Mike Antunovic

Last updated

Mike Antunovic
Born
Ivan Michael Antunovic
OccupationCriminal defence lawyer

Ivan Michael Antunovic is a New Zealand criminal defence lawyer.

Contents

High-profile cases

Olivia Hope and Ben Smart murder

Along with Greg King, Antunovic was co-defense counsel [1] for Scott Watson, who was charged with the double murder of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope. Watson was found guilty of the murders. On appeal, Antunovic and King failed to convince the Privy Council to overturn the conviction.

Death of Janet Moses by family members using exorcism

In 2007, 22-year-old Janet Moses died after members of her family poured water into her eyes and down her throat at a Wainuiomata flat. Antunovic, acting for the defense, argued (unsuccessfully) that instead of trying to commit a criminal offense, the defendants were in reality trying to help Moses. Five members of Moses' family were convicted of manslaughter. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder</span> Unlawful killing of a human with malice aforethought

Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. This state of mind may, depending upon the jurisdiction, distinguish murder from other forms of unlawful homicide, such as manslaughter. Manslaughter is killing committed in the absence of malice, brought about by reasonable provocation, or diminished capacity. Involuntary manslaughter, where it is recognized, is a killing that lacks all but the most attenuated guilty intent, recklessness.

The gay panic defense or homosexual advance defence is a strategy of legal defense, which refers to a situation in which a heterosexual individual charged with a violent crime against a homosexual individual claims they lost control and reacted violently because of an unwanted sexual advance that was made upon them. A defendant will use available legal defenses against assault and murder, with the aim of seeking an acquittal, a mitigated sentence, or a conviction of a lesser offense. A defendant may allege to have found the same-sex sexual advances so offensive or frightening that they were provoked into reacting, were acting in self-defense, were of diminished capacity, or were temporarily insane, and that this circumstance is exculpatory or mitigating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homicide</span> Killing of a human by another human

Homicide is when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no intent to cause harm. Homicides can be divided into many overlapping legal categories, such as murder, manslaughter, justifiable homicide, assassination, killing in war, euthanasia, and capital punishment, depending on the circumstances of the death. These different types of homicides are often treated very differently in human societies; some are considered crimes, while others are permitted or even ordered by the legal system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Gwen Araujo</span> 2002 murder of trans girl in California

Gwen Amber Rose Araujo was an American teenager who was murdered in Newark, California at the age of 17. She was murdered by four men, two of whom she had been sexually intimate with, who beat and strangled her after discovering that she was transgender. Two of the defendants were convicted of second-degree murder, but not the requested hate-crime enhancements to the charges. The other two defendants pleaded guilty or no-contest to voluntary manslaughter. In at least one of the trials, a "trans panic defense"—an extension of the gay panic defense—was employed.

In law, provocation is when a person is considered to have committed a criminal act partly because of a preceding set of events that might cause a reasonable individual to lose self control. This makes them less morally culpable than if the act was premeditated (pre-planned) and done out of pure malice. It "affects the quality of the actor's state of mind as an indicator of moral blameworthiness."

The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide. Generally, there is a burden to produce exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Van Houten</span> American convicted murderer (born 1949)

Leslie Louise Van Houten is an American convicted murderer and former member of the Manson Family. During her time with Manson's group, she was known by aliases such as Louella Alexandria, Leslie Marie Sankston, Linda Sue Owens and Lulu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manson Family</span> Commune and cult in California led by Charles Manson

The Manson Family was a commune, gang, and cult led by criminal Charles Manson that was active in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The group consisted of approximately 100 followers, who lived an unconventional lifestyle, frequently using psychoactive drugs, including Benzedrine (amphetamine) and hallucinogens such as LSD. Most were young women from middle-class backgrounds, many of whom were attracted by hippie culture and communal living and then radicalized by Manson's teachings.

Linda Darlene Kasabian was an American woman known for being a member of the Manson Family, a cult led by Charles Manson in late-1960s–early-1970s California. She was present at both the Tate and LaBianca murders committed by the cult in 1969, but received immunity for her testimony as a key witness in District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi's prosecution of Manson and his followers.

Louise Woodward, born in 1978 (age 44–45), is a British former au pair, who at the age of 18 was charged with second degree murder, but was subsequently convicted of the involuntary manslaughter of eight-month-old baby Matthew Eappen, in Newton, Massachusetts, United States.

The Frontier Middle School shooting was a school shooting that occurred on February 2, 1996, at Frontier Middle School in Moses Lake, Washington, United States. The gunman, 14-year-old Barry Dale Loukaitis, killed his algebra teacher and two students, and held his classmates hostage before a gym coach subdued him.

Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender acted during the heat of passion, under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they cannot reasonably control their emotions. Voluntary manslaughter is one of two main types of manslaughter, the other being involuntary manslaughter.

Nixzmary Brown was a seven-year-old American girl from Brooklyn, New York whose physical abuse, parental neglect and murder led to reforms in New York City's Administration for Children's Services.

Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Larry King</span> Murder in Oxnard, California

Lawrence Fobes King, also known as Latisha King was a 15-year-old student at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, California, who was shot twice by a fellow student, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney, and kept on life support until two days later.

Tina Watson was a 26-year-old American woman from Helena, Alabama, who died while scuba diving in Queensland, Australia, on 22 October 2003. Tina had been on her honeymoon with her new husband, fellow American Gabe Watson, who was initially charged by Queensland authorities with his wife's murder. Watson pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assassination of George Tiller</span> 2009 murder in Wichita, Kansas

On May 31, 2009, George Tiller, a physician from Wichita, Kansas, who was nationally known for being one of the few doctors in the United States to perform late terminations of pregnancy, was murdered by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion extremist. Tiller was killed during a Sunday morning service at his church, Reformation Lutheran Church, where he was serving as an usher. Tiller had previously survived an assassination attempt in 1993 when Shelley Shannon shot him in the arms.

In October 2007, 22-year-old Janet Moses died and a 14-year-old female relative was injured during a mākutu lifting in the Wellington, New Zealand suburb of Wainuiomata. In 2009, nine members of Moses' extended family, all siblings of her mother or their spouses, were charged in relation to the event. One uncle and four aunts were subsequently found guilty of manslaughter.

Gregory James King was a New Zealand criminal defence lawyer and broadcaster. He has been described as "one of this country's finest legal brains".

Rough sex murder defense, also known as the 50 Shades defense, is employed by some people accused of murdering a sexual partner, who claim that the death occurred because of injuries sustained during consensual sex. Advocacy group We Can't Consent To This has identified, between 1972 and 2020, 60 police suspects or defendants in the UK who have stated from the outset or later plead this defense, 45 percent of which resulted in a lesser charge, lighter sentence, acquittal, or the case not being pursued.

References

  1. crime.co.nz The powerhouse legal teams involved in the trial of Scott Watson Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  2. "Anger over manslaughter verdicts". One News / NZPA . 12 June 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2011.