Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act. The past week has been spent investigating the case of the quadruple murders of the Clutter Family: Herbert and Bonnie Clutter, alongside their two youngest children, Nancy and Kenyon Clutter. The trial that has taken place this past week to find the defendants, Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, guilty of first degree murder due to the premeditated nature of the crimes committed. Under the Class A felony both defendants are eligible for the death penalty by lethal injection. The Jury has concluded after reviewing the evidence provided and the psychological examinations that, the defendants, Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith should be sentenced to life in …show more content…
Nurture. Hickock suffering a physical injury that affected his frontal lobe and skewered his personality and judgement. On the other hand, Smith experienced a traumatic childhood that affected his mental health and with it being detrimental to not only him, but the society as a whole as it gave rise to his criminal behaviours. In Smith’s case it can be argued that his lawlessness is the result of embracing “causes that they could use as vehicles in their search for excitement, power, and conquest.” (Psychology Today.) Furthermore, Smith’s mental instability is proven in his confession where he said, “They [the Clutters] never hurt me. Like other people. Like people have all my life. Maybe it’s just that the Clutters were the ones who had to pay for it.” (302.) It can be concluded that Smith’s upbringing and environment curated these hostilities and viewpoints and makes him deserving of life in prison rather than death. On the contrary, Hickock’s case is simply nature as his serious head injury did show signs of “organic brain damage.” (294.) that may have substantial influence on his criminality. Additionally, Hickock displays many attributes of a person suffering severe character disorder (295.) which can be described as a discourse in one’s virtue and social conscientiousness in their personality. All in all, Hickock’s behaviour can be seen as an offspring of his car collision in 1950s which may have either intensified his previous innate tendencies or truly had given birth to the present characteristics. With all of this in mind, the jury would conclude that it is only righteous to sentence the defendants in question to life in prison, rather than the death penalty as it would be inhumane to take another life in the process of bringing justice to
On July 29, 2003 Detective Jason Leavitt was a part of a decoy operation with an undercover arrest team ; he was dressed on black jeans, a dirty short- sleeved flannel shirt on top of a dirty-t shirt, and a baseball cap to apart as a drunk homeless man . Detective Leavitt carried Twenty one-dollar bills in his breast pocket, to attract a thief. Leavitt was on the block of 200 Main St across from the Greyhound station. The Appellant Richard Miller approached Detective Leavitt on this very street to ask him for money. Detective Leavitt told Miller he was not going to give him an money, Leavitt testified that the appellant put his arm around him and asked him to go get a drink.
Yesterday, Sloan Jackson, age 18 was put on trial for stealing a shirt from Famous Fashions in Merchandise Mall. He supposedly ran out of the store with a lump (which was the same color as the stolen shirt) in his jacket to go to Record Mart because there was a big sale going on. He then was found sitting next to the yogurt stand and the shirt was found in a trash barrel near the yogurt stand. He then ran away from the security guard but he was in the end caught and brought back to the store to return the shirt. At the trial yesterday the jury came to a verdict of being guilty after talking in the jury room for about 10 minutes.
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) After reviewing these, the psychological factors that I believe to have contributed to Andrea Yates’ murder of her children are, firstly biological, Andrea had a genetic predispositions, which means Andrea had an increased likelihood of developing
There is also an inclination to believe that if he had not suffered from this state, then the offence would not have been committed, specially not in the barbaric way it was done. Thus, it cannot be concluded that the accused willfully preformed the act, nor that the mens rea and the actus reus coincided while he was not in a psychotic state. (Roach, 113) Related to this finding is another element that supports the verdict of the Honorable Judge, which is the Principle of Fundamental Justice that states that no one should be “punished for morally involuntary actions.” (Roach, 82) A person who successfully raises the mental disorder defence is considered to be morally innocent of the act because they were not acting freely, in this case, free from psychotic ideations.
someone who premeditated killings out of anger, or pure hatred towards others. A person can develop neurological problems at anytime, but not only can this shape a person, environment, nature vs. nurture, and biology play a huge role in determining the kind of person one can become. What seems to be the question of the hour is when Eagleman states, “When a criminal stands in front of the judge’s bench…was it his fault, or his biology’s fault?” (Eagleman 434) as for the author, it seems he does not lean towards the criminals being “guilty free” of the crimes committed. He does play around with other ideas such as, nature vs. nurture and the biology role, and so forth.
In the book, “In Cold Blood,” Truman Capote takes us through the lives of the murderers and the murdered in the 1959 Clutter family homicide, which transpires in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. The first chapter, “The Last to See Them Alive,” vividly illustrates the daily activities of the Clutter family—Herbert, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon—and the scheming plot of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith up to point where the family is found tied up, and brutally murdered. In doing so, he depicts the picture-perfect town of Holcomb with “blue skies and desert clear air”(3) whose safety is threatened when “four shotgun blasts that, all told, ended six human lives”(5). Through the eyes of a picture perfect family and criminals with social aspirations, Capote describes the American Dream and introduces his audience to the idea that this ideal was no more than an illusion. Herbert Clutter: the character Capote describes as the epitome of the American Dream.
Georgie Milton did something not many people have the guts to do, he took the life of his best friend to save him from the torture that awaited him, but, he took the life of another man and he took this life with the intention of murder. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, there is no difference between euthanasia and murder; and to this indictment, George Milton has pleaded not guilty. If I am to prove him otherwise, you must find him so. Lennie Small has been described to us as a caring giant. He had no bad intentions; and it is fair to say that our witnesses have provided us with sufficient evidence to support my argument.
This theory clearly rules out the effect of inherited or innate factors, and the last is the cognitive theory, which is based on how the perception of an individual is manifested into affecting his or her potential and capability to commit a crime. (Psychological theories of crime) Relating these theories to the case under study, it’s clear that the behaviour can be traced most times to faulty relationships in the family during the first years of
Nature versus nurture is one of the most controversial debates in contemporary psychology. The debate concerning whether or not humans are born with the preset characteristics that will shape lives for years to come or whether actions are a result of the events and the environment that pave the way for our behavioral characteristics. Capote’s “In Cold Blood” gives the audience a detailed look into the upbringing of the character Perry Smith, creating a sympathetic outlook towards his past and attempting to bring a sense of understanding as to how a seemingly harmless young man could brutally murder four innocent people. In the case of Perry Smith, nurture was the cause of his actions in regards to the Clutter family murders.
From the time of hanging to the time their hearts ceased beating, it took nineteen and twenty minutes, respectively. Also, in preparation for the trial of the Clutter family murderers, doctors did psychiatric evaluations of the pair. Capote includes what the doctors would have said had they been allowed to elucidate during the trial. The evaluations suggest that Hickock and Smith might have been better off in a mental institution. By including the conversation at the hangings, the elapsed time before death, and the doctors' unspoken evaluation, Capote suggests that neither the death penalty nor hanging is always the best course of action for a person's crime.
It is clear that Truman Capote believes that the systematic execution of murderers is flawed, and that the legal system in which death-penalty bound convicts are tried is a skewed one. In the novel, the reader finds out that Perry has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist as a paranoid schizophrenic. “More extensive
In this assignment the case study of Ted Bundy and how many biological, social and cognitive studies affect the perspective of criminals. In this case biological theories are our genetics and what we inherit from our parents and further on. These theories will be linked to Ted and if they affect how he performed the criminal acts. Introduction Ted Bundy is one of America’s most prolific serial killers who targeted brunette women in an attempt to get back at his ex-girlfriend, but also his mother who had lied about Ted’s paternity for a number of years. During Ted’s early life he went by the name of Theodore Robert Cowell.
Although the author set himself the task of using the natural materials of this case to write a nonfiction novel, it is clear that the audience is given information about the murders, and murderers however, the author’s emotions are also present. Capote's tone in the novel strives to be objective, but he cannot help but let his compassion towards the criminals and the Clutter family emerge. His compassion shifts the novel in a way to pull on the heartstrings of the audience and to allow for a deeper understanding of his purpose. Many of the tones included in the book brings out the importance of the American Dream and life being a gift. The quote, “Then, touching the brim of his cap, he headed for home and the day’s work, unaware that it would be his last,” is an example of the author’s serious tone to support his purpose of how the gift of life can be taken so unexpectedly.
In the village of Holcomb, Kansas a wealthy family, the Clutters, was murdered on November 14, 1959. Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were convicted of these murders and received the death penalty. In Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, the audience receives different viewpoints on why Dick and Perry either deserved the death penalty or not. Though the decision to sentence someone to death should be based on the truth, the truth is not always easy to define; Capote shows this through his depiction of the controversial executions of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. Criminal punishment is an immensely ongoing controversial and societal issue in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world.
This play sets up a murder mystery that keeps the audience on their feet and looking for answers. The jury consisted of twelve stubborn men. Eleven men found the boy guilt, while juror eight was the only man that wanted to review the case over again to make sure the jury was making the correct decision. All eleven jurymen were set on the boy being guilty and were trying to convince juror eight that he was guilty.