Criminal defenses are undergoing rapid change. As society becomes more aware of existing social problems that may contribute to crime, it has become commonplace for defense counsels to defend their clients by raising a variety of new defenses based on preexisting conditions or syndromes with which their clients were afflicted. Examples include Gulf War Syndrome, Child Sexual Abuse Syndrome, Adopted-Child Syndrome, and Roid Rage Defense. In using these defenses, attorneys are asking judges to recognize new explanations for criminal behavior. For this assignment, you are the defense attorney. Summarize your defense presentation regarding how this defense could be used in two (2) of the following scenarios. Note: Submit both scenarios in the same Word document. Gulf War Syndrome – A military soldier who used lethal violence in self-defense argued that the trauma of serving in the war caused him to overreact to provocation. Child Sexual Abuse Syndrome – A victim of child abuse used her prior abuse experiences to mitigate her culpability in a crime where the death penalty was a sentencing option. Adopted-Child Syndrome – A 12-year-old boy is adopted into an upper-middle-class family. He lies, steals, and can be violent. He stabbed a classmate during a disagreement. He claims his behavior is due to being adopted. Roid Rage Defense – A professional football player murdered his girlfriend during an argument. He believed his aggressive behavior was due to taking large doses of anabolic steroids.
