Robert Strong Case Summary

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The defendant, Robert Strong, is a sect leader for the Sudan Muslim religious faith and has been associated with this faith since the time of his birth. Strong stated the three central beliefs of his religion as "cosmetic consciousness, mind over matter, and psysiomatic psychomatic consciousness.” Strong emphasizes his practice with mind over matter, as this practice has allowed seemingly impossible actions to occur, like laying on a bed of nails without bleeding. The practice of mind over matter is displayed in Mr. Strong’s religion in the form of a religious ceremony. This ceremony allows for a faith-based leader to stop someone’s heartbeat and breathing, while preceding to pierce knives into the volunteer’s chest. As a sect leader, Strong testified that he had successfully performed this ceremony without injured for nearly 40 years. One of Strong’s followers even testified that he saw Strong successfully perform the ceremony without injury.
On January 28, 1972, a recent recruit of Strong’s, Kenneth Goings, volunteered to have the ceremony performed
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In the facts of the case, Strong noticed blood seeping out from the incisions and attempted to bandage Goings, and when Goings was removed from the location and given something to ease the pain, Strong became “uptight.” According to the facts, Strong did not contact an emergency response unit in this situation. Surely, Strong would have perceive a risk once Goings showed severe signs of injury. Strong was even said to be uptight during the time before Goings death. Strong was uptight because he knew the risk of Goings potentially dying, and he not attempt to call an ambulance or take him to a hospital to care for Goings’ injuries. Thus, Strong perceived the risk but did not attempt to save Goings life by calling an emergency response unit, which negates the premise of criminally negligent