Elaine was very perturbed. She had been working for the J. Peterman Company for a number of years and did not get the credit she felt she deserved. The company president, J Peterman was often away, searching the world for new products and would leave Elaine in charge of the company.
She always did a good job and, in her opinion, the company was better off under her tutelage. Upon his return Elaine would be verbally abused by P and demoted back to her menial job of writing copy for the catalogue. Further Mr. Peterman could be arbitrary and insensitive, such as the time he fired Elaine because she didn’t like the movie “The English Patient” and when he accused her of being an opium addict based on a false positive drug test resulting from Elaine eating poppy seed muffins.
1) Elaine finally had all she could take of Peterman. She decided to put an end to her suffering by poisoning Peterman . Peterman was on an extended trip to Bolivia trying to secure the marketing rights to the Urban Sombrero and this gave E an opportunity to plan the killing.
2) For advice she turned to the most unscrupulous, amoral person she knew- George. George told Elaine . of an exotic, undetectable poison that could be used for the poisoning- quinine, which E had not been familiar with. George secured some quinine through their mutual friend Kramer.
3) Kramer, believing George’s assertion that quinine is a poison gave it to Elaine.
4) After coming back to New York from a trip P would always attend at the office to meet with E and go over what happened at the company during his absence over a cold glass of pomegranate juice.
5) The plan was then that E would spike P’s pom juice with quinine. And thusly poison him.
6) The day arrived. Besides being unscrupulous, George is a buffoon. Quinine is actually harmless, is an ingredient in tonic water and a cure for scurvy. This fact was unbeknownst to both Elaine and George Elaine placed the quinine in Peterman’s glass of pom juice and awaited his arrival.
7)l However Elaine’s friend Jerry made one of his unannounced pop-ins to Elaine’s office and being thirsty helped himself to a refreshing gulp of pom juice from the glass.
8) Unfortunately Jerry, suffering from an exceedingly rare, undiagnosed, but severe, allergy to quinine, died on the spot. Peterman (who had no quinine allergy) was on his way back from the airport and while in the cab succumbed to a case of malaria which he had contracted in Bolivia and died at about the same time as Jerry .
Who if anyone is guilty or not guilty of what? Why? Explain?
In other words what are all of the potential charges that can be laid here? Against whom? Will these charges result in convictions? Explain why or why not, paying particular attention to all the elements of the offence which must be proven.
