Summary Of The Court Case Of Bruno Richard Hauptmann

Baby in hand, Hauptmann flew down the ladder of the Lindbergh mansion on a dreadful and dreary night that would evolve into one of America’s most famous court cases to impact the judicial system. The United States court system is designed to regulate and enforce the laws and rights of American people (Powell). It supports state, local, and tribal attempts to limit and prevent crime (Powell). The main goal of each court case— a legal battle between a defendant and a plaintiff— is justice (Powell). An example of the judicial system working the way it is supposed to is the case of the state of New Jersey versus Bruno Richard Hauptmann (Linder). Although Hauptmann argued his innocence of murdering Charles Lindbergh’s baby in court, the case was fair and just due to the incriminating evidence. Charles Lindbergh was an accomplished pilot who became the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean on May 21, 1927 (Martinelli 17). According to Patricia Martinelli, “Five short years after his unprecedented flight, Lindbergh’s luck ran out (20),” when Bruno Richard

Charles Walton, speaking for the jury, announced, “We find the defendant, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, guilty of murder in the first degree” (Monroe 96). The judge announced that Hauptmann would receive death by electric chair, ending the trial that had lasted thirty-two days (Monroe 96). Following the trial, the defendants would go on to appeal the case twice, first towards the New Jersey appellate court and second to the U. S. Supreme Court, but both appeals were denied (Linder). The appeals were rejected almost unanimously, with Hauptmann gaining support from New Jersey’s governor, Harold Hoffman, who felt the crime could not have been completed by only one man. Despite Hoffman raising this question, Hauptmann was set to be executed on April 3, 1936 for the murder of Charles Lindbergh’s baby