Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Racism in the criminal justice system
Court system introduction
Criminal justice and racism
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Murder on a Sunday Morning The film Murder on a Sunday Morning depicts the true story of the trial of a fifteen-year-old boy named Brenton Butler. On May 7, 2000, a 65-year-old woman named Mary Ann Stephens was shot and killed at a motel in Florida. Only a few hours later, the police saw Brenton walking on the street nearby and arrested him. After months, Brenton went to trial for the murder of the woman. Various police officials testified, under oath, evidence which placed Brenton at fault, but Brenton’s lawyer, Patrick McGuinness, was able to disprove the evidence. In the end, the jury saw through the false accusations proposed by various police officials and plead not guilty. Currently, police officials and other people of political importance …show more content…
The officers did very little investigation work in the case, and simply blamed the first African American which they could find. McGuinness proves this in court by describing to the jury the various areas which the detectives overlooked. The only actual evidence presented in the case was the eyewitness testimony of the victim’s husband and a written confession which was forced from the defendant after numerous threats and injuries caused by several officers. Over time, it becomes more and more apparent that the officers’ story was false and Brenton was innocent. Brenton was to trial for murder with very little evidence, all of which was proven to be false. Even though Brenton was released in the end, the time he spent in jail waiting for his trial would most likely haunt him …show more content…
For Brenton Butler, they were just the opposite. The detectives on the case were able to use their status to prosecute Brenton without having any substantial evidence other than the false story they provided. This is a major flaw in the justice system in America. People of political power are able to control every aspect of one’s life. They even have to take away one’s freedom and basic rights by sentencing them to prison for a crime which they did not commit. Brenton is just one of the thousands of victims of this social injustice, many of which, were never proven
However, police should have acknowledged that individuals can make mistakenly identify the wrong person, especially an individual who had just tragically witnessed his wife’s death, and that the positive identification can not be the only evidence used to confirm the identity of a suspect. In addition, a search was never conducted on Butler’s home to see if any evidence was there. Unless my memory fails me, police officers also did not perform a gun residue test on Butler to see if he had recently fired a gun. Regardless, police did not find any physical evidence, such as blood, on Butler’s clothes or body. In fact, there was no forensic investigation of evidence conducted at all. Mary Ann Stephen’s purse was later discovered in a trash can, but it wasn’t until after the acquittal of Brenton Butler that a fingerprint belonging to the real killer was found on her purse. Overall, the ethical issues involved in the Brenton Butler case are astounding. The best solution to resolve those issues is to thoroughly perform job duties with integrity. Investigators had to know that more evidence than just a positive identification made by one, rightly upset individual was not substantial enough to confirm the identity of the
Dupree’s case. Through DNA testing they were able to clear him and get him released on parole in 2010 because the rape and robbery in which he was convicted occurred in the same incident. I believe that there was sufficient evidence during the initial trial to provide Mr. Dupree due process and be exonerated of these crimes. However, the systemic nature of discrimination and racism prevailed in the case. The system has always been flawed, and justice has not always been a priority for some, especially when it concerns minorities. The attitude is usually that all Blacks are the same, and if they didn’t do the crime at hand, they have done something they were not caught for, so it doesn’t matter. Even though Mr. Dupree was innocent at the time, the fact that Massingill had a weapon on him, and was also a suspect of another rape which he was committed for, in the eyes of the police, I believe that they overlooked the facts of this particular case, simply because he was with Mr. Dupree, and the two assailants were two Black
The novel Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer has a very in-depth conflict that is showcased all throughout the novel. In Theo's community, there is a high-profile murder trial about to begin. Mr. Pete Duffy, a wealthy business man, is accused of murdering his wife Myra Duffy. The prosecutors have the idea that Mr. Duffy did it for the one million dollar insurance policy he took out on his wife earlier, however they have no proof to support this accusation (Grisham 53). The defendants do however have the proof that no one saw the murder, for all everyone knew, Mr. Duffy was playing his daily round of golf at the golf course right by his house. As the trial moved on, the jury was starting to lean towards letting Mr. Duffy walk a free man. To this point, there has been no proof to support the prosecutors statements that Mr. Duffy killed h...
Now, it takes a lot of courage for an investigator to stand up and admit a wrongful conviction, especially in a case that he helped to convict. That brings me to think agree with the statement of Chief Justice William H. Rehmquist “the justice system has not yet learned to confront the fact that, even when there are no easily identifiable misstep, it can produce an unjust outcome.” (Clifford 4) It is because of this reason, that manyinnocent people end up in jail. Despite the efforts to get them out, many of them are denied. It took nine years for federal agents to even consider looking into the Edward Garry conviction case. In addition, it took another three years for Garry’s lawyer to get a post-conviction motion, which was denied by a Bronx judge, saying that the new evidence wasn’t credible. And still, Garry has yet to be absolved for this crime that he did not commit despite witnesses testifying on his behalf. This is a really depressing case because of the fact that Garry has become broken. “Garry gives the impression of a man who has been inside literally and figuratively for far too long.” Twenty one years of his innocent life that he may never get back. All because this justice system has failed him as a
The jury’s decision, however, was not based on evidence, but on race. A jury is supposed to put their beliefs aside and make a decision based on the information given during the trial. Jury members must do their duty and do what is right. I tried to do what was right, but all the other members of the jury were blind. They chose to convict because of skin color rather than actual evidence from the case.
...ing of key evidence he was not found guilty. This goes to prove that although in this case Morin was ultimately found not guilty, there are other cases where the person who is actually responsible for the crime has been released for the same reasons. In this case the actual person who murdered Christine has not been found, although had the police widened their suspect list they may have found the murderer.
The evidence discovered during the investigation suggested to the police that OJ Simpson may have had something to do with this murder and they obtained an arrest warrant. The investigators believed that they “knew” OJ Simpson committed the murders. His lawyers and him were informed of the arrest warrant and agreed to a specified time when OJ would turn himself into authorities. Investigators are later admonished, by the defense, on how they handled the crime scene.
The sheriff paid off Bill Hooks, a key ‘witness’ to the murder, in order for the case to be solved. “[Ralph] told us about being pressured by the sheriff and the ABI and threatened with the death penalty if he didn’t testify against McMillian” (Stevenson, 136). The public had soon calmed down after the supposed killer was found. Sadly, the public didn’t question McMillian because of their trust in their justice system – which they are not at fault for – but also because McMillian looked the part. Had he been a middle-to-high class white male, he definitely wouldn’t have been put on death row, let alone convicted at all. The insinuation is not that McMillian’s peers were all racist but as a society, we tend to criminalize darker skin. “When the judge saw me sitting at the defense table, he said to me harshly, ‘Hey, you shouldn’t be here without counsel. Go back outside and wait in the hallway until your lawyer arrives’” (Stevenson, 300). The judge had assumed that Stevenson was the criminal because of the color of his skin. Because he had been with his white client, the judge had thought that the client had been the
The truth can sometimes depend on the circumstance and the person who states it. When confronted with conflicting accounts or questionable details, a judge within the court of law must decide the sentence of an individual with these obstacles in place. In this case, the defendant Dannie McGrew has been charged with the murder of Barney Quill, but claims that it was self-defense. The following contains a thorough explanation as to how the judge decided upon the verdict of acquittal.
In this documentary, we never go into the minds of any of the people, but only get to interpret what we see and hear. This documentary was filmed in Jacksonville, Florida where Brenton Butler, a 15 year old African American boy was accused of the murder of Mary Ann Stephens. The main people in this documentary are Ann Fennell, Patrick McGuiness, Brenton Butler, and detectives Williams, Glover, and Darnell. Ann Fennell and Patrick McGuisness are the two defense attorney’s on Brenton’s behalf. Brenton Butler is the boy being accused of murder. Detectives Williams, Glover, and Darnell are the detectives in department 3 the violated many laws and policies while holing Brenton in
While in jail he had no one to support him or keep him level except for his journal. His parents didn't visit and Kathy O’Brien, his defense attorney, wasn’t believing in Steve ad as only there to do her job. On the contrary, in Murder on a Sunday Monday, Brenton Butler had a huge amount of support from his parents and from his defenders: Patrick McGuiness and Anne Finnell. Similarly, both were treated without respect from people around them. The case came to close for both of the boys after everyone was done after defending their side on the
On Bloodsworth’s appeal he argued several points. First he argued that there was not sufficient evidence to tie Bloodsworth to the crime. The courts ruled that the ruling stand on the grounds that the witness evidence was enough for reasonable doubt that the c...
Brooks should not have been charged with murder or any other crime because he had clearly dissented any motives to kill Richard Parker. On the eighteenth day, Brooks was not in accord with killing Richard Parker—even for survival. On the nineteenth day, he did not agree with drawing lots to decide upon which crewmember was going to be killed, and the lots were never drawn. Finally, on the twentieth day, he did not support Richard Parkers murder or death. It may be argued that because he had participated in feeding on Richard Parkers flesh, that he was guilty, but the only reason he did so was because he was suffering from extreme starvation. In conclusion, Brooks was not charged with accessory to murder considering the fact that he dissented all suggestions to kill the innocent, Richard Parker, and given the circumstances he could not have saved the victim anyways.
“Sunday Morning” by Wallace Stevens is a poem about a woman having a late breakfast and thinking about the purpose of religion. Stevens wants the readers to ask themselves the questions that the woman asks, and to explore their feelings towards Christianity. He also wants to spark an awareness of nature. The first stanza asks the first tentative questions before launching into a racy debate in the later stanzas.
In this process of mock trials I never believe that I could ever learn that I would be a great lawyer in my future. Our case went well, compared to how we believe it would go. Thought out the trial my team did not have confidence in ourselves and we believe that we could lose, we were correct. As the trial went on we got some confidence back. I think that in order to have a go trail you have to be confident in yourself or it will not go how you want. I learned many things during mock trials.