References: Brain damage and terrible childhood: Jury hears killer 's Mitigating evidence". CourtTVNews. March 14, 2007. http://www.courttv.com/trials/lunsford/031307-pm_ctv.html"Couey guilty of murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford". CNN.com. March 8, 2007. http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/03/07/girl.slain/index.html?iref=newssearch"In evidence: Jessica Lundsford Murder Photo Gallery". CourtTVNews. http://www.courttv.com/trials/lunsford/photo_gallery/index1.html?curPhoto=1"Judge: Florida girl 's killing 'beyond words '". CNN.com. March 23, 2005.…
I would now like to look at the opposing side, those that feel police corruption is not present in Steven Avery’s case, or in the United States as a whole. The first article, from ABC News, is entitled Making a Murderer': Is Steven Avery Guilty? A Deeper Look Into Netflix Series. In this article, Ken Kratz, the prosecutor of the case, is interviewed. He discusses that the Netflix documentary leaves out several key pieces of evidence, which prove Steven and Brendan are guilty. The article makes a point in stating that Ken is now a defense attorney. Ken states that the filmmakers left out two key pieces of evidence: the car’s hood latch and the phone calls. DNA from sweat was found on the hood latch of Teresa’s car, and upon testing matched Steven Avery.…
One problem with the JonBenet Ramsey case was that some evidence wasn’t collected. For example there was a flashlight found that could have been the murder weapon that wasn’t collected as evidence. Another problem was that some of the detectives ego got in the way of solving the case. For example Boulder, Colorado police denied help from the FBI, even though they have had no experience with murder cases that have national attention. One major problem was that the procedure that the police used for the case was improper. The police didn’t separate the parents even when they were both suspects.…
“We are being detoured into the land of make-believe” was said by a character on the well-known show CSI Miami by a character named Horatio Caine. On television, a crime drama series called CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was created by a man named Anthony Zuiker. This show has become a foundation for what people believe real criminal investigation is meant to be like. This phenomenon is called the CSI Effect. This well known television show has an exaggerated look into the forensics side of the criminal justice system, and because of this, people are led to think that is what it should always be like in investigations.…
In 1995, a South Carolina jury convicted and sentenced to death, petitioner, Bobby Lee Holmes, for the “murder, first-degree criminal sexual assault, first-degree burglary, and robbery,” of 86-year-old Mary Stewart. State v. Holmes, 320 S.C. 259, 262, 464 S.E. 2d 334, 336 (1995). The defendant sought to present evidence that another party committed the crimes for which he stood trial. Id. Holmes’ defense cited information from witnesses that the other party, Jimmy McCaw White, bragged about committing the crime, following the victim’s death. White denied this under oath, claiming an alibi, which other witnesses refuted. Additionally, the defense fervently argued police tainted forensic evidence with a sloppy investigation, and an attempt to frame the defendant for the murder. Holmes, v. South Carolina, (No. 04-1327), 361 S. C. 333, 605 S. E. 2d 19.…
Biased testimony towards the defendant resulted in a prejudice jury. Very frequently, statements like ‘We heard the facts, didn’t we?’ or ‘Pay attention to the facts’ are expressed in the jury room. The 4th Juror cited that the murder weapon was a knife so unique that ‘the storekeeper who sold it to him identified the knife in court and said it was the only one of its kind he ever had in stock.’ The 8th Juror argues that ‘It’s possible that the boy lost the knife and that someone else stabbed his father with a similar knife.’ None of the Juror’s believes this possibility as they have already established their prejudices against the accused. The 10th Juror says ‘Let’s talk facts. These people are born to lie… They think different. They act different.’ These are not ‘facts’ but prejudice opinions made by the 10th Juror about the socio-economic status of the boy. It can assumed that the ‘facts’ presented in this case can be viewed as biased opinions and reports that impairs the true facts.…
Frohmann conducted a seventeen month field study. She observed the prosecutorial case screening process of over three hundred cases in the sexual assault units of two separate west coast district attorney (DA) offices in 1989 and 1990 (Frohman,1991). She followed up her case screening with interviews of prosecutors in the sexual assault units and investigating officers to analyze their explanations and rationalizations for case rejections (Spohn, Beichner, & Davis-Frenzel, 2001). Frohmann notes that the DA’s office measures prosecutorial performance by conviction rates, encouraging prosecutors to pursue only winnable cases. Frohmann suggests that taking uncertain cases to trial that may result in not guilty verdicts is discouraged in three ways. First, the DA’s office views too many not-guilty verdicts as prosecutor incompetency. Second, prosecutors are rewarded for rejecting cases because it demonstrates their loyalty to office by reducing the huge case load of an overcrowded court system. Third, judges frown upon prosecutors pursuing cases that…
This case shock up the entire county based on the primary fact of the case being the death/murder of a wife and unborn child. The mass media coverage and ultimate outcome of the case was unprecedented in the fact that is all based off of circumstantial evidence. This case shows that even with not one piece of hard evidence a jury can be convinced that Scott Peterson was guilty of killing his wife and unborn…
Media in court cases has many effects. One of which is the possibility that the Medias opinion may result in tainting the jury with unproven facts. As humans we make decisions based on how we perceive the world and the information we have on decision we are going to make.…
This belief soon spread around the town to the townspeople and in turn circulated fears that witchcraft and/or satanic activity was present in the pine barrens of southern New Jersey. The Jersey Devil remained undiscovered and all the so called “sightings” inspired a businessman from Pennsylvania to create quite a stir about this unfamiliar topic. According to livescience.com “ The man had painted a kangaroo green, then attached fake wings, and had it exhibited to the public.” (Jersey Devil Par. 5) This thought out hoax caused people to become skeptical about the topic of witchcraft and the existence of The Jersey Devil in the southern woods of New Jersey. Also creating fears that maybe this isn't the only thing like this happening around their part of the…
In Florida the case of Casey Anthony vs. The State of Florida, the jury selection was difficult. The problem with this case is that the media made a big mess of the information released. Many people saw, read or heard about the case, potentially causing them to be unbiased or perceiving a notion to whether Casey was guilty or innocent. The charges and details of the evidence were released to the public. Due to the nature of this case it was titled as a high profile case. Casey Anthony’s name was all over the country; I remember during the time of the trial, the only thing on television was something about her case. There were pictures of her daughter, family and personal life. A lot of suspected evidence was shared with the public as well as information about where evidence…
Most of the forensic evidence the prosecution had brought out was shown to be no good by Henry Lee, an expert in forensic science who was hired by the defense. Almost the whole case that the prosecutors argued was questionable and the jury's job is to…
Children are susceptible to peer pressure. They are impelled to say things that are not true just to please certain people, or to stop brutal interrogations. In both cases people were urged to “believe in the children.” They were heedless of the fact that there was no strong evidence to back up any of the stories, which also varied (Source C). Parents in the McMartin Trial were encouraged to sit their kids down and have them questioned for two hours. These types of allegations destroy careers and change (innocent) lives forever. A member of the jury told reporters: “The interview tapes were too biased; too leading.” (Source E)…
The most obvious one is that an innocent man, Tom Robinson, is convicted of beating and raping Mayella Ewell when it is blatantly obvious that he did no such thing.…
The basis for the rule against bias is the need to maintain public confidence in the legal system. Bias can take the form of actual bias, imputed bias or apparent bias. Actual bias is very difficult to prove in practice while imputed bias, once shown, will result in a decision being void without the need for any investigation into the likelihood or suspicion of bias. Cases from different jurisdictions currently apply two tests for apparent bias: the "reasonable suspicion of bias" test and the "real likelihood of bias" test. One view that has been taken is that the differences between these two tests are largely semantic and that they operate similarly.…