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Authors: Harold Robbins
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endures.”
Lord Finfall turned red and Trent hastily interjected, “I’m sure Miss Marlowe is just trying to give us an example. Not necessarily one I would agree with, of course. Perhaps you can enlighten us on how you’ve, uh, slowed down the process, this so-called slow-trigger theory.”
“To lay a little more groundwork, again, as we know, the easy cases are those in which there is a lethal blow delivered during provocation. A blow is struck, one not giving rise to a self-defense plea, when a spouse is discovered in another’s arms. The cases that I’ve handled that give rise to the slow-trigger theory are those in which the killing was planned as opposed to arising in the heat of the moment.”
Lord Finfall shook his head in disgust. “Madam, it is fundamentally impossible to plan a killing and have it arise in a heat of passion. If you had come before me with your theory when I sat on the bench—”
“You would have found in my favor after you had given careful consideration to the law and facts,” Marlowe said, giving him a smooth smile. “What it comes down to is that judges and juries have to revisit the concept of time. It’s easy for us to understand that some things happen in a flash—an insult is given, a face slapped, a loved one is engaged in sex with another—these are all short-fused situations. There is sudden provocation and instant reaction. But there are situations that are provocative but don’t arise suddenly. Let’s go back to the prison analogy I used a moment ago—it’s one I frequently use so men can get a better idea of what a woman endures in an abusive relationship. If a male prisoner was abused, humiliated, and raped repeatedly over a period of time by a cell mate and one night, while the tormentor was asleep, the battered prisoner stabbed him—or burned him in his bunk—we would probably judge the battered prisoner the same way we would judge a whipped dog who one day bit the master who beat it.
“There are people trapped in marriages that are every bit as abusive as the situation I described and almost as confined as in a prison cell. In cases where people are trapped in a marriage with an abusive spouse, the battering and humiliation are rarely sudden provocations. Instead, they arise over time, getting more and more brutal over the years.
“And that is why the ‘sudden’ heat of passion doesn’t fit the situation. It’s not a sudden event, a fight or observed infidelity, it’s a slow, spiraling, long-term series of many events, in which a person’s dignity is taken from them and they are beaten and degraded like the proverbial whipped dog.”
Lord Finfall made a strangling noise. Obviously, he was having a hard time swallowing her remarks.
“Madam, there are laws of homicide to cover the whipped dog, that is why we have degrees of murder. But it is not a situation to which we can extend the concept of a heat of passion. It is an elementary, centuries-old casebook law that the perpetrator will be judged by the reasonable-man standard, and that standard says that the blow must be struck in close proximity to, if not at the same moment, the time the provocation erupts. An insult is delivered, a reasonable man strikes back.”
Marlowe smiled broadly. “I couldn’t agree with you more, Judge. And what is wrong with that theory in regard to the abused woman is precisely how you explained it—the actions of the perpetrator is judged as a reasonable man would have acted.”
“Certainly you are not proposing that we have one set of laws for men and one set for women.” His lordship spoke through clenched teeth. “We all know that the reasonable-man standard refers to the actions of a reasonable person, man or woman.”
“I disagree with you, Judge.” She would give him the respect due his position as a judge, but refused to use the lordship bit with the old fart. “As you pointed out, the law is centuries old. For those centuries, right up to the
Lord Finfall turned red and Trent hastily interjected, “I’m sure Miss Marlowe is just trying to give us an example. Not necessarily one I would agree with, of course. Perhaps you can enlighten us on how you’ve, uh, slowed down the process, this so-called slow-trigger theory.”
“To lay a little more groundwork, again, as we know, the easy cases are those in which there is a lethal blow delivered during provocation. A blow is struck, one not giving rise to a self-defense plea, when a spouse is discovered in another’s arms. The cases that I’ve handled that give rise to the slow-trigger theory are those in which the killing was planned as opposed to arising in the heat of the moment.”
Lord Finfall shook his head in disgust. “Madam, it is fundamentally impossible to plan a killing and have it arise in a heat of passion. If you had come before me with your theory when I sat on the bench—”
“You would have found in my favor after you had given careful consideration to the law and facts,” Marlowe said, giving him a smooth smile. “What it comes down to is that judges and juries have to revisit the concept of time. It’s easy for us to understand that some things happen in a flash—an insult is given, a face slapped, a loved one is engaged in sex with another—these are all short-fused situations. There is sudden provocation and instant reaction. But there are situations that are provocative but don’t arise suddenly. Let’s go back to the prison analogy I used a moment ago—it’s one I frequently use so men can get a better idea of what a woman endures in an abusive relationship. If a male prisoner was abused, humiliated, and raped repeatedly over a period of time by a cell mate and one night, while the tormentor was asleep, the battered prisoner stabbed him—or burned him in his bunk—we would probably judge the battered prisoner the same way we would judge a whipped dog who one day bit the master who beat it.
“There are people trapped in marriages that are every bit as abusive as the situation I described and almost as confined as in a prison cell. In cases where people are trapped in a marriage with an abusive spouse, the battering and humiliation are rarely sudden provocations. Instead, they arise over time, getting more and more brutal over the years.
“And that is why the ‘sudden’ heat of passion doesn’t fit the situation. It’s not a sudden event, a fight or observed infidelity, it’s a slow, spiraling, long-term series of many events, in which a person’s dignity is taken from them and they are beaten and degraded like the proverbial whipped dog.”
Lord Finfall made a strangling noise. Obviously, he was having a hard time swallowing her remarks.
“Madam, there are laws of homicide to cover the whipped dog, that is why we have degrees of murder. But it is not a situation to which we can extend the concept of a heat of passion. It is an elementary, centuries-old casebook law that the perpetrator will be judged by the reasonable-man standard, and that standard says that the blow must be struck in close proximity to, if not at the same moment, the time the provocation erupts. An insult is delivered, a reasonable man strikes back.”
Marlowe smiled broadly. “I couldn’t agree with you more, Judge. And what is wrong with that theory in regard to the abused woman is precisely how you explained it—the actions of the perpetrator is judged as a reasonable man would have acted.”
“Certainly you are not proposing that we have one set of laws for men and one set for women.” His lordship spoke through clenched teeth. “We all know that the reasonable-man standard refers to the actions of a reasonable person, man or woman.”
“I disagree with you, Judge.” She would give him the respect due his position as a judge, but refused to use the lordship bit with the old fart. “As you pointed out, the law is centuries old. For those centuries, right up to the
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