Fact of the case: In the 1980’s there was a series of rape and burglary that happened in Punta Gorda Florida. The perpetrator left a fingerprint on the doorknob of one of the victim’s bedroom doors and a herringbone pattern tennis shoe print in one of the victim’s front yard near the front door. The police questioned about thirty to forty men in the area and focused on one main suspect, Hayes. The police went to Hayes home and requested a fingerprint, and Hayes
Briefly describe the 1984 case of Denice Haraway. Describe the Ada police mistreatment of Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot with regard to the case. Make connections to the Ada police mistreatment of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz.
In contrast, Eramo immediately took action in Jackie’s case and arranged meetings with the victim and the Charlottesville Police Department to make the rapist accountable for their actions. In result, Jackie did not want to cooperate with law enforcement in describing the rape or give any names of the men involved – which concluded to no official police report.
The United States currently has the most incarcerated people in the world. Most do not know that there are more than two million people currently incarcerated in U.S. prisons. It is estimated that around 2.3% - 5 % of those prisoners are actually innocent. If the number was just one percent, that would mean that 20,000 people currently imprisoned are innocent (Ferner). Roy Arthur Brown, a father of three and guitar teacher from New York, was one of those 20,000+ people that were falsely imprisoned. Brown was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated in 1992 for a murder he did not commit. Then after critical defense evidence was found, he was able to set himself free and start a new life.
Tom Robinson, a black man living in the time of Jim Crow Laws, is on trial for the rape of Miss Mayella Ewell. He has a good lawyer who will fight to acquit him. All of the evidence points to Mayella’s father sexual abusing her. However, despite the evidence against him, Bob Ewell is innocent and Robinson is found guilty. The jury knows Tom is innocent, but it is a black man against a white man, and they also know what will happen if they side with a Negro.
Over the past few decades, hundreds of people have been falsely imprisoned. Many of their cases were founded on the account of one or more eyewitnesses. The criminal justice system often relies on eyewitness accounts to piece together a crime and identify the perpetrator. But studies showing the faultiness of our memories, particularly in stressful events, suggest that witnesses may not be as reliable of a source as we think.
The Innocence Project frees people from jail that were wrongly convicted of a crime. That is what happened to Roy Brown. Through the help of the Innocence Project, he was released from jail. Brown was convicted of a horrific crime that included murder, even though the evidence that was provided was analyzed and presented wrongly. This lead to his wrong convection.
Just Mercy is an astonishing book in which Bryan Stevenson describes many court cases of mental illnesses and racial inequalities. Stevenson is a young defended attorney who shared his experiences about his client’s background and what is going on in the justice system. While meeting up with his client, he noticed many connection and similarities through most of his cases. He discovered that his clients had all gone through many hardships while they were in prison. While these clients were at risk from execution, they revealed that they were falsely accused of the crime they did not even commit. Even the client’s family and community were aware, but there is nothing that they can do. Furthermore, what shockingly is that some of his
The case of R. V. Askov began in November 1983 when Askov, Hussey, Melo and Gugliotta, were charged with conspiracy to commit extortion against Peter Belmont. On top of Extortion they had multiple existing firearm charges to which they severed 6 months in prison for these offences, and were initially denied bail until May 7th, 1984. After being released, their preliminary hearing for the extortion charge was set in early July 1984. The hearing wasn’t completed until September 1984. The actual trial was then set for the first date available, in October 1985, but in turn got delayed until September 1986 2 years later. When the trial began the accused argued that the 2 year period was sufficient grounds to stay the trial for unreasonable delay,
As shocking as it may seem to hear, witch hunts still exist in modern times. One of the most prevalent examples of a modern day witch hunt was the case of the Scottsboro boys in the 1930s. The Scottsboro case revolved around nine innocent African-American teenagers charged with the gang rape of two white women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, on a train in 1931. It dealt with issues of racism, prejudiced juries, and rushed trials, causing it to be cited
In September of 1961, a woman from District of Columbia had an intruder break into her apartment. While the invader of the home was there, they had taken her wallet, and also raped the woman. During the investigation of the crime, the police had found some latent fingerprints in the apartment. The police then established and processed the prints. The prints were then connected back to 16 year old Morris A. Kent. The prints the connected back to when Kent was first entering the system back in 1959 for his earlier crimes. Kent at this time had already been on probation due to crimes committed two years prior to this case. Morris Kent at the age of 14, had first come into contact with breaking the law when he was placed on probation for breaking
There comes a time in the criminal justice system where a law that was written to protect us will be challenged through a court case. That case will eventually make history and will become a reference in future cases with similar dilemmas. In 1983, one particular case met the criteria (Arizona vs. Youngblood). In this case, Larry Youngblood was convicted by a jury in Arizona of child molestation, sexual assault, and kidnapping of a ten-year-old boy. Both a criminologist for the State and an expert witness for the defendant testified as to what they believed the results were from the tests that were performed on the samples shortly after they were collected, they also commented on later tests performed on the samples from the boy’s clothing
Christopher Simmons was a seventeen year old juvenile from Missouri whom in 1993 along with two of his friends, Charles Benjamin and John Tessmer, planned to rob and murder Shirley Crook in her home (Roper v. Simmons, 2004). On the night the crime was to be committed, Tessmer pulled out of the plan, and Simmons and Benjamin would continue on as planned. The two broke into the Ms. Crook’s home, robbed her, tied her up, covered up her eyes, then drove her to a state park and threw her off a bridge. During the trial, evidence, videotaped reenactment and testimony outlining the premeditated plan, allowed for the jury to easily convict Simmons of the crime. Even though Simmons had no previous criminal record and was a minor at the time the crime was committed,
The biggest issue within the Criminal Justice system is the large number of wrongful convictions, innocent people sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. People are put in prison for years, even executed for false convictions. This affects not only those put in prison but friends and family of the accused. Wrongful convictions aren’t solely a tragedy for those directly involved either. It weakens the faith the public has for the justice system as well as poses safety issues; when innocent people are put away, the real criminals are still out there. Luckily, it is known what causes wrongful convictions and how to fix them.
Within the criminal justice system, there are two competing models: the crime control model and the due process model. These two models were constructed by Robert Packer and each represents a particular school of thought. In managing crime, there is the individual i.e. the suspect and there is the society. The due process model is seen to focus on the suspect whereas the crime control model focuses on the society. This paper analyzes these two models and based on the rate of crime in the society, makes recommendations as to which is the best model in criminal justice.