In 1998, Mark Jensen found his wife, Julie, dead in their bed.  She died from antifreeze poisoning.  Mark asserted that Julie committed suicide, but law enforcement believed that Mark had killed her.  Part of the reason that law enforcement thought it was a murder was because, prior to her death, Julie gave a neighbor a letter that should be delivered to police in the event of her death.  In that letter, Julie stated that she thought her husband was trying to kill her and that she would never ever kill herself.

Ultimately, the Wisconsin appeals courts determined that this letter should not be presented to a jury.  Why?

(Again, you have to put on your thinking caps ... or do little research.  Yes, this is a real case.  There is a recent episode of 20/20 about it if you are interested.)

 

Group of answer choices

A. because the letter would violate Mark's privilege against self-incrimination

B. because Julie's perceptions about Mark's intent are not relevant to the question of whether he actually killed her

C. because there is no way to prove that Julie wrote the letter

D. because Mark's attorneys could not question Julie about the truthfulness of the statements she made in the letter

 

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

The detailed answer for the above question is provided below The correct answer is D because Marks a... View the full answer