Imagine a police detective investigating the crime of a young woman who severely maims an older man. The young woman does not explain why she stabbed the man; rather, she is in profound shock and remains silent. If the detective had no awareness of the signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, the detective might not have pursued a line of questioning leading to a revelation: the man had abused the young woman when she was a girl. The circumstance could lead to a plausible defense.

Criminal justice professionals must understand defense classifications in order to fulfill their roles. In this Assignment, you review scenarios for an applicable defense.

To prepare:

• Read the Week 3 case studies found in the Criminal Justice Case Studies: Criminal Law, Week 3 document.
• This Assignment requires you to apply your learning to all case studies in the document.

Write a 500- to 750-word paper that addresses the following for each of the five cases:

• What is the actus reus, or the action that caused harm?
• What is the mens rea, or the intent of the person who caused the harm? Be sure to discuss the level of mens rea (purposeful, knowing, reckless, and negligent) and explain how you came to this conclusion.
• Is there concurrence? Did the actus reus and the mens rea occur together?
• Which excusable or justifiable defense could be applied to this case? What information from the scenario led you to this conclusion?