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
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
The 1692 Salem Witch Trials were major events in United States history that led to many other similar events around the world. While there are many examples, a very strong example of history repeating itself with the Trials is the Sex Abuse Cases that occurred in Bakersfield, California in the 1980s. The Salem Witch Trials and the Sex Abuse Cases is an example of history repeating itself because in both events young girls accused people of crimes they did not commit, all evidence of innocence were thrown out, and the primary motivation was attention and personal gain.
Fradella, Henry, Lauren 'Neill, and Adam Fogarty. "The Impact of Daubert on Forensic Science". Pepperdine Law Review 31.4 (2004): 322-361. Print.
William Maples is a forensic anthropologist, someone who specializes in the human skeletal system, its variations across the world, and its changes through life and across many lifetimes; not a forensic pathologist, a medical doctor with its residency training in pathology. Maples defends the use of science to understand human nature; he defends the science of forensic anthropology for its usefulness in solving gruesome crimes and historical mysteries. He says that it can pay for itself in reduced court costs and that every state in the United States should have at least one on staff.
Along with being the President of the United States, Bill Clinton also holds the title of a liar. After months of going behind the back of wife Hillary Rodham Clinton, the media, as well as the courts, accuse him of having a sexual relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In an attempt to salvage his reputation, along with his family’s reputation, he lies and denies all accusations during a court trial in which he testifies against Paula Jones’s sexual misconduct accusations, as well. After many reports of sexual harassment, Bill Clinton’s word can be seen as unreliable. Proven in Clinton’s speech, it becomes apparent that he is unreliable when he takes back his denial of the situation and formally apologizes to his family and the people of America for his intolerable actions. Bill Clinton does not directly say
For the past two decades, “The Innocence Project” with the help of updated science methods have worked relentlessly to get innocent people out of prison. Through DNA testing, they have been able to find new evidence that have freed hundreds of prisoners who were wrongfully convicted. Other factors such as eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, government misconduct, and inadequate defense also played keys roles in the wrongful convictions. The case that I would I would like to highlight today is that of, Johnnie Lindsey. Johnnie Lindsey was a 30-year old laundry worker who was falsely accused of rape. On August 25, 1981, a white woman reported that she raped while riding her bike at White Rock Lake in Dallas. She told police that
Why have more than two-thousand people exonerated for crimes they didn’t commit? Eyewitness misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions in the U.S. Memory can be influenced by anxiety, stress, reconstructive memory and other factors possibly affecting the testimony of the eyewitness and in turn, misleading the jury. I think that when subjects witness a crime they will struggle to remember important details of the event, and their recollection could be easily altered. This is because the reconstructive memory can be influenced by factors such as stress, anxiety, and verbal cues.
In July of 1984, in Alamance County in North Carolina, an assailant broke into the victim’s – Jennifer Thompson-Cannino – apartment and attacked and raped her. Later on that same night, the same assailant broke into another apartment, attacked and raped a second woman. Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, was a 22-year-old college student at the time. She had never met the defendant, Ronald Cotton, until she picked him out of a line-up as her attacker and rapist.
The Dred Scott vs Sanford case was a very pivotal moment in U.S. history for many reasons. After doing some research, I got a better understanding of the constitutional issues, a logical interpretation, the significance and lastly a commentary of my opinion of the final ruling.
There have been many rivalries over the years between Blacks and Whites. With white people acting as if they were superior to black people simply because of their skin color, and with white people treating black people as animals rather than human. They could have just used the zombie drug, it worked just fine. Humans in general have a tendency to segregate themselves from each other, whether it be skin color, the type of music they like to listen to, intelligence, or anything else, there is no excusable reason to force people to segregate. The Scottsboro trials challenged every known thought of black men and boys back in that time, and the impact it left was legendary.
In addition to the harrowing case of Ronald Cotton, the reliability of an eyewitness testimony was recently challenged with the incorrect conviction of Kash Register. While sitting in his parked Chevrolet in 1979, an elderly man named Jack Sasson was viciously robbed of his life when he was shot five times at close proximity (Bazelon). Brenda Anderson, a nineteen year old who occupied an apartment on the same street, informed police that she heard the rowdy sound of gunfire, and when she peered out her window, noticed an African-American man stumbling away from the scene, before turning back and firing further rounds (Bazelon). When Anderson was shown photographs of several young men, she quickly recognized Register, who was a previous classmate
Wayne Williams is currently serving a life sentence for the murders of two adult men, but prosecutors believe Williams is responsible for killing twenty-three children during a time branded as the Atlanta Child Murders (Rowson, 2015). Since his conviction in 1982 Williams has professed his innocence, which has generated vast speculation among criminal justice experts concerning Williams’s involvement in these crimes (Rowson, 2015). A recent study conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI, the Innocence Project, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers revealed that before 1999 the FBI used faulty hair analysis in 96 percent of cases (Rowson, 2015). Furthermore, Williams’ attorney received a letter from the DOJ
The Wayne Williams murder trial in 1981 still has some unanswered questions for some. But some of the key facts are as follows; Investigators found unique fibers on the clothes of multiple victims for a two year span. These fibers consisted of a yellow-green color and acetated fibers. The investigators set up surveillance after the serial killer started dumping bodies in the Chattahoochee River. One night the surveillance team heard a loud splash and followed a vehicle and identified the potential suspect as Wayne Williams. He was released due to lack of evidence to detain him but it was only two days later when the authorities found another body in the river. This victim was identified as Nathaniel Cater whom was reported missing. The forensics
Science has come a long way over the years. It has helped countless every day struggles and cure diseases most commonly found. What you don’t hear about however is the advancement of forensic science. Forensic science has helped solve countless cases of murder, rape, and sexual assault. In the case of John Joubert, it helped solve the murders of three young boys with one small piece of evidence that linked him directly to the crime.