Avila 1
Pablo C. Avila
HUP102. 1430
Prof. Molly McCloy
1 April 2008
Mary Barnett’s Assignment
I. Identify any ideas or feelings related to this case that might make it difficult for you to view it
objectively. Are you a parent? Have you ever had any experiences related to this issue in this
case? Do you have any preconceived views concerning childcare or motherhood or mental
illness in situations like this? Evaluate whether you will be able to go beyond your initial
reactions to see the situation objectively, and explain how you intend to accomplish this.
Personally, I don’t think to have neither any ideas nor feelings that may contribute for me to have
a partial decision. I am single and I don’t have any kids under my supervision, not even younger
siblings. I have never had any experience like this before. The only experience that I may
consider is when I watch my niece sometimes. For example, my sister has asked me several
times to watch her daughter, which includes to pick her up from school, feed her, and have her
do her homework. She is seven years old. In that case, I do have an experience of “having a kid
under my responsibility,” but that happens only two, three, or maybe four times a month. When I
am watching my niece, I feel like a parent because I must take care of her every single second,
especially when I pick her up from school and we have to ride the train. Besides, sometimes
people think I am her father instead of her uncle. However, I think it would be a bit more
difficult to watch a six-moth year old baby than a seven-year old one. In the case of Mary
Barnett, she would have more things to do, and me, I wouldn’t. But in both cases, we always
have to watch the kids when they are under our supervision and I strongly believe that leaving a
baby alone whether it is a seven-year old baby or a six-month year old one is not a responsible
decision and it is something that no parent can do. Unless there is someone else who can take
care of the baby.
Finally, I think I may accomplish any preconceived feelings by being aware of them first and
then put them away so that I can have a clear mind before analyzing the facts presented in the
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case of Mary Barnett as well as the testimonies of the witnesses. If I do this, I will be able to
analyze the case objectively and without any biases that may influence my decision.
II. Write down the name of each witness for the prosecution and each witness for the defense
and ask the following questions about each witness’s testimony. You should have six small
paragraphs, one for each witness.
1. What information is the witness providing?
2. Is the information relevant to the charges?
3. Is the witness credible?
4. What biases might influence the witnesses’ testimony?
5. To what extent is the testimony accurate?
Witnesses for the Prosecution
Caroline Hospers: She, a neighbor, assures that Mary Barnett looked distraughti when she,
Caroline, entered the house. According to the meaning of the word “distraught,” this shows that
Mary was conscious in the moment she talked to the police, she was conscious about what she
had just done and that is why she was worried about it. After that, Caroline says the police
arrived to Mary’s house and then Caroline discovered what it happened. Since she was in the
moment where the police entered for the first time to Mary’s house, she is a very important
witness because she was right there when everything happened. Whatever it may be said after
that moment may have been influences, at some point, by anything, but what it happened and
was said in that moment is very important and accurate for this case. The information provided
by the witness is a first-hand testimony because she saw the events when they took place at
Mary’s house and is relevant as well. In my opinion, it is credible because her testimony has
been confirmed by other witnesses and has been established as real fact because no one has
contradicted thatii. Finally, I think Mrs. Hospers does not have any biases that may influence her
decision or testimony. She seems to know Mary Barnett in deep to describe not only the things
she saw as “empty whiskey and wine bottles” and “wild parties at Mary’s house,” but also
Mary’s emotional situation as she says; “She was thinking only of herself.” This affirmation
shows the series of events Mary did that caused her neighbors’ opinions about her emotional
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state. That is why I think this testimony is accurate because it reveals not only facts, but also the
emotion that is to be confronted with other testimonies to make a decision.
Officer Mitchell: He is the police officer who went to Mary’s house and interviewed her. He
supports the previous testimony of Caroline Hospers and confirmed her testimony by giving
more details to it. His testimony is relevant and accurate to the analysis of the case because he
was in Mary’s house and saw everything that happened for the first time. Like I said before,
anything that could have been said after this may have been. At some point, influenced by
anything else, but in this case, the officer is reporting exactly what it happened and besides his
testimony is able to be proved because he obviously submitted a report to the police’s records
reporting everything he saw and did the day of the events at Mary’s house. The officer Mitchell
doesn’t seem to have any biases that may influence his decision. He was just doing his job as any
other dayiii. He did exactly what any other police officer could have done in a situation like that,
he saw and wrote down the events and interviewed the suspect, Mary Barnett, and then reported
that to the police station and later in the trial in detail. I believe his testimony is accurate for the
details it contains and because it coincides with Mrs. Hospers’s testimony as well.
Dr. Parker: Something that I may point out from the background experience of Dr. Parker is
that he, as a professional psychiatrist, has been involved in the specific task of determining
whether or not the suspect is able to stand a trial. Since that was his task, I may affirm that he has
specific goals in contrast to a later witness, also a doctor, who examined Mary Barnettiv. Dr.
Parker, at the request of the district’s attorney, interviewed Mary four times in the last three
months. I number his conclusions for a better understanding.
1. “Ms. Barnett is suffering from depression and anxiety, possibly induced by the guilt she
feels for what she did.”
2. “I [Dr. Parker] believe that Ms. Barnett is competent to stand trial. She understands the
charges against her.”
3. “I [Dr. Parker] believe that she was mentally competent on January 23, when she left her
child unattended.”
I believe his conclusions are accurate for the actual situation of Mary Barnett. Dr. Parker is a
credible witness who has background information and experience on these cases. I don’t think he
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may have any biases that influence his professional conclusion since he is treating Mary as the
way he did with any other patient he has had in other cases.
Three months, that is, twelve weeks. This is a short time to have four interviews. I may point out
that Dr. Parker has spent a reasonable time to know Mary and that is why I believe his
conclusions are accurate. Finally, I go back to the first affirmation I did when I said that Dr.
Parker had specific goals when analyzing Mary and that led him to have a professional, credible,
and accurate conclusion about this case, Mary Barnett is able to stand trial.
Witnesses for the Defense
Alice Jones: She is Mary’s neighbor. She affirms to know Mary for over eight years. She starts
describing Mary with superficial and subjective words, as she says; “She [Mary Barnett] is a
very sweet and decent woman, and a wonderful mother.” In this affirmation, Alice describes,
with superficial adjectives, Mary’s qualities. Alice affirms that being a single parent is not easy.
She also shows her knowledge of Mary’s personal life because she can give a possible reason for
Mary’s depression. She declares that after Alison’s birth, Mary got depressed, and then she
began to drink a lot because her fiancé was transferred to California. After this series of events,
Mary felt trapped in her apartment with neither contact with her family nor help raising the baby.
So, Alice is showing a lot of details about Mary’s personal life and the kind of information she is
giving is relevant for the case as well as accurate. However, I think one possible bias may be that
Alice seems to know Mary until a point of being a “friend.” Even though she doesn’t present
herself as Mary’s friend, her testimony seems to be of one of her friends. Alice knows a lot about
Mary’s life, and even some details that only a friend could be aware of. For example, I find one
point, from Alice’s testimony, to be compared with Dr. Parker’s testimony that I want to draw
for better understanding. I call this point “Differences in language.”
Differences in Language
Testimony of Dr. Parker, witness for the prosecution.
I believe that she [Mary] was mentally
competent on January 23, when she left
her child unattended
Testimony of Alice Jones, witness for the defense.
I honestly don’t think she realized that
she was leaving Alison unattended.
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I find a tremendous difference between the words used by Dr. Park, and the words used by Alice
Jones to refer to, in both cases, the same thing. On the one hand, according to the dictionaryv the
word believe means to accept as true or as conveying the truth vi. On the other hand, the word
think means to be of the opinionvii. So, according to the language each of the person uses, we
may identify the real source of knowledge they have. In this case, Dr. Parker is a professional
psychiatrist who did an interview with Mary and Alice is based on her “knowledge” of Mary’s
life without any other source but what she simply saw. Finally, I think a possible bias, previously
described, is influencing and justifying Mary’s actions on Alice’s testimony.
Dr. Bloom: He starts by saying that he has not been involved in any kind cases like this. He has
interviewed Mary twice a week for the last four months beginning two months after she returned
from California and was arrested. He explains the difficulties mothers go through after the birth
of a child. In some cases, he says, it is more severe than in others. In the case of Mary, she got
depressed after her child’s birth and things got even worse when her fiancé was transferred to
California. The information revealed by him is merely professional explaining a possible cause
for the mental situation of Mary, but he is not giving a professional conclusion for the solution of
the caseviii. I believe his conclusions are not relevant to the charges, but they are to Mary’s
situation, even though he affirms Mary needs professional help instead of a punishment. Finally,
I don’t see any bias that may influence his position during the trial. I see his opinion as simply
irrelevant to the charges and it is only focusing on Mary’s emotional situation.
Mary Barnett: She, as the defendant, states she doesn’t simply remember to have said
everything she did said. The information revealed by Mary is totally contradictory to previous
testimonies, including the one she gave, and show more questions. For that reason, I don’t think
this is neither relevant to the charges nor accurate to the case, because she simply contradicts
herself. Her bias is that she doesn’t want to blame herself for the death of her baby; she simply
wants to show herself as innocent. The contradictions I find make me ask the next questions I
number for better understanding.
1. How come she was conscious to make a reservation for her trip and not able to know
what she was doing when leaving the baby alone?
2. Why didn’t she ask for help her mother, who visited before she left?
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3. If she affirms she was unconscious, how come she stayed seven days in California?
4. If she affirms that, while being in California she felt something wasn’t right but didn’t
know what, why didn’t she come back or call any of her neighbors to watch the baby or
simply ask about her?
These are some of the questions that come to me after reading Mary’s contradictions. I don’t
believe she is mentally out of control. She does remember what happened to her baby, but
doesn’t want to accept her responsibility on it.
III. What are the arguments? Review the “Prosecution Arguments” and “Defense Arguments”
and identify the most persuasive and least persuasive points in each.
Witnesses for the Prosecution
Some points to take from the Prosecution Arguments are as follows:

“The parents responsible for these crimes [Children neglected, abused, killed] are rarely
brought to justice because their victims are not able to speak in their own behalf.” This
point applies to Mary’s case in particular because the baby, now dead, can’t say whether
her mother loved her or notix.

“But these people are responsible for their actions and they should be punished
accordingly. They don’t have to hurt these children.” In this point, I rely on the
professional conclusion of Dr. Parker, who determined Mary was capable for standing
trial. She understands the charges against her. Even though Dr. Bloom’s conclusion,
which was also a professional conclusion, concluded the opposite, I strongly believed he
didn’t have any other goal than determining the cause of her depression. He never proved
she was unable to stand the trial. Dr. Parker also agreed in her depression but he said it
can be controlled with proper medication.

“She was conscious, she was thinking, she knew exactly what she was doing, and that’s
exactly what she told the police when she returned from her little pleasure trip. Now she
claims that she can’t remember making these admissions to the police, nor can she
remember leaving little Allison alone to die. How convenient!” In this final point, the
prosecution makes a summary of the events and shows how Mary forgets leaving her
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baby alone to die, but was, at the same time, conscious to make her trip and visit her
fiancé.
Witnesses for the Defense
Some points to take from the Defense Arguments are as follows:

“You have heard the in-depth testimony of Dr. Bloom, who has explained to you the
medical condition of postpartum depression and how this led to Mary’s emotional
breakdown.” In this point the defense refers to Dr. Bloom’s conclusions that showed how
Mary’s depression developed as a possibility but didn’t go deeper to determine if she was
able to stand trial, even though he affirmed she was not able to do so, he never proved it
because he simply explain her depression process.

“Allison Barnett is a victim. But she is not the victim of intentional malice from the
mother who loves her. She’s the victim of Mary’s mental illness, of her emotional
breakdown. And in this sense, Mary is a victim also.” Here, the defense relies in the fact
that Mary is totally ill to be found guilty and that she is not responsible for her actions,
but doesn’t explain how come she was mentally able to make a reservation to fly away to
California; a single act can show a person’s consciousness for doing things.
IV. For a defendant to be found guilty of second-degree murder, the prosecution must prove that
he or she intended to kill someone, made a conscious decision to do so at that moment (without
premeditation) and was aware of the consequences of his or her actions. You must determine
whether the evidence indicates, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant’s conduct in this
case meets these conditions (so read through the conditions word for word and make sure you
understand them). Give a verdict of guilty or not guilty. Support your answer by referring the
specific evidence, arguments, and witness testimony from the case.
With the given testimonies and facts presented I have a conclusion stated x. I declare Mary
Burnett guilty of murder in second degree. I have five reasons to support my decision.
I number them.
1. She first told the police she knew she was leaving the baby alone and she wouldn’t be
back in a while. (Testimony of Officer Mitchell) and then stated, during the trial, that she
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doesn’t remember any of these things. She contradicts herself implying that she is
mentally unable to stand trial, however, she herself called the police when she found her
baby dead. She was conscious to make the right decision in a moment like that and called
the police.
2. Based on the conclusions given by Dr. Bloom stating she is unable to stand trial and
needs help instead of a punishment. He finally doesn’t explain how can a person mentally
unable like Mary be unaware of leaving her own baby alone, but can make a reservation
for a trip instead.
3. All the testimonies imply that Mary has a lot of problems that led her to a deep
depression but she never asked for help. If Alice Jones knew her for about eight years
(Testimony of Alice Jones) why didn’t Mary ask her for help? Mary stated she visited her
mother before leaving (Testimony of Officer Mitchell) why didn’t she ask her mother to
watch her baby? Alice Jones in her testimony affirms Mary got depressed right after her
baby’s birth. Why didn’t she ask for help to her doctor if that was right after the baby’s
birth? So, as we can see Mary had a number of opportunities to ask for help but she
didn’t do it, this proves she is responsible for her actions because no one told her to hurt
her child. No one forced her to do it. No one denied her help. She simply didn’t want to
ask for help.
4. No one can deny Mary has a lot of problems and is depressed as well, but as Dr. Parker
stated, her problem can be easily controlled with proper medication (Testimony of Dr.
Parker) Mary Barnett does have problems, but is still aware and responsible for her
actions.
5. Mary knows there is something wrong with her life. As she affirms it in her testimony,
and she also says she has to get to Tim to solve it, she puts her fiancé before her own
child. She is conscious that Tim has the solution and goes for help, but put her own child
in danger leaving her alone with no one who could take care of her. She asked for help
putting her own child in danger.
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Notes
i
Adj. distracted with worry, fear, etc.; extremely agitated. Taken from Illustrated Oxford Dictionary. DK Publishing,
Inc. 1998. Page 237.
ii
In this situation, I may point out that not even Mary has contradicted this testimony. The fact of “not
remembering” as Mary stated doesn’t deny the witness’s testimony. She doesn’t simply remember it.
iii
In this case, the reading indicates that the police officer was just doing his job. His reputation as a police officer is
implied by the reading with no comments, that is, the reading doesn’t mention anything about it. That’s why I
consider his testimony as credible.
iv
Here, I am referring to Dr. Bloom, who examined Mary Barnett and determined exactly the opposite conclusion
Dr. Parker did. I will later explain why I believe in Dr. Parker’s conclusion and not in the one given by Dr. Bloom.
v
In this case, as in other references for meaning of words, I referred to Illustrated Oxford Dictionary. DK Publishing,
Inc. 1998.
vi
This is the first meaning for this word. See Illustrated Oxford Dictionary. DK Publishing, Inc. 1998. Page 80.
vii
Again, this is the first meaning for the word think. See Illustrated Oxford Dictionary. DK Publishing, Inc. 1998.
Page 862.
viii
The reading doesn’t state whether Dr. Bloom interviewed Mary by request of the Attorney or anybody else.
Besides, the reading doesn’t state whether he is a known doctor for Mary. I assume he is giving his opinion as a
professional without any implication on the solution of the case at all.
ix
In the presentation of the case (Bottom p.65) it is said that Mary stated she knew she was leaving the baby alone,
and intended not to come back. She knew Alison would die in one or two days. This is reinforced on the testimony
of Officer Mitchell who said Mary told him she knew she was leaving the baby alone. All this proves Mary was
conscious at the moment she left the baby, so she is responsible for what happened to him.
x
My conclusion is stated on the information presented; some facts may vary depending on some information that
is missing. For example, what did Mary do on her trip? What does her mother have to say about the case? What
does her fiancé have to say about her? There are many questions that may vary a little my conclusion.