Queen vs. Dudley and Stephens

Regina v. Dudley and Stephens There return been many criminal cases in the hi score, which brought controversy, whether murder could be justified infra different circumstances. One of the famous cases tells a story of tetrad shipwrecked men, which were lost in the high seas. The story was shout outd The Lifeboat Case, regarding the tragic and life-changing decision that was make in inn take circumstance. Four seamen, doub ting Thomas Dudley, Edward Stephens, digest and 17 year old Richard Parker were in high seas and due to the storm that hit them precise bad, they had to put themselves into an open boat.They did non have any supply of urine and food, except 1 lb. tin of turnips. On the fourth day of this journey, they caught a sm every(prenominal) turtle and it lasted them for few days. After the turtle was only consumed, they spent eight more days in hunger. On twentieth day of being in the state of prostration, Dudley and Stephens spoke to Brooks as to what should be don e if on that point will be no help. Dudley suggested that one of them should sacrifice his life to save the rest and offered to draw lots in order to fragment one.Since Brooks refused to consent and as three seamen, except the boy spoke about their families, Dudley proposed to kill the Parker, since he had no family and the fact that he would die soon anyway, because he was the trippingest and he was drinking sea water. Although, Brooks dissented from the crime, with the agreement of Stephens and Dudley, the act was done on July 25th. With the prayer to forgive them, Dudley came up to helpless Richard Parker and telling him that his season has come, put the knife on his throat and killed him.After eating Richards body and drinking his stock for four days, the seamen were picked up by a passing ship. The rescuers carried them to the port of Falmouth and they were pull for ravel at Exeter. They spent all the cartridge clip from that day till the homage in prison. Since it was very rare case, involving the law of the sea and extreme necessity, it was hard to pronounce sagacity. Nobody knows if they would survive till the rescuers, hadnt they not eaten the boy. They could have died from starvation. And Parker in his weak condition would or so likely die also.Jurors at the trial were ignorant and they would agree with whatever the courts decision will be. However, due to the complication of the case, the court was rescheduled to December 4th to be argued in advance a Court consisting of 5 judges. Regardless of an attorney A. Collins objections, saying that it was not a homicide, only when a self-preserving act upon the great necessity, prisoner Dudley and Stephens were reproved to stopping point because, the facts that were presented to the jury, including Parkers left body parts were appall and there is no such necessity that allows one to take another persons life.However, the finish sentence was commuted by Crown to six moth imprisonment. Unfavo rable and at the same time tragic story of Dudley and Stephens begs some questions and requires details, which will be clarified below with the help of some research and articles. While cultivation the case story, a lot of details seem to be missing and Andreas Teuber, The Professor of Philosophy of justness at Brandeis University proposed a very thorough research with a lot of necessary information, called The Mignonette, 1884 Queen v. Dudley.According to Teuber, the name of the ship was The Mignonette and the owner was a wealthy Australian barrister, who decided to hire a clump to sail his yacht, instead of sending it as a deck cargo since the condition of the ship was not the sturdiest. He hired Thomas Dudley as a sea captain, and Dudley recruited Edwin Stephens as mate, Edmund Brooks as able seamen, and seventeen year old boy, Richard Parker, as ordinary seamen (people. brandeis. edu). Teuber states in his work. The initial reason for the men being on the high seas was the f act that they were hired as a crew to sail the ship to Sydney, Australia.Even though, they expected a nice weather in May, soon enough it turned foul and a heavy flourish hit the ship, crushing it. As the ship started to sink, men barely managed to get into a lifeboat and by the time they were trying to save their lives, all of supplies of water and food were gone. Professor Teuber clarifies it, saying Unfortunately, the emergency supply of water that they had hastily thrown overboard next to the dinghy was swept away by the waves (people. brandeis. edu). Since Teuber acknowledged that Dudley was the captain of the ship, it might also be the reason of why all decisions were made by Dudley.He might have felt himself responsible for mens life and tried to save as much as he could, by sacrificing one. One of the details Teuber mentioned was that the rest of seamen were rescued by a German boat, called Montezuma, which was cope home from South America. As soon as they delivered men to Falmouth and started questioning them, it was clear that they have committed a crime. However, Brooks name wasnt mentioned as one of the prisoners throughout the story. And Teuber reveals the reason, sayingThe trustworthy Dudley immediately insisted that he was the ringleader and that Brooks was completely innocent (people. randeis. edu). So thats why Brooks vie as a prosecutions witness. The most remarkable situation in this case, was the peace between Dudley and the Richards brother Daniel Parker. He even came to court and shook Dudleys hand. By the way, the initials C. J jump for Chief Justice Lord Coleridge who refused to recognize the prisoners case as necessity act. Information that seems to be the most curious for everyone is how those three seamen did live their lives after committing such an act of cannibalism.According to Professor Teuber, Brooks went back to the sea, Stephens support himself doing odd jobs and Dudley immigrated to Sydney, Australia. He was taking big amounts of opium in order to relieve himself from painful memories and died from bubonic incrust in 1900. One of the sources, that provide a reliable details regarding the Dudley and Stephens case is a Canadian online justice Press magazine and a legal information website www. duhaime. org. One of the founding partners of Duhaime police Lloyd Duhaime wrote an article called Cannibalism on the High Seas the Common Laws Perfect Storm.Duhaime, a lawyer with 26 years of experience, reports the exact location where the homicide act happened as he states Suddenly, the four men were crowded in a small dinghy, lost in the middle of the South Atlantic, at latitude 27 degrees 10 southward and longitude 9 degrees 50 West 1600 miles for Cape of Good Hope, 2000 from South America (www. duhaime. org). One of the things Duhaime declares is Dudleys harrow confession words which sound like this I then put my knife into the side of the neck.The blood spurted out, and we caught it in the bailer a nd we drank the blood while it was warm we then stripped the body, cut it open, and took out his liver and heart, and we ate the liver while it was still warm (www. duhaime. org). But besides his confession, existing human flesh under his fingernails was enough evidence. In addition, Duhaime states some information on seamens further life after the trial ended. According to him, Brooks died in 1919 Edwin Stephens buried the Parker affair with alcohol and died in 1914.According to A. W. Brian Simpsons A strait-laced Yachting Tragedy book, the main role in commuting six month imprisonment was play by young Queen Victoria and Sir William Harcourt, a home secretary at the time. Apparently, strict death sentence was the only solution for murder crimes in 1884. According to the book, Sir William and Queen Victoria had some misunderstandings and a different opinion over previous few cases, but since The Queen was preoccupied with the fate of her ideal General Gordon, Mr. Harcourt was res ponsible for the case.Lewis Harcourt, a son and the private secretary of Sir William, strongly argued about short sentence only and while he was away shooting, Sir William announced the decision which was approved by Queen. As a result, the author of A Victorian Yachting Tragedy, Mr. Simpson grants On December 12 it was decided that the sentence be commuted to six moth imprisonment, not at hard labor, to be dated from December 4, the date of judgment against them not sentence. (A. W Brian Simpson 247). However, Phillipa Dudley was not happy with the decision and expected her husband home sooner and there were talks later on releasing Thomas earlier.Moreover, Simpson provides an information on missing initials of A. G and Q. C, where A. G stands for Attorney General Sir Henry James and Q. C stands for Queens Counsel. According to book Plutarchs Lives The translation called Drydens Volume 4, the meaning of phrase Necesse est ut eam, non ut vivam, is There was a necessity to sail, but no necessity to live (Plutarch, lav Dryden, Arthur Hugh Clough 561). Meanwhile, So spake the Fiend, and with necessity, The Tyrants plea, pardon his devilish deeds was taken from John Miltons poem in Paradise Lost book.It this ad hoc case it does not mean that the act was devilish however, it would appear that necessity was the excuse. Overall, research clarified a lot of things in this controversial case. There were many horrifying detailed accounts, such as Parkers eaten body parts or as amusing and heart-breaking information as peace between Dudley and Parkers brother. Moreover, the fact that in those years murder crimes were punished by death sentence and the court made an exception due to the nature of situation makes it one of the famous criminal law cases.Work Cited 1. Andreas, Teuber. Philosophy of Law Had-Out Page. Brandeis University. 5 Feb. 2004 Web. 18 March, 2013. 2. Lloyd, Duhaime. Cannibalism on the High Seas the Common Laws Perfect Storm. www. duhaime. org. 20 Au g. 2011 Web. 18 March, 2013. 3. A. W. Brian, Simpson. Cannibalism and Common Law A Victorian Yachting Tragedy. The Hambledon Press. 1994. 18 March, 2013 4. Plutarch, John Dryden, Arthur Hugh. Plutarchs Lives The translation called Drydens Volume 4. Little, Brown and Company. Boston. 1884. 18 March, 2013