Good Afternoon distinguished members of the panel.

Im Hermenegildo Marante IV, a candidate

for Juris Doctor, batch 2013. I am here to present to you my thesis with the title: The Warrior
Gene as a Mitigating Circumstance

I. Background

In recent years there has been a shift in thinking that humans are a product of its environment.
We have ascribed to the view of nurture rather than nature because it gives us a chance to make
things right. However recent findings challenge this paradigm shift by stating the great
influences of genetic predispositions. One such finding is the discovery of the abnormally shorter
Monoamine oxidase or more popularly called as the warrior gene.

To explain briefly in the male allele which means only males have it. we have the normal gene
which produces an enyme which metabolizes or eats up neurotransmitters. The warrior gene is
shorter or more exactly 30 percent shorter than the normal which produces less enzyme which
results less metabolization of nueros and an increase in aggressive behavior. In the long run there
is a biased development in the chemical system of the brain which makes the person in high
gears all the time

Moreover, this is further aggravated by an adverse childhood environement. The adverse
environment acts as a not only as a catalyst which results in the biased development of chemical
system in the brain because the trauma allows the person to not recover control over his
surroundings but also a ceiling for development of self control. Thus he feels in perpetual
agitation.

Thus this thesis is never only about nature but it also adds nurture as an indispensable catalyst.

There are currently three cases wherein the warrior gene was at the very least mentioned. One
was in us vs mobley wherein disallowed. 2
nd
was in Italy where the warrior gene argument
further commuted the sentence of the accused. And lastly there was the highly documented case
of Bradley vs waldroup. In the two cases the wg argument was admitted

II. The Legal Issue:

Indeed if a person does an act which results in a crime he should be punished accordingly taking
into considerations matters that would show either lesser or greater perversity of the crime.
Though society may to a certain extent have control over our environment it cannot altogether
abolish congenital inequality. For if there are enough reasons for a congenital inequality to be a
part in the crime which would warrant a finding of lesser perversity then there should also be an
application of a mitigating circumsnatce to afford everybody an equal opportunity. If none such
opportunity if given then the punishment would greater than that done which will amount to
deprivatio of liberty without due process.

It is not disputed in this thesis whether or not he did the crime but rather the question is whether
or not the warrior gene can be applied as a mitigating circumstance under paragraph 10 of rpc 13
or similar or analogous circumstances


III. Your Position:

Distinguished members of the panel, I answer in the positive. It is my position, that the warrior
gene coupled with an adverse environment during childhood may be appreciated under
paragraph 10 of the mitigating circumstance or similar or analogous circumstances.

It can be admitted as a mitigating circumstance because:

1. firstly because of its mechanism. Law recognizes reactions on instinct giving it mit or excempt
in certain cases. It also recognizes feeling of jealousy making it mit in passion or obfuscation. In
this case there is also a acting on instinct due to aggressive background which also connected to
commission of crime. Lesser perversity of crime because again he was merely acting on instint to
put to a stop the external stimuli. The mechanism of the warrior gene allows a person to act on
instinct to stop the external stimuli but he does not altogether lose all his intelligence thus
making it only mitigating and not exempting. There is diminution of intent action freedom wich
is Basis of mitigating circumstance. purpose of mitigating is to mercy and some extent of
leniency in favor of an accused who has nevertheless shown lesser perversity in the commission
of the offense

2. in people vs genosa the court endeavored to apply the BWS to justify the killing but it was
appreciated as a mitigating
modern day reality

3. it cannot be placed in 10. For some the circumstances plainly do not match the elements of the
mitigating circumstance. however, it can be seen that some enumerations are somewhat similar
to the effects of the warrior gene. Thus it can be placed under similar analogous circumstances.

closest perhaps to to illness but it is not an illness it something more fundamental than a
virus or a condition it is a gene

just like bws is not an illness but rather a syndrome or an association of several symtopms

the wg is not an illness because it is more fundamental than a cerebral injury that will
cause brain damage or a virus because it is a gene. It is rather akin to a physical disorder or an
abnormality


IV. Recommendations are the following:
Not to amend the law but rather To include the warrior gene in the interpretation under paragraph
10. To not open the floodgates certain parameters should be established to warrant a proper
application of the warrior gene as a mitigating circumstance
Rules of application

1. There must be a positive presence of the warrior gene on the person of the accused. Like any
other modifying circumstance, it must be pleaded. It cannot be pleaded without any prior
positive determination using DNA evidence.
A genetic sequencing test identify the monoamine oxidase. It uses the same maching as that used
for dna testing in perternity filiation. And it costs 15000

Still welfare of the people. We still have facilities dba against the government
We have dna. Ndi naman siya for free. Better to be available than wala. Dna filiation ndi naman
lahat nakaka kuha nun.

2. The defendant must also present either or both regular or expert testimony to refute his claim
of a past adverse environment during childhood.
3. The mitigating circumstance of the warrior gene can only be appreciated in crimes which
inflict injury to other persons.
To illustrate, the acute aggression from the warrior gene is inconsistent with the intent to
gain in crimes against property because of the lack of external stimuli. Thus, the warrior gene
may be appreciated in cases of Parricide, Homicide, Murder, and Serious Physical Injuries, Less
Serious Physical Injuries, and Slight Physical Injuries.

4. It must also show that the time during the acute irrational behavior and the crime committed
should take place at a time not far removed from the crime itself.
This is one of the elements of paragraph 6 of Article 13 of the Revised Penal Code. This
same element should also be made to apply in this situation. This is because a time that is too far
removed from the time the provocation happened to the time the crime was committed would
enable the accused to regain composure and altogether regain his normal state of mind. Pertinent
jurisprudence laid down by the Supreme Court can be made applicable in this circumstance.
According to critique of the case in Italy, this is the reason why the application of the warrior
gene as a mitigating circumstance is unmeritorious in the case of Abdulmalek Bayout who
committed the crime one and a half hour after the external stimuli happened.

5. It cannot be made to apply when the crime was obviously deliberated and planned upon.
Simply stated he must have acted upon impulse of the external stimuli.

5. The act must be sufficient to produce such acute irrational behavior.
If the cause of the loss of self control was trivial and slight as when the victim failed to
work on the hacienda of which the accused was the overseer, or where the accused saw the
injured party picking fruits from the tree claimed by the former, the obfuscation is not
mitigating
The same rule applies in this situation. The mechanism of the warrior gene operates only
when there is a sufficient stimulus. Indeed, for the mechanism of the warrior gene to activate
actively, the neurotransmitters must react to a significant external stimulus. If the act were so
irrelevant then the warrior gene would not trigger at all. A significant stimulus includes
psychological tension which may include a combination or a total of the following: mental stress,
financial problems, and/or personal problems.

6. The warrior gene as a mitigating circumstance should serve only as a generic mitigating
circumstance.
7. The warrior gene as a mitigating circumstance can be appreciated notwithstanding the
presence of other mitigating circumstance under the Revised Penal Code.