I have to admit, this is something I’ve wondered about.  After all, it’s a famous movie plot.  In the movie Basket Case, a guy named Duane Bradley is separated from his conjoined brother Belial.  Duane is perfectly normal; Belial is more like a big greasy tumor.  However, instead of dying when separated, Belial becomes evil, and he goes on a killing spree to get revenge on the men who separated him and his brother.  Now, in that situation, Belial goes to jail and Duane is free, but what if they weren’t separated.  What if a conjoined twin commits a murder?

That’s the question Nick Kam, a third-year law student at the University of San Francisco School of Law, asks in his paper Half Guilty, which you can read at his website.  It’s not exactly a pressing question at the moment, but there’s always a chance a pair of twins, one good and one evil, become conjoined.  I suppose you could book one for murder and the other as an accessory, since he had control of the other half of the body?

It’s an interesting moral question, to be sure.  Not exactly something to worry about, but fascinating to contemplate.

Tags: crime and punishment, unusual court cases, could a conjoined twin get away with murder, conjoined twins, Nick Kam, Half Guilty, unusual court theories, laws, University of San Francisco School Of Law

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