Sentences with phrase «culpable defendants»

What we are concerned with is the possibility that a culpable defendant may be unjustly punished; evidence of culpability warranting some punishment is not a substitute for evidence providing at least a rational basis for the particular deprivation of property imposed by the State to deter future wrongdoing.

Not exact matches

The defendant, who lives at Shittar village, Danbatta Local Government Area of Kano State, is facing a count charge of culpable homicide.

Police repeatedly will arrest everyone near contraband, and leave it to the bullet - sweating defendants to argue that they are not culpable for the contraband.

For example, in every jurisdiction where punitive damages are allowed, the fact - finder must make a predicate finding about the defendant's culpable state of mind, i.e., did the defendant's action evince something like «wanton, willful, malicious, or reckless conduct that shows an indifference to the rights of others?»

Although the reason for this holding makes good and under - appreciated sense from a retributivist perspective — a person ought not be punished for conduct that has not been clearly proven to be the defendant's culpable misconduct, es - pecially if the defendant has various defenses that could be raised as against particular claimants — the new holding poses a substantial risk of reducing incentives to plaintiffs and their counsel because they can not pursue a jackpot of punitive damages based on «total harm.»

[10] Moreover, most American jurisdictions have in recent decades required that punitive damages be awarded only if the plaintiff has proven the defendant's culpable state of mind with «clear and convincing evidence,» rather than the traditional, «preponderance of the evidence» standard.