Here's a question me and a friend thought about for a while.

[LunaIsAce]

We were discussing the fact that me and my friend are pretty poor, so, we don't buy a lot of expensive food, when suddenly, it was brought into topic, that 'what if, we could eat air, and it would give us the appearance of being full'

So, leah and me had many jokes for the rest of the day saying, ''I'm absolutely stuffed, I couldn't possibly have anymore air'' We found this quite amusing.

So, anyway. From this, we wondered, if hypnotists could hypnotize someone into believing that breathing in air would fill the up. Then we wondered, if this was the case, wouldn't the person die?

So, here's the question: ''If a hypnotist hypnotizes someone into not eating, and they die because they haven't eaten, would they be done for murder, assisted murder, manslaughter, or never be charged?''

I just wondered what your views on this were.

Luna.

[LunaIsAce]

Does anyone know the answer to this? ;o

[Silvador]

I was going to answer earlier but I kinda got sidetracked by some games. >.>

I've never been totally clear on what the difined difference between murder and manslaughter is, so I decided to look it up so that I could better answer the question.

Firstly, some variables would need to be considered.

If the hypnotist was aware that the hypnotising would result in the person's death, I guess it would be considered murder.

If the hypnotist isn't aware that the hypnotising would be long term and would result in the person's death, it may be considered involuntary manslaughter in the first degree.

As assisted murder implies that two parties are involved and would only be relevant if the hypnotist was instructed to perform the hypnotising by a 3rd person, it would probably be simply murder. The 3rd person, I imagine, would probably get conspiracy to commit murder or accessory to murder.

If the person being hypnotised was aware that the end result of the hypnotism would be death, I imagine the hypnotist could be charged with assisted suicide.

Of course, my knowledge and understanding of the intricate workings of the general justice system is far from properly educated and my answers are more theoretical than anything else. I could be entirely wrong.

If anyone is interested, here's a link to where I found a short and simple explanatino of the differences between murder and manslaughter.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Whats_the_difference_between_murder_and_manslaughter

[LunaIsAce]

hmm,, interesting :)

and one more question

what if you can't prove it was due to hypnosis. or, can it be proved WHO hypnotized the person?

[Shadow_Twisted]

I believe this would fall into the category of manslaughter, but I'm not positive.

This is just my understanding of the charges, so don't take it as fact:
First degree murder - You planned to kill them
Second degree murder - Planned a felony and the murder was an unintended part of that crime
Third-degree murder - Planned a misdemeanor and the murder was an unintended part of that crime

Manslaughter - Accidents

And just for a dash of humor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am5Pq1SuddQ