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Roper V Simmons

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Submitted By romafob123
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Roper v. Simmons | March 4
2013
| Criminal Justice 245 | Mr. Cashdollar |

Roper v. Simmons

I. Introduction
This paper will address the Roper v. Simmons 543 U.S551 (2005); it will specifically address the arrest, trial and the legal issues that arose. It will explain and identify the holdings of the lower courts and it will explain and identify the decision of the U.S Supreme Court.

II. The Facts
Christopher Simmons, who was seventeen years old, and two of his friends by the name of Charles Benjamin(fifteen years old) and John Tessmer (sixteen years old) had a detailed conversation about committing a murder. Christopher Simmons had a premeditated plan to which included, burglary (breaking and entering), robber and murder. Simmons wanted to bond and tie the victim and discard them off the bridge. Simmons convinced his two friends that they would not be convicted for these acts because they are still considered juveniles (under the age of eighteen).
On September 9th at approximately 2 a.m. met up with each other to carry out Simmons plan to murder the victim. Tessmer, left the group after changing his mind, shortly after they met up. Simmons and Benjamin still decided to carry out the plan; they broke into the victim’s home by reaching through an open window and unlocking the back door. While they were in the Simmons turned on the hall light which woke up the owner. Shirley Crook asked “Who’s there?” Simmons followed the voice and went to her bedroom. Upon arrival he recognized her from a prior car accident they both were a part in. Simmons and Benjamin gained control over her and duct tapped her mouth and eyes closed, bound her hands together and placed her in her minivan. They drove Crooks to the state park and when they arrived they made sure that the tape was still secured tightly around her wrist and placed a towel over her head and lead her

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