The Case of Valentine Shortis

Prior to the 18th century, criminals ordinarily tried to escape severe punishment under impulsive and crazy petition after the crime. However by the beginning of the 18th century it was even more difficult to prove that people were crazy after committing a malicious crime. Francis Valentine Shortis is one of them. His lawyers have very difficult litigation on hand and they feel that the only option is to help their customers use crazy defense.

When reviewing the case of Valentine Shortis, I think that justice was done. In today's society, if lawsuits are raised in desperate circumstances, judges and court people will become more aware of the incident. However, in the case of Shortis, witnesses and psychiatrists provided evidence of mental illness, but crazy demands were still questioned through trials. Perhaps because of the historical era, the use of psychology in court is not recognized, as it is to be presented in today's courtroom.

Francis Valentine Cuthburt Shortis comes from a wealthy Irish family who has made business successful in livestock trading. As the only child, Shortis grew up spoiled by his mother, but his father thought his son needs to learn to become independent. In September 1893, Shortis of 18 years old studied Canadian S. S. in order to study these values. I traveled to Lawrence alone (Friedland, 1986, p. 3). A few years later, Scotts arrived in Montreal and my mother visited for a month to help my son establish a life in Canada. Shortis was hired as a secretary for Louis Cotton's general manager, Louis Simpson, for two months (Friedland, 1986, p. 4). But Simpson did not update Shortis's contract. He did not do enough work, because it was related to the family of the competitor. While in the company, Shortis associates himself with Millie Anderson and her brother Jack.

Because the motivation of Shortis is not clear, it is difficult to find guesses of crime. Many people think the motive for crime is robbery, but others have other theories including Milly Anderson and her brother Jack. Specifically, the theory of crime turned into a conspiracy of revenge against Louis Simpson and speculative robbery, but money was originally used by Milly and Short to escape the town. Friedland, 1986, page 7). Despite the fact that the motive for criminal offense is unknown, two judges from different areas were assigned to the case due to problems at the court. Because they believe that Shortis does not do a fair trial in the same district where he sinned, the defense made a petition for trial in Montreal (Friedland, 1986, p. 18).