One gun shot. Two gun shots. Three gun shots. Four gun shots. That is how many shots it took to kill Reeva Steenkamp, Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius girlfriend. On February 14, 2013, Pistorius used his handgun and shot 4 bullets through his locked bathroom door and killed his girlfriend who was right behind the door (NYT article). Pistorius’ defense lawyer stated that Pistorius thought that someone had broken into his home and was hiding in the bathroom (NYT article). It did not occur to Pistorius, according to his lawyer, that Steenkamp may have been in the bathroom (NYT article).
In September 2014, Picstorius was found guilty of culpable homicide. Barry Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp’s father stated in an interview with an Australian channel SBS One that, “He could have gone to the balcony and shouted for help knowing that somebody was there. He could have pressed the alarm system [and] all this would have been prevented,” he said. “I feel that there’s still a missing link somewhere. I think there’s quite a bit more to the whole thing than has been produced so far.” (this week article)
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On September 11, 2014, Judge Masipa dismissed much of the state’s circumstantial evidence, while also describing Pistorius as a “very poor witness.: Judge Masipa said the state had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Pistorius was guilty of premeditated murder and also ruled out common murder, accepting that “he did not subjectively for see this as a possibility, that he would kill the person behind the door, let alone the deceased as he thought she was in the
The evidence presented to myself and the other juror’s proves that Tyrone Washburn is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the murder of his wife, Elena Washburn. On March 12, 1979 Elena Washburn was strangled in the living room of her family’s home. Her body was then dragged to the garage, leaving a trail of blood from the living room to the place it was found. Her husband, Tyrone Washburn, found her in the family’s garage on March 13, 1979 at 1:45 A.M. When officer Dale Chambers arrived at the scene he found her lying face down in a pool of blood. The solid evidence in this case proves only one person, Tyrone Washburn, is guilty of murder.
On June 19th of 1990, Robert Baltovich’s girlfriend Elizabeth Bain went missing. Elizabeth told her family that she was going to check the tennis schedules at her school, the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus. She never returned, but her car was eventually recovered. It was found with blood on the backseat, with forensic tests showing that it was Elizabeth’s. With no clear evidence, the “solving” of the case was completely based on eyewitness testimonies, which eventually had Robert arrested for the murder of his girlfriend.
On 1997 four men were convicted of the rape and murder of Michelle Basko. The four men were Joe Dick, Daniel Williams, Eric Wilson, and Derek Tice. Detective Robert Ford believed that the four U.S. navy men were all guilty of the crime. One of the victim’s friend claimed that Daniel Williams, was Michelle Basko’s murderer. Based on the information provided by Basko’s friend, Ford suspected that William was guilty. With that, the series of harsh interrogations led by detective Robert Ford began. Detective Ford began his interrogatories with a label that Williams is the suspect. The psychological abuse he used, led Williams to make a false confession. After closing the case, the DNA results did not match the one in the crime scene. Instead of releasing Williams, it was believed that Joe
...on’s blood was found at the scene of the crime. There may be ways to plant such evidence, but it would be rather difficult to draw blood from a man without him realizing it and planting it at the scene of a crime. I also would have expressed that O.J. had a motive to kill his ex-wife, as well as a history of violent outbursts towards her. With all of the evidence that the prosecution had at their disposal, they should have been able to pin the murder on O.J. beyond a reasonable doubt. Everything pointed to O.J. and showed that he was the murderer. The only thing the prosecution was not able to do was fit the bloody glove on O.J’s hand. The only issue is, the glove was made of leather and had been soaking in blood prior to being found. When leather is soaking in a liquid, it tends to shrink. If only the prosecution had realized this, the case would have been theirs.
Two aggravating factors in the state of California that may have been met for the death penalty imposition in the Scott Peterson trial could be (1) The defendant, in this proceeding, has been convicted of more than one offense of murder in the first or second degree, and/or (2) The defendant intentionally killed the victim by means of lying in wait. Mitigating factors that could be used to convince the jury to convict Scott Peterson of a lesser charge might be (1) the absence of prior felony convictions, (2) the absence of a history of violence by the
He was shot four times, twice in the chest. Once in the arm, and once in the thigh.” As stated by MTV News Staff, September 13, 1996 Rapper Tupac Shakur Gunned Down, MTV news staff says, “The drive by shooting had taken place Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. The shooting occurred when the car stopped at a red light at East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. Tupac was hit with a 40- caliber glock several times. Shakur spent weeks I the hospital on respirator in critical condition. Six days later passing
On the evening of February 26, 2012 a 17-year old unarmed boy, Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida. Trayvon was killed by a man named Andrew Zimmerman, who stated that self-defense justified the murder of this young boy. An individual who doesn’t know the background of this case would reasonably believe that Trayvon Martin may have attacked Zimmerman, in which he used self-defense. However, Zimmerman was the initial aggressor in this case, whereas he sought after Trayvon Martin for reasons of suspicion. At Zimmerman’s trial on July 13, 2013 the jury reached a verdict of “not guilty” of the murder of Trayvon Martin. So we ask, how does one become acquitted of a murder on self-defense,
make there decision, but in the end there was no way that the jury was going to believe a
After World War II when all the camps were liberated, trials were held against the Nazi’s who took part in this genocide. These trials were called the Nuremburg trials. The trials took place between October 20, 1945 and October 1, 1946 . Although Many Nazis felt they were taking orders their punishments through the Nuremburg trials were justified due to the massive loss of life in the concentration as well as the social consequences on families.
...t I do not think that the evidence presented is enough for a conviction to sentence any man or woman to death.
When the first responder got to the scene he adimatately meet the 911 caller, who lead him to a car in an apartment parking lot. The car doors were closed and all of the windows were fogged. The police officer used his flashlight to see inside of the car before opening the door. He found a young African American woman who had been shot several times. The officers quickly called for backup, investigators and medical personnel. While awaiting for their arrival he secured the crime scene with caution tape, creating an initial perimeter setup as discussed in lecture two. Once everyone arrived he left it to them to search the car while he talked to the 911 caller, witnesses and others who had information on who had been present in the car. The investigators were able to collect physical evidence of bullets and cartage casings that were found outside the vehicle and inside the vehicle on the floorboard of the driver’s side. The team determined the bullets came from a 40 caliber. Other types of physical evidence that were found on the scene were the bloody clothing on the victim, the victim’s cell phone and fibers in the car from the driver’s side. personnel at the scene crime took several photographs, powered test for finger prints and did a blood spatter analysis. Stewart’s autopsy revealed that she had been shot at close range in the left hand once and in the
While researching this case I stumbled upon many others and I became aware of how many people have suffered from the injustice of being found guilty. While reading parts of the book “Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death the Story of Steven Truscott” I learned that the police played a large role in why 14-year-old Truscott was found guilty of murder. The book showed that they forced witnesses to change their story to further “prove” Truscott’s guilt of the crime. This led to the conclusion that in this case (like many others) the police were solely and unjustly targeting one
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...
Oscar Pistorius; his life was one of great achievements as the South African sprint runner, competing in athletes for able-bodied and below-knee amputees. All that was tarnished because in the early hours of Valentine’s day; 14 February 2013 he shot dead his girlfriend ‘Reeva Steenkamp’ and now his undergoing a trial with possibilities that he will be sent to jail for 25 years with charges of premeditated murder. Steenkamp was a modeller and a law graduate with plans to make it big in the industry, on the 13th of February 2013 she tweeted countlessly excited about Valentine’s Day and the gifts he has for Oscar Pistorius also asking her fans what are their plans for the day.
During the trial, the defense, they held fast to Oscar’s claim. Pistorius stated that he believed that the person behind the door was an intruder and that he was terrified. He denied all accusations of purposely shooting Steenkamp (Burke). Thousands of messages between the couple were unveiled. These messages evinced their love for one another (“Oscar Pistorius”). The defense also brought up witnesses who testified that the couple were very loving. This information held a convincing argument that Pistorius had not premeditated Reeva’s death. Proving premeditation is not the only way to convict a murder, in fact, according to South African law, it is not needed at all (ABC News). A point came up in court that questioned if