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Police misconduct and its impact
Police misconduct and its impact
Police misconduct and its impact
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This interview was conducted by Professor Zalman and Ron Keine and is about Ron’s exoneration. Ron Keine was wrongfully convicted of the murder of a college student in Oklahoma. The duration of this case was full of corruption and ended in Ron being convicted and sentenced to death row. While being on death row, Ron thought he was going to die for a crime that he did not commit. There are so many aspects in this case, but to start the Detroit News conducted an investigation and what was uncovered was procedural misconduct. The coverage from the Detroit News was not enough for Keine and his friends to be allowed to go free, and they all remained on death row. Ron was released in 1976 after the murder weapon was found to be in possession of a …show more content…
Ron was in a biker gang in California; he had dropped out of school and left Detroit and ended up in California. Keine stated that the reason he went to Death Row was being affiliated with the gang and made the statement that it was as he was convicted of all the crimes of the gangs. Ron and the other exonerees were victims of the systems based on their mistreatment. Dr. Zalman expressed about wrongful convictions and said that some are made by honest errors and the inability to realize the mistakes to correct …show more content…
They had an alibi witness, a gas receipt, a ticket on the day of the murder. A police officer who would not come unless the judge subpoena him and the judge of course refused and would not pay the $650 to summon him. There were also two jailhouse snitches who lied about their testimony. The police misconduct was used in how they charged these individuals originally and how they have been accused initially with robbery, which later turned into murder. The police created the story and intimidated an eye witness who refused to testify and threatened to charge her with the murder if she refused. The attorneys told a moving tale and Ron Keine and company ended up being convicted. This case was before DNA testing but what exonerated these individuals was the actual murder confessing to the crimes. The entire case seemed like a fluke and malicious attack on these people. A guy in Carolina, confessed to all charges and had an epiphany and told the police where the weapon was located and how everything happened and how he dragged the body. He had to fight to get the police to accept his confession because the police were acting as if they already had their
On May 2, 1998, Cynthia Harrison’s body was found in a restaurant where she and Defendant Timothy Lee Hurst worked. She was found bound, gagged, and stabbed over 60 times and the restaurant safe was unlocked, open and missing hundreds of dollars. The trial lasted 4 days and the State offered forensic evidence that linked Hurst with Harrison’s murder. The State also had witnesses that testified that Hurst had discussed his plan to rob the restaurant. Hurst and Harrison were the only people scheduled to work at the time of the murder. Hurst used an alibi defense, claiming he never made it to work because his car broke down.
Because Simpson was the prime suspect, the judge legally ordered searches on O.J’s house as well as the crime scene. The goal was to find proof that he did commit the crime, by finding DNA or items. Shortly after the searches and tests began, evidence was found. DNA from the crime scene matched the DNA of O.J. Although proof was found, Simpson continued to plead not guilty. Surprisingly enough, O.J st...
In conclusion, the story of Randall Adams’ unjust imprisonment is presented as an intersection of several people’s lives. Instead of simplifying the case for the sake of clarity, Morris points out where many stories are invited - the imagination of the witnesses, TV crimes dramas, and scenes from the drive-in movie Adams and Harris attended. He complicates the legal storytelling and his film tells that it is not easy to build these aspects of an investigation into a very structure and style. Morris however successfully closes the film by gaining the audience’s distrust of the legal system and proving that Adams was innocent. With Morris’ effort on The Thin Blue Line, the truth is found; Adams was eventually released from the death row and the Texas legal system admitted its wrongly conviction.
There was no physical evidence that proved McIntyre murdered the two victims. He did not even personally know them. The conviction was apparently based on the false testimony of the prosecutor and police.
First, Halbach’s remains in the fire pit were discovered on Avery’s property. In an email from Ken Krats (The District Attorney of Calumet County) during the investigation, he states that there was a tooth which was ID’d through Halbach’s dental records in the fire pit. Along with the tooth, a rivet from her jeans was also found (Willett). A counter claim in the case is that it might not have been Halbach’s remains. The remains, however, were identified through dental records, so there was no doubt that it was indeed the remains of Halbach on his property. These remains were where they were also aligned with the statements given in Brenden Dassey’s confession. Second, The bullet found in the garage had her evidence on it, and was fired from Avery’s gun. According to Willett, “In Avery’s garage, police found a bullet that had Halbach’s DNA on it. Katz said in the email that the ballistics proved the bullet was shot from Avery’s rifle that police had confiscated back when they first searched the property” (Willett). The bullet is difficult evidence to ignore. Not only was it found in his garage, but it was deduced that it was fired out of Avery’s gun that he keeps in his room. For the bullet to have been planted, someone would have had to fire a bullet out of Avery’s rifle, place Halbach’s DNA on it, and then plant it in his garage. Third, Avery’s DNA was found in various places on the scene. Avery’s sweat was found under the hood of Halbach’s car, and on Halbach’s car keys (Watt). Avery’s sweat being where it was matched perfectly with Brenden Dassey’s confession, because Dassey described a specific event where Avery had to open the hood to reset the odometer. The police only had access to his blood, so there is not anyway that they could have planted his sweat. The only way for Avery’s sweat to have gotten there would be from him touching it. The evidence found in the fire pit, the garage, and Halbach’s
In 1992, Houston police officers found two homicide victims in a house at an unspecified time. The investigation of this homicide led them to defendant, Genovevo Salinas, where the police asked and the defendant agreed to accompany the police officers to the station where the defendant was questioned for about one hour. Police collected shotgun shells from the murder scene, which is the home of the two brothers that have been shot and killed. The defendant, without being detained and read his Miranda rights, voluntarily answered most of the police officer’s questions about the murder stated earlier. This interview lasted about one hour and both the officer and the defendant agreed it was a consensual encounter. He became very quite once the officer’s asked if under ballistics testing the casing, found at the crime scene, would match the shotgun the defendant owned. After this question the officer asked other questions and the defendant did answer the rest of the questions asked. Police also found a witness who said Salinas admitted to killing the victims. In 1993, Salinas was charged with the murders, but could not be located. 15 years later, Salinas was finally captured. The first trial ended in a mistrial. During the second trial the prosecutors used the silence the defendant had at this time, even over the objection of the defendant, as evidence of guilt in Texas state court. He was convicted, in both State Court of Appeals and Court of Criminal Appeals.
The federal government became involved in the case, and a man by the name of Eliot Ness pioneered the way. Unable to be bribed like an ordinary official, Ness secured “indictments against Capone and sixty-eight confederates, citing 5,000 offences,” although alcohol was not involved in any of them (Cyriax, “The Untouchables”). During his time investigating Capone, it was documented that Capone was so frustrated by his inability to bribe the man that Capone raged and shouted that he would kill Ness himself, however, the mob boss was unable to accomplish this, and the prideful man was reduced to a sitting duck, as his sales declined and he could feel the Feds coming closer and closer (Cyriax, “The Untouchables”).
Although the criminal justice system punishes those who have committed crimes against society, there are still flaws in the system that send innocent people to prison. Actual Innocence by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, and Jim Dwyer, focuses on those problems connected to the incarceration of innocent people, as well as those who have been convicted and were ultimately exonerated. Confessions and racism are two major issues that are described in Actual Innocence that explain how these problems occur in our criminal justice system today and how innocent people are convicted of crimes.
The investigation was careless. Two witnesses were inadmissible after they sold their encounters to the press. Evidence was haphazardly collected, and logged. The victim’s body was contaminated by a blanket from her home, after it was used to cover the body. A finger print gathered from the scene was misplaced. Items were bagged incorrectly. Some evidence was bagged together, and other evidence was bagged before drying. Blood was incorrectly logged, and could not be accounted for. “The person who drew the blood could only guess he had taken 8ml; only 6 could be accounted for by the LAPD” (Crime Library, Securing the Evidence). This evidence became inadmissible into the trail. The murder weapon was never found, adding to the prosecution’s difficulty to prove
Gross, Samuel R., et al. "Exonerations In The United States 1989 Through 2003." Journal Of Criminal Law & Criminology 95.2 (2005): 523-560. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
"Know the Cases." Innocence Project. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, n.d. Web. 1 Mar 2011. .
The junk shop owner testified that there was only one knife in stock and my client had bought it which means there is more than one knife because I has the same exact knife. Also, there is reasonable doubt that the defendant did not commit the murder because there weren't any fingerprints left.
The relationship between law enforcement and prosecutors, which goes hand-in-hand, can’t be overlooked. Evidence of a crime that detectives and law enforcement discover is as equally important as a good trial on part of the prosecution. If detectives aren’t able to find good solid evidence – that case usually isn’t bothered in being pursued. Several years ago, in the late 80’s, there was a murder case in Southeastern Oklahoma which now serves as a tragic example to the need for honest, constitutional work in the criminal justice system. Disreputable investigative procedures, fraudulent sources, and bad evidence were the foundation of this case that shattered innocent lives.
The authors constantly remind the reader that there is nothing inevitable about the innocence frame that now shuts out alternative interpretations. The innocence frame packs a wallop, but a list of murderers and their victims would dwarf the roster of the unjustly convicted. For now, however, the interlocking features of the innocence frame- the regular discovery of mistaken convictions, the rise of DNA testing, the proliferation of media stories filtered through the new frame, dramatic revelations of criminal shortcuts taken by police or crime labs, the spread of innocence projects- all fit together and dominate the debate. The cascade of innocence stories has begun to reshape public opinion (support for the death penalty has dropped dramatically) and public policy (fewer death sentences and executions). (Baumgartner, De Boef, & Boydstun,
The prosecution were outclassed by a very skilled team of lawyers. They had very little documentary evidence and although the evidence by witnesses seemed overwhelming many of the key witnesses were felons giving evidence in return for...