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Question from SirmomalotNov-5

A man commits murder in his twenties and the next day is hit by a car and suffers irreparable brain damage which, in essence, makes him a different person with no memory of the act he committed. Should we still charge this man for the crime? 

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pg1067 Nov-5 80791.2
Is this based on reality, or are you just looking to have a philosophical discussion?
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Sirmomalot Nov-5 80791.3
I'm a student. I'm working on my BA in Social Sciences in the tract of politics, economics, and law.  I chose to answer the question in a class discussion. I have argued that the man cannot be charged with the crime for a number of reasons. Since everyone in the class is arguing for the man to be charged I'm wondering if I'm fighting a losing battle.
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pg1067 Nov-5 80791.4

I ask because the folks who respond regularly here (myself included) tend to operate on the level of what a given state's laws actually are, as opposed to what we believe "should" or "should not" happen in any given situation.  If this were a real world question, we would need to know what state's laws apply, and one would need to conduct some fairly exhaustive research of case decisions.  On the other hand, in a classroom context, there is no governing law, and I suspect there is no "right" or "wrong" answer.  Whether your opinion carried the day or was in the minority probably was of little relevance to your teacher.  What he/she probably was more concerned about was whether your reasoning was logical and coherent.  Sorry if that's not particularly helpful.  I'd give you my opinion, but I'm not sure I have one.

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