands of dollars. :)

Actually, the best answer was UtahVamp's. If his defense can prove that he is a true Vampire, they will exonerate him. That means extensive medical tests, a doctor who treated him to testify on behalf of the Vampire. Pointing out x-ray skeletal structure, and Kanine teeth structure. Behavior patterns. Maybe sunburns due to exposure to the sun.

The law enforcement agency who captured this vampire is biased against vampires. The officer who made the arrest is racist and has a known history for anti-vampire behaviour. I motion the court for dismissal of charges against my client on grounds of attempted intimidation.

So, to sum it up, it would either be the insanity plea, our system not having ruling abilities over the dead or the vampire having to have a jury of his peers.
Great work guys, thanks for putting so much imagination in your responses, it was delightful :)

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