Archie and Bayan are close friends. Archie confides in Bayan that he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Archie explains he is seeing a psychiatrist and is taking medication for his condition. Bayan looks disgusted. "It's against my religious beliefs to take medication," Bayan says. 

 

When he returns home, Archie decides to stop taking his medication. He has strong feelings of worthlessness in the days that follow. He spends days in bed and stops eating. By the weekend, however, Archie starts to feel very awake. He stops sleeping almost entirely and enters a state of hypomania, where he experiences delusions of grandeur, posting hundreds of messages on social media and buying twenty new outfits. 

The following week, Bayan and Archie agree to meet in a café. In his manic state, Archie feels compelled to hurt Bayan for making him feel worthless. Archie enters the café, walks over to Bayan and removes a large kitchen knife from his bag. He screams "I hate you! I wish you were dead!" and stabs Bayan in her shoulder. Bayan suffers from a rare blood disorder that means that even a small cut may endanger her life. The stab causes a large wound and Bayan begins to lose a lot of blood. As soon as Archie sees Bayan in pain, he becomes very remorseful. "I am so sorry", he says, "I could not stop myself." 

Bayan is rushed to the hospital. In the emergency room, Dolores, a junior doctor, fails to question Bayan about her blood disorder. Dolores stitches up the stab wound but fails to notice that Bayan may still be bleeding from another, very minor, cut on her arm. Dolores then offers Bayan antibiotics which Bayan refuses, on religious grounds. A day later, Bayan dies after the major stab wound becomes infected. 

 

Discuss the criminal responsibility of Archie.

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Archies criminal responsibility in this scenario involves several legal aspects and it may be evaluated under the context of criminal law Keep in mind ... View the full answer