The Talented, Criminal Mr. Rollins… PLL Legal Recap Of Episode 7×03
** A special shout out to Kristin and her awesome PLL group for helping me! Check it out if you like intelligent PLL discussions!
**
EDIT: finally able to post the link!
www.facebook.com/groups/946919385359897
This episode was definitely exciting. As viewers, most of us were likely jumping up and down when Ali attacked Elliott. However, despite what he had been doing to her and the fact that he likely deserved to be choked to death, a court of law might see her actions as illegal.
It’s not completely clear to me if Ali was trying to kill Elliott or if she was trying to severely injure him so she could get out of the hospital trap he had her in, so I’ll cover both possibilities. I would love to hear your opinions on this as well! First, we’ll discuss the scenario of Alison trying to kill Elliott. Please note that it’s my belief that this would be an attempt at manslaughter at most, not murder.
Ali’s Possible Broken Laws!
18 Pa Cons. Stat. § 901. Criminal attempt.
| Broken Law |
Click Here to Reveal |
(a) Definition of attempt.–A person commits an attempt when, with intent to commit a specific crime, he does any act which constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of that crime.
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18 Pa Cons Stat § 2503. Voluntary manslaughter.
| Broken Law |
Click Here to Reveal |
(a) General rule.–A person who kills an individual without lawful justification commits voluntary manslaughter if at the time of the killing he is acting under a sudden and intense passion resulting from serious provocation by:
(1) the individual killed; or
(2) another whom the actor endeavors to kill, but he negligently or accidentally causes the death of the individual killed.
(b) Unreasonable belief killing justifiable.–A person who intentionally or knowingly kills an individual commits voluntary manslaughter if at the time of the killing he believes the circumstances to be such that, if they existed, would justify the killing under Chapter 5 of this title (relating to general principles of justification), but his belief is unreasonable.
(c) Grading.–Voluntary manslaughter is a felony of the first degree.
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This next part is not a broken law (despite its label) but a defense that would likely apply to Ali in this situation.
Ali’s Defense!
18 Pa Cons. Stat § 314. Guilty but mentally ill. (a) General rule. (In Relevant Part)
| Broken Law |
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(a) General rule.–A person who timely offers a defense of insanity in accordance with the Rules of Criminal Procedure may be found “guilty but mentally ill” at trial if the trier of facts finds, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the person is guilty of an offense, was mentally ill at the time of the commission of the offense and was not legally insane at the time of the commission of the offense.
(b) Plea of guilty but mentally ill.–A person who waives his right to trial may plead guilty but mentally ill. No plea of guilty but mentally ill may be accepted by the trial judge until he has examined all reports prepared pursuant to the Rules of Criminal Procedure, has held a hearing on the sole issue of the defendant’s mental illness at which either party may present evidence and is satisfied that the defendant was mentally ill at the time of the offense to which the plea is entered. If the trial judge refuses to accept a plea of guilty but mentally ill, the defendant shall be permitted to withdraw his plea. A defendant whose plea is not accepted by the court shall be entitled to a jury trial, except that if a defendant subsequently waives his right to a jury trial, the judge who presided at the hearing on mental illness shall not preside at the trial.
(c) Definitions.–For the purposes of this section and 42 Pa.C.S. § 9727 (relating to disposition of persons found guilty but mentally ill): (1) “Mentally ill.” One who as a result of mental disease or defect, lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law. (2) “Legal insanity.” At the time of the commission of the act, the defendant was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing or, if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing what was wrong.
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As mentioned above, it’s possible that Ali was trying to severely hurt Elliott but not kill him.
Ali’s Possible Broken law Part 2!
18 Pa Cons Stat § 2702. Aggravated assault. (In Relevant Part)
| Broken Law |
Click Here to Reveal |
(a) Offense defined.–A person is guilty of aggravated assault if he:
(1) attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another, or causes such injury intentionally, knowingly or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life;..
b) Grading.–Aggravated assault under subsection (a)(1), (2) and (9) is a felony of the first degree.
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I would hope a reasonable judge would not rule against Ali, but in this day and age you never know, so for the purposes of this blog I chose to share the possibilities.
Legal Note On Self Defense: (Paraphrased) Although one might argue that Ali was using self defense, self defense generally Applies in situations where someone is in immediate danger of harm and has no other option than to use that amount of force.
At the time Ali attacked Rollins, he was not hurting her. In fact as ridiculous as it seems, he is the one who would likely get away with arguing self defense in this scenario if the force he used on Ali in retaliation was legally questioned. So no, I didn’t forget that he physically harmed her after she choked him, in case anyone was wondering.
The girls decide to take action and report Elliott’s conduct to his boss. Aria, Hanna, and Emily confront his boss about their concerns. They voice their allegations that Elliott is abusing Ali and threaten to file a complaint against Elliott and his boss unless he checks on Ali. They correctly explain that Elliott’s boss would be liable as well for having knowledge of the situation and neglecting to do anything about it. As a lawyer I felt proud of the girls’ efforts here! Of course this is PLL and in Rosewood, efforts like these are usually fruitless and this one was no exception. When Elliott’s boss checked on Ali, she seemed perfectly fine, normal vitals, the works. This is likely because Elliott knew the girls were reporting him and sedated her so she would be unable to speak, as Aria astutely points out.
However, if the truth were to come out, Elliott and his boss would be guilty of a multitude of medical infractions.
Elliott/ His Boss/ The Hospital’s Broken Laws!
049 Pa. Code § 16.61. Unprofessional and immoral conduct (in relevant part).
| Broken Law |
Click Here to Reveal |
(a) A Board-regulated practitioner who engages in unprofessional or immoral conduct is subject to disciplinary action under section 41 of the act (63 P. S. § 422.41). Unprofessional conduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(6) Practicing the healing arts fraudulently, or with reckless indifference to the interests of a patient on a particular occasion, or with negligence on repeated occasion
11) Possessing, using, prescribing for use or distributing a controlled substance or a legend drug in a way other than for an acceptable medical purpose. An acceptable experimental purpose is considered an acceptable medical purpose.
(16) Willfully harassing, abusing or intimidating a patient.
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Since the girls’ plan of trusting an authority figure failed for the millionth time in Rosewood, it’s time for plan B. Spencer reminds Aria of Elliott’s lock box that she saw last time she trespassed on his property. This time, Aria returns to Elliott’s house, once again without permission, with the intention of photographing any personal information that can be used against him. Although the girls’ do have a noble reason behind their actions, they do not have permission to go on someone else’s property without permission.
Aria’s 1st Broken Law!
18 Pa. Cons Stat § 3502. Burglary. (In relevant part)
| Broken Law |
Click Here to Reveal |
(a) Offense defined.–A person commits the offense of burglary if, with the intent to commit a crime therein, the person:
(2) enters a building or occupied structure, or separately secured or occupied portion thereof that is adapted for overnight accommodations in which at the time of the offense no person is present;
(c) Grading.–
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), burglary is a felony of the first degree.
(Paragraph two does not apply here so I did not include it.)
Legal Note (Paraphrased): In Pennsylvania, unless the crime the person intended to commit after the burglary is a felony, the person would not be convicted for both crimes. However, for informative purposes, I’ll include the crime Aria committed in Rollins’ house. It turns out no, you cannot just take photos of documentation with personal identifying information like bank account and credit card records.
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Aria’s 2nd Broken Law!
18 Pa Cons Stat § 4104. Tampering with records or identification.
| Broken Law |
Click Here to Reveal |
(a) Writings.–A person commits a misdemeanor of the first degree if, knowing that he has no privilege to do so, he falsifies, destroys, removes or conceals any writing or record, or distinguishing mark or brand or other identification with intent to deceive or injure anyone or to conceal any wrongdoing.
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The girls discover an Amish bed and breakfast on Elliott’s credit card records, so Aria and Hanna venture over there while Spencer stays back to peruse the multitude of medications, latex recipes and other creepy items Aria photographed while illegally in Elliott’s house.
At the end of the episode Hanna runs Elliott Rollins over and he dies! Since I’m running behind and this week’s episode focuses on the aftermath, we will talk about the awkward manslaughter elephant in the room in my next entry! Thanks for reading and sorry for being late. I will do the entry for this week as soon as I can!
