06-03-2013, 06:06 PM
The first US separate juvenile court system was founded in Cook Co. Illinois in 1899. Before that time children under the age of 7 were considered "infants" that could not understand criminal actions and could therefor not commit a crime, and children 14 and over that were considered adults and tried as such. The grey area was between the ages of 7 and 14, much as it is today.
The fact that Isaiah stabbed his sister Leila 21 times leads me to believe he knew what he was doing and understood the consequences of his actions at least as it pertained to Leila. If he was experimenting because of a video or movie he saw, I would think that he would have stopped when Leila screamed or blood started coming from her wounds. Isaiah was either in a murderous rage (couldn't stop stabbing) or is a sociopath and wouldn't stop.
He may not have understood that he could be convicted of murder and sent to a juvenile facility until he was 23. This shouldn't matter in his defense. The fact that the defendant doesn't know the actual punishment for the crime is not defensible under the law.
The fact that Isaiah stabbed his sister Leila 21 times leads me to believe he knew what he was doing and understood the consequences of his actions at least as it pertained to Leila. If he was experimenting because of a video or movie he saw, I would think that he would have stopped when Leila screamed or blood started coming from her wounds. Isaiah was either in a murderous rage (couldn't stop stabbing) or is a sociopath and wouldn't stop.
He may not have understood that he could be convicted of murder and sent to a juvenile facility until he was 23. This shouldn't matter in his defense. The fact that the defendant doesn't know the actual punishment for the crime is not defensible under the law.