You are put on the jury. How do you decide/act?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Under common criminal law there's the 'egg shell skull rule' - it revolves around an assault committed against a man who had a condition which meant he had especially brittle bones - under normal circumstances the force was not such as would normally kill someone, but in this case, this person suffered a fractured skull and died.

The Judge directed the jury to not take this into account, as long as there is a direct connection between the act or omission of the defendant (even unknowing of the condition) and the person's death - then they will be considered full legally culpable.

... however - even before you get to that, you need to consider this woman's state of mind... not guilty by reason of insanity... in this case will not fly, diminished capacity could - which would negate the mens rea and lead her open to manslaughter... beyond that - was she negligent in sticking a nail file into someone's neck... (another option for manslaughter) not in my opinion - was she reckless (ie being aware of the risk to the person, but carrying out the act anyway - but without specific intent to kill)? perhaps, in which case she would be charged with murder.

I wouldn't let it get to manslaughter personally, mind you, I wouldn't let her off for this. So yes, guilty of something... not sure exactly how it would get to voluntary manslaughter...

The Judge may have been a monster, and by all accounts he was, there are better ways to handle this, and she should be tried accordingly.

... I was known in law school for being a bit of a hard-arse on such things.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

But for all those who would let her off, there is no way she would not be considered fully legally culpable for her actions, the moral character of the victim does not negate her behaviour. She chose to jam the file into the guy's neck, he died... end of story.

Where you could get all soft-c**k on her would be in sentencing.