This proceeding, reference number: t16781211e-23 on December 11, 1678 has two offenders named Nathaniel Russell and John Watson. These two men are being prosecuted for the killing of William Midgley. Both William and Midgley pleaded not guilty in the accounts of murder. They are accused of giving Midgley a “mortal wound on his breast” from which he died days later. There are three witnesses who include: Dorothy Midgley, sister to William Midgley, Elizabeth Symmonds, and Rebeccah Niccols. All the witnesses were in the room at the time of the murder which took place November 18, 1678. From all their testimonies I gathered that Watson and Russell came to arrest Dorothy Midgley for debt she owed an aunt of hers. Then when the men came to arrest …show more content…
All the men were armed, but William had a curtain rod as his weapon. No one is quite sure who stabbed William. Dorothy says she thinks it was Russell who stabbed William. Watson claims he was just there to arrest his prisoner even though he heard a boy call out that he was going to kill them. Then as he is leaving he hears a boy cry out “I am killed.” At the end it is said “the Writ and Warrant to justify the Arrest were read, whereby upon the Return it was found, that they had returned a Rescous by the Party that was killed, which the Court told Watson was a great Evidence against him.” Also it is said that because there was no provocation, the law states that it implies the charge to be murder. Nathaniel Russell was found guilty and John Watson was found not …show more content…
They heard the witnesses statements, which were not helpful because each one said something different or did not have a lot of details. For example Symmonds said “That the Boy did not give them any provocation; That he had a piece of a curtain rod, which she did not see him lift up against them.” This says nothing about the men attacking William and nothing to help the case besides saying that William did not give them any provocation. But on the other hand Russell said that William had some sort of sword, and Watson said that the boy called out that he was going to kill them. I believe this jury made the decision based on the witnesses testimony and not the prisoner’s testimony. Russell and Watson had no motive to murder William which is why I believe there was some sort of provocation. The jury most likely thought of the prisoners as awful people because they were already imprisoned. I got this impression because there was no evidence, besides the witnesses, against the prisoners. They made the decision with whatever the witnesses said without any evidence. If you had a case like this, they would not be able to prosecute you because there was not enough evidence. Witnesses are important, yes, but sometimes they do lie even under oath. The court might have had evidence but it was not stated in this
Legal Citation of the Case R v Lopez [2014] NSWSC 287 (21 March 2014) Overview Carlos Lopez has been found not guilty of the murder his mother, stepfather and brother by reason of mental illness. He was also found not guilty of the two counts of animal cruelty, causing death, against the family’s pet Chihuahuas.
“Getting Away with Murder: The Acquittal of Thomas Preston” Gentlemen of the Jury, I am here today to prove that Thomas Preston was indeed guilty of ordering his soldiers to fire at the angry mob of men. The night of the Massacre, in front of the Boston Custom House Preston and soldiers came to protect the sentry and found a crowd of a hundred angry citizens who were taunting the sentry. Jeering the British sentinel more and more by telling the sentinel to fire at them and throwing snow balls at them. But it was when the crowd was ordered to fire that lead to fatal blows.
In the end, twelve people from Pendle were accused: Alizon Device, Elizabeth Device, James Device, Elizabeth Southerns, Alice Gray, Jennet Preston, Anne Whittle, Anne Redferne, Alice Nutter, Katherine Hewitt, John Bulcock and Jane Bulcock. They were all charged with the murders of ten people by the use of witchcraft, and ten of the twelve were tried at Lancaster Assizes in August 1612. This was because Jennet Preston was tried at York, and Elizabeth Southerns died in prison. Of the eleven individuals who went to trial (nine women and two men) ten were found guilty and executed by hanging, and Alice Gray was the only one found not guilty. Nine-year-old Jennet Device was a key witness for the prosecution (she gave evidence against members of her own family), this would not have been permitted in many other 17th Century criminal trials, but King James had made a case for suspending the normal rules of evidence for witchcraft trials in his “Daemonologie”.
As with any criminal case, there are always a number of issues pertaining the stages of the crime and also the media and the general public’s opinion of the case. Many of the issues and explicit actions of certain individuals that had happened during the Corryn Rayney case had affected the interpretation of the case in someway for both government workers and the general public. By analysing the issues of the case, it allows a much more detailed view on the case and how most of the issues are linked in one way or another. One of the issues regarding this case was where a police officer had been found attempting to pressure forensic pathologists to alter their case reports to align with their best interests.
James King is guilty because of the witness, Lorelle Henry’s testify. Sandra Petrocelli asks witness, Lorelle Henry, what had happened that day and what she overheard. Lorelle replies with, “The gentleman sitting at that table was one of the men arguing [points to King]” pg 164. Mrs. Henry- who had only gone to the store to get medicine for her sick granddaughter- had seen an argument between 2 men, one of them being identified as Mr.King, with the store owner. She left before anything got out of hand.
1. I believe that the jury found Tom Robinson guilty because one main reason. The town is a very racist town full of people calling eachother names based on what color skin everywhere has. Not to mention most of the jury was white and very much racist also. Everybody looks down only colored people.
When the jury makes the decision on whether or not Tom is guilty or innocent, Jem is certain that he is going to be proven innocent. He believes that the jurors will not decide the verdict of the case simply based on the color of Tom’s skin, but on the facts that were presented during the trial: “Jem smiled. ‘He’s not supposed to lean, Reverend, but don’t fret, we’ve won it,’ he said wisely. ‘Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard—’” (212). Jem is very confident that Tom will win after what they heard during questioning.
Guilty or not guilty, all citizens deserve a thorough trial to defend their rights. Formulating coherent stories from events and circumstances almost cost a young boy his life. In Twelve Angry Men, 1957, a single juror did his duty to save the life of an 18 year old boy by allowing his mind to rationalize the cohesive information presented by the court and its witnesses. The juror’s name was Mr. Davis, he was initially the only one of 12 jurors to vote not guilty in reason that the young boy, sentenced with first degree murder, may be innocent. I am arguing that system 1 negatively affects the jurors opinion on the case and makes it difficult for Mr. Davis to convince the other jurors of reasonable doubt.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are here today to discuss the murder of John Wright. On November 15, Mr. Wright was found in his bed with a rope around his neck, presumably strangled to death. His body was discovered by his wife supposedly and did not bother to notify to the local authorities. At eight o'clock in the morning, Mr. Hale went to look for Mr. Wright and found Minnie, Mr. Wright’s wife, sitting in a rocking chair inside of the house. Mr. Hale asked Minnie for her husband and she stated that John Wright was dead in the bedroom.
The Witch of Wapping was a notorious case in its time. Like many trials of witches of the 1600’s, this one is thought to be based on revenge and cynicism rather than on a firm belief that the accused was actually practicing some form of witchcraft. Joan Peterson lived in East London and was tried and convicted of witchcraft in 1652, she was sentenced to be hanged in Tyburn that same year. Though it seems like a cut and dry case, suspicion looms around the details and the motives the accusers had when seeing to her imprisonment and eventual death.
After a twelve-hour interrogation, Brenton Butler confessed to the murder of Mary Ann Stephens. A key claim made by the defense attorneys in this case was that this was a false confession, and after reaching a verdict of not guilty, the jury clearly agreed. The factors that led the false confession were laid out in a scene during the documentary. Instead of using the interview to discover the truth, the interrogators specifically sought out a confession from the suspect. They began the interrogation with the presumption that Brenton Butler was guilty.
During the “West Memphis Three” trials however, no eye witnesses came forth to the judges and said that they saw the boys do it. In determining if the defendants should be counted guilty, eye witnesses play a huge part in it. During the “West Memphis Three” trials, Jason Baldwin
Twelve Angry Men “A person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.” In the play, Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, a nineteen years old is on trial for the murder of his father. After many pieces of evidence were presented, the three that are weak include the one of a kind knife, the old men who heard the words “I’m going to kill you!” and the woman who is in question because of her glasses. Based on these, the boy is not guilty.
What if one day, twenty years from now you were chosen to discuss the fate of an eighteen year old boy. What would you do? Would you take your job and do it responsibly, or would you do it like some of the Jurors in 12 Angry Men and blow it off so you can finish early and leave. Even though there was a lot of controversy in that jury room, I noticed that Jurors 3,7, and 9 used their personalities, beliefs, and views of their responsibilities to bring the boy on trial to justice. This very excitable juror is the last to change his vote, and while his stubbornness could be seen as being based more on emotions than facts, he starts off with his little notebook with facts of the case and tries to insist that he has no personal feelings on the matter.
Title: Fallacies in the movie ’12 Angry Men’ Name: Prerna Singh Roll No.: 13110082 Word Count: The movie ’12 Angry Men’ beautifully presents a number of critical thinking aspects. Fallacies are depicted with excellent examples. Here is a list of the fallacies observed. Every juror had his own set of prejudices which gave way to so many fallacies to come up.