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Mayhem
Written by Administrator Friday, 15 August 2008 17:10 |
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Under the common law of crimes, Mayhem is defined as the intentional removal of a body part that would leave a person handicap and unable to defend himself or herself during combat. The theory behind mayhem was that it was a crime that deprived the King of the aid of his subjects when he needed them the most. With this strict common law definition in mind, this would mean damaging an eye or a limb. Later on the definition of mayhem expanded to include any mutilation, disfigurement, or crippling act done to someone using any type of weapon or instrument. However the disfigurement or disablement had to be considered permanent. In common law, castration has always been recognized as mayhem. The statutory definition of mayhem has expanded to include the protection of female genitalia.
In the modern world, mayhem has been made obsolete in many jurisdictions by statutorily defined crimes, such as aggravated battery or assault. A malicious assault that involves includes an injury with the purpose of causing permanent damage has been added to the long list of felony criminal prohibitions.
There are still some jurisdictions out there that consider mayhem to be a separate offense on its own. California is one of those jurisdictions with its statute saying: “Every person who unlawfully and maliciously deprives a human being of a member of his body. Or disables, disfigures, or renders it useless, or cuts or disables the tongue, or puts out an eye, or slits the nose, ear, or lip is guilty of mayhem.”
In today’s legal world, a person can only be charged with the crime of mayhem if he or she has maliciously and unlawfully removed, disfigured, or rendered useless someone else’s arm, hand, finger, leg, foot, toe, tongue, eye, nose, ear, or lips. So it is not very surprising that mayhem is a very serious felony to commit.
If you find yourself in a situation where you have lost a piece of yourself in a violent attack, then a good criminal lawyer needs to be contacted. If on the other hand, you harmed someone else and removed a piece of them, whether it was intentional or not then you will need to contact a criminal defense lawyer to defend you. If you are ever unsure, you should always seek the advice from a good attorney. You could end up spending the next twenty years in prison, if found guilty of mayhem, if you do not.
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 17 September 2008 17:01 ) | |
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