2 Legal memorandum: Question Presented and Statement of Facts Name Course Date

2

Legal memorandum: Question Presented and Statement of Facts

Name

Course

Date

To: Senior Attorney

From: Junior Attorney

Date: August 15, 20XX

Re: Jeffrey Bing Matter

Question Presented

Was Jeffrey Bing’s belief that he had to use fatal force to prevent imminent death or great harm from John Geller reasonable since Geller was angered by Bing’s affair with his former girlfriend, physically assaulted Bing, threatened him with a knife, and charged at him with the intent to kill even after Bing tried to calm him down?

Statement of Facts

Jeffrey Bing, John Geller, and Mr. Newton went on a camping trip, and while they were hiking back to the lodge, Bing inquired if they could stop for a moment because he was winded. Bing, who started to feel tired, asked for a chance to rest for about five minutes until the end of the journey. While so doing, Mr. Newton provoked Bing into telling him how he had recently taken a trip to New York with Jill Jacoby, the former girlfriend of Geller, who was unaware of this fact.

When he discovered the affair, Geller “went berserk,” and they began an argument with Mr. Bing. Mr. Geller physically hit Mr. Bing after growing angrier with him throughout this argument. As Mr. Bing tried to apologize, Mr. Geller hit him in the face and pinned him to the ground. Mr Geller resisted Mr Newton’s attempts to get him to stop Mr Bing, saying, “Stay out of this..” Then, Mr Geller brandished a knife, slashed Mr Newton’s arm, and made him back away so he could get assistance.

At that point, Mr. Bing succeeded in standing up and putting some distance between himself and Mr. Geller. Mr. Bing pulled a revolver from his backpack and waved it at Mr. Geller, deterring Mr. Geller from tackling him once more. Mr. Bing sought to calm Mr. Geller during this roughly five-minute standoff by telling him to “calm down” and “give it up.” In response, Mr. Geller said, “I am going to kill you for this.” Mr. Geller retorted, “Only one of us is going to make it out of here alive,” in response to Mr. Bing’s yell, “I don’t want to shoot you, but I will if you don’t stop.” Mr. Geller threatened Mr. Bing, and when he got as close as five feet, Mr. Bing shot him. Mr. Bing stated that he was afraid for his life but did not want to shoot.

Bing was charged on August 2nd by a Cook County grand jury for first-degree murder, according to 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/9-1(a)(1) and 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/9-1(a)(2). The indictment states that Bing specifically, without legal justification, shoots and kills Geller with the knowledge that such shooting increases the probability of causing death or great bodily harm..

Bibliography

Grand Jury Indictment, People v. Bing, No. 00 CR-01234567 (Cir. Ct. Cook County, Ill. Aug. 12, 20XX).

Senior Attorney Memorandum.