Andrea Yates Case Study

Media is the main source for the public to acquire knowledge about the Canadian criminal justice system and plays a supreme role in creating the public’s perception. The media has substantially expanded in the past 10 years and has been introduced to speak out in negative and positive ways. The media has many different roles within the criminal justice system. This includes providing the public with knowledge to inform them about the police, courts, and as well as corrections. Every day, there are stories that go viral coming from the source of social media however media does have its pros and cons on the criminal justice system in Canada.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you are here because one person in this courtroom decided to take law into her own hands. The defendant, Mrs. Dominique Stephens, murdered the man that she vowed to love. This sole act by the defendant is violation of all morals and her husband’s right to live. Afterwards, she even felt guilty about this violation of justice and called the cops on herself, and she later signed a written statement stating that she is guilty of the murder of Mr. Donovan Stephens. Then the defendant later recanted this statement and said that she only killed Mr. Stephens in self defense. I ask you what is self defense when the man she murdered laided defenseless and unconscious on his bed? The defendant is only claiming that she acted in self defense to get away with the cold-blooded murder of the man she claimed to love.

The fiber evidence presented in this case was so overwhelming and simply was the driving force leading to Wayne Williams conviction. I do not believe the prosecution would have been able to obtain the same results without it. The credibility of the FBI forensics investigators and their reputable crime lab made for excellent testimony concerning the fiber evidence at trail, which the defense was simply ill prepared to counter attack its merits (The Atlanta, n.d.). Other evidence was presented in this case, and much of this evidence while certainly impactful on the case and to members of the jury, this evidence alone without the fiber evidence would surely not have held up to the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.

Making a Murder, a popular crime documentary on the streaming service Netflix, brought an important case to light: the murder of Teresa Halbach and the conviction of Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey. The documentary focused on pieces of evidence that intend to show the innocence of both individuals. When also looking at the evidence of the prosecution, even more questions on their guilt or innocence come to mind. As a country, we follow the ideal that you are innocent until proven guilty. In the case of Steven Avery, individuals believe that this was not taken into consideration. Ultimately, Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey should not have been convicted, not because they did not commit the crimes, but because there is not a substantial amount of concrete evidence against them, and what evidence is provided is very controversial in nature.

After reading chapters one and two of the Psychology in Everyday Life book and learning about the four big ideas in psychology, and also while trying to figure out the contributing factors of Andrea Yates’ murder of her children. I have to focus in on and think about big idea two, the biopsychosocial approach, that integrates three levels which are biological, psychological and social/cultural; all together these factors influence and give insight into behavior and mental processes. (CITE BOOK)

“The ultimate mystery is one’s own self” (Sammy Davis Jr.). Mysteries have an allure that keep audiences intrigued and engaged on what will happen next. “Witness for the prosecution”, originally written by Agatha Christie, is no different in the sense that both the short story and visual adaption keep the audience on the edge of their seat as the apprehensive story unfolds. Although the storyline for the short story and movie adaptions both follow the same repertoire, there are a vast number of significant differences that keep the audience entertained and in suspense of what is to come next.

Trayvon Martin was assaulted and shot by George Zimmerman. During the trial visual evidence was used against George Zimmerman. Visual evidence is becoming more and more relevant in these recent trials. The increases use of visual evidence is a definite positive thing, however those who use such evidence should do so wisely. Those who improperly use visual evidence may mislead the jury, and convict/ not convict the right person.

Innocence is is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence refers to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. Being convicted of a crime and found not guilty later on can frustrate the convict and the convict’s family as the time spent behind bars, is time they will never get back.

Bath, N.Y. (WENY) -- In a few days Thomas Clayton will be sentenced for his role in orchestrating his wife 's death. However on Thursday, the attorney for the convicted murderer made his first motion for a new trial.

The court system is made up of many operational parts that all work together to achieve an overall goal. For my courtroom observation I have chosen the State of Florida v Casey Marie Anthony trial. This trail took place on the 23rd floor of the Orange county courtroom in Florida which seats about 50 people. Casey Marie Anthony (the defendant) is on trial for the death of her two-year-old daughter Caylee Marie Anthony. She is being tried for first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and four counts of providing false information to police. Around two months after being indicted on those charge’s police found Caylee Anthony body in a wooded area near her mother’s home.

Florida courts are plagued with too many people appointed or elected who are entrusted with the sole responsibilities of doing out justice in their public official capacity, who often times suffer from the common syndrome of lacking the ability to separate the administration of justice from the imbuing of their very own interest and passion.

Please first reflect on the personal element of the Andrea Yates story - do you feel/not feel sympathetic toward Andrea? Why or why not? In your opinion what does her personal/home life look like? Do you perceive her as healthy/insane?

Many believe that the parents of the Sandy Hook victims conspired to murder their children, but what they fail to realize is that all their “ evidence” is just circumstantial. In court all types of various evidence is presented to the jury. According to Citizens Information “ The general rule is that circumstantial evidence is admissible. However, the courts are careful when the only evidence in a case is circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence must be closely examined and it must be looked at cumulatively. In other words, a court would be very slow and unsettled to convict a defendant on the basis of a few pieces of circumstantial evidence” ( 4). In court the Sandy Hook Conspiracy would have trouble being found true due to the giant amount of

The O.J. Simpson trial was a trial that was seen across the nation. Therefore, everyone was watching this trial to see what would happen and as we know evidence plays a major part in getting the correct verdict in a trial. Now some of the physical evidence that was found was some hair evidence on a cap as well as on Ron Goldman shirts. There were some cotton fibers consistent with the carpet in the Bronco that O.J. was riding in on a glove at his Rockingham residence as well as at the Bundy residence. Furthermore, there was blood dropped by the killer at Bundy and it was noted that it was the same type as Simpson and he had fresh cuts on his left hand a day after the murder. There is also the fact that there was blood found in the Bronco, foyer,

The most essential part of our judicial system is that it is based on the presumption that the accused is innocent unless proven guilty beyond doubt. Also it is better that ten guilty are held free than one innocent being falsely implicated in a case. Thus the burden of proof in a criminal case is very high.