Analysis Of Picking Cotton

667 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How might DNA help to solve crime

Lindsey Hogan
Professor Patti Meyer
Anthropology 122
24 April 2014
Picking Cotton
In a compelling story of forgiveness and moving on, Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton shared their journey with the Ferris community. Thompson took the audience to a setting in July 29, 1984, by recounting the night of her rape and the measures she went to memorize the face of evil. Thompson, with utmost certainty, declared Cotton her rapist after hours of police interrogations, forming sketches, and a lineup. Cotton was sentenced to life in prison but was at Ferris to share his side of the story and how DNA testing changed his life (Picking Cotton). The events of 1984 were told from two separate accounts, with distinguished parallels discussing the importance of DNA, misidentification, and coercion from police. The rape of Thompson not only affected herself, but Cotton as well.
After 11 years of being in prison, Cotton heard of DNA testing. As a final attempt to end his sentencing in jail, he applied and was accepted for DNA testing. The testing proved Cotton was not the rapist, and in fact Bobby Poole was (Picking Cotton). In total, DNA testing has helped 273 people prove innocence as of September, 2011. Also, all of the 34 death penalty states give inmates the right to have access to DNA testing. Not only has the testing been able to prove innocence, but also guilt. “Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide,” which is true for Thompson in this case (DNA Testing and..).
On the night of the incident, Thompson did her best to get as many good looks at her perpetrator as she could. With every bit of lighting offered, she analyzed the man’s facial features, height, weight and race. After talking ...

... middle of paper ...

...Cotton). Double-blind administration is when the administrator is “blind” to who the actual suspect is, preventing them from influencing the results (Eyewitness Identification). DNA is now an important factor when trying to prove one’s innocence or guilt, as shown in the Thompson and Cotton case. Thompson and Cotton continue to share their story of how one night changed both of their lives forever.

REFERENCES
Thompson, Jennifer. Cotton, Ronald. “Picking Cotton.” Ferris State University. Williams Auditorium, Big Rapids, MI. 15 April 2014. Guest Lecture.
“DNA Testing and the Death Penalty.” ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union. 3 Oct. 2011. Web. 22 April 2014.
“Eyewitness Identification: A Policy Review.” The Justice Project, Iowa State University. Web. 22 April 2014.
Eller, Jack. Cultural Anthropology: Global Forces, Local Lives. Routeledge. 2013. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Herman Atkins Case Study

    444 Words  | 1 Pages

    As we learned this week, DNA databases are used by various governmental agencies for several different purposes. We all have seen new magazine shows such as, 20/20 or Dateline, that show the collection of DNA samples from suspects in a case that is compared to those collected at the scene of the crime. But what happens when the sample is an incomplete match, compromised, or contaminated? The answer is the wrongful conviction of innocent citizens. The case that I have decided to highlight, is the wrongful conviction of Herman Atkins. In 1986, Atkins was convicted of two counts of forcible rape, two counts of oral copulation, and robbery in the state of California. It was alleged that Herman entered a shoe store, and raped, beat, and robbed a

    Read More

  • How Would Change Gene Bibbin's Life

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today's society no crime is a perfect crime, with the use of DNA testing and modern advancements in health and forensics even the smallest piece of someone's genome can be cultured and used to identify even the most devious of criminals. The use of DNA testing was able to help change the life of Gene Bibbins for the better and further proved how DNA testing is able to be used to help clarify who the culprit actually is. Gene Bibbins life was forever changed the night that he was unjustifiably arrested for aggravated rape which resulted in his being sentenced to life in prison, only for his case to eventually be reevaluated sixteen years after his conviction, leading to his exoneration.

    Read More

  • What Is Eyewitness Misidentification In Criminal Justice

    508 Words  | 2 Pages

    Eyewitness is most common issue in the United States. Eyewitness misidentification is a major issue in the United States' Justice System, but there is a logical solution to end this problem instantly.

    Read More

  • Development Of The Cotton Gin

    1517 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the antebellum south, cotton was king. The idea of a diverse agricultural south became a fallacy upon Eli Whitney’s development of the cotton gin. The ability to gin cotton creates a market place for a cash crop and the increase in slave labor. Therefore it is cotton that fuels the financial wealth of thousands of southern families and replaced stable crops.

    Read More

  • Picking Cotton Case Study

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    The court system includes the judges, jury, prosecutors and defense attorneys. The Attorneys convince the suspects to take plea bargains, the judges are sometimes unfair in the decisions they make, and the prosecutors overlook exculpatory evidence. Picking cotton shows in detail some common errors of the court system. During Ronald Cotton 's first trial, His Attorney, Phil Moseley, tried to bring a memory expert to testify on the unreliability of memory but the judge denied his request. After Ronald 's case was overturned by the supreme court, he got a new trial in another court which had even more problems and bias. First, there was racial prejudice during the jury selection. “Four black people from the community got called in for jury duty. The judge himself dismissed one of them and then Mr turner made sure none of the rest sat on my jury” Ronald cotton stated. Because he was black, the four jurors were dismissed and he was left with an all white jury and two white Alternates. Second, the judge “Held something called a “voir dire” hearing, which Phil explained meant he would have to put up all the evidence about Poole in front of the Judge, but not the Jury”(129). Also, Ronald Cotton 's defense attorney explained to the judge the parallelism between Bobby Poole 's case and the rape Ronald Cotton was charged with. Despite the weak physical evidence against Ronald Cotton, the

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty Should Be Enacted In Illinois

    2389 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Death Penalty Should Be Enacted In Illinois Due to the recent releases of newly exonerated Death Row inmates, individuals and organizations are calling for a moratorium- a cooling off period for state executions. The cases of just a few inmates makes it apparent that this would be a necessary step to save innocent lives. After 17 years in prison, Illinois Death Row inmate Anthony Porter was released from jail after a judge threw out his murder conviction following the introduction of new evidence. This reversal of fortune came just two days before Porter was to be executed. As reported in USA Today, Porter's release was the result of investigative research as conducted by a Northwestern University professor and students. The evidence gathered suggested that Porter had been wrongly convicted. Were these new revelations and the subsequent release of Porter a lucky break or a freak occurrence? Not likely, reports DeWayne Wickham, also of USA Today. He points out that since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the United States in 1976, of those sentenced to death, 490 people have been executed while 76 have been freed from Death Row. This calculates into one innocent person being released from Death Row for every six individuals that were executed. This figure correlates with the 1996 U.S. Department of Justice report that indicates that over a 7-year period, beginning in 1989, when DNA evidence in various cases was tested, 26% of primary suspects were exonerated. This has led some to conclude that a similar percentage of inmates presently serving time behind bars may have been wrongly convicted prior to the advent o...

    Read More

  • Picking Cotton: Racism, And Ronald Cotton

    1325 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was a mistaken identity case where the distressed raped women picked out the wrong black man. Even though the conviction was overturned due to DNA evidence, a mistaken eyewitness testimony led to a wrongful conviction that the Burlington Police upheld without question due to prejudice feelings toward determine Ronald Cotton (Thompson-Cannino, Cotton and Torneo 283). Ronald had his whole family testify that he had been home the night Jennifer was raped however because he had mixed up his dates when he originally confessed that police assumed he was lying despite what he and his family said. The other indication of racism on the police force was when the second rape victim did not pick Ronald Cotton out of the physical lineup; she claimed she was terrified of the black men standing in front of her and just needed to leave, even though she knew it saw Ronald that had raped her (Thompson-Cannino, Cotton and Torneo 129). Ronald was believed to be guilty and was trying to prove his innocence from the beginning. This simply cannot occur in a justice system where one is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty; racism played a part in convicting this innocent man. Even during the second court case when he was trying to prove his innocence he remembered feeling the jury turn and look at him, "every single one of their white faces" believed how terrible of a man he was (Thompson-Cannino, Cotton and Torneo

    Read More

  • The Cotton Gin’s Impact on American Industry and Slavery

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    A graduate from Yale University had thoughts of becoming a lawyer, but he needed a job urgently. After a tutoring job fell through, he accepted a position on a plantation in Georgia. His employer, Catherine Green, saw much talent in him and encouraged him to find a way to make cotton profitable. He promptly began working on a solution to the problem of separating the seeds from the cotton. On March 14, 1794, Eli Whitney was granted a patent for the cotton gin.1 The cotton gin impacted American industry and slavery changing the course of American history.

    Read More

  • Eyewitness Identification and Reliable Testimony

    2504 Words  | 6 Pages

    Eyewitness identification and testimony play a huge role in the criminal justice system today, but skepticism of eyewitnesses has been growing. Forensic evidence has been used to undermine the reliability of eyewitness testimony, and the leading cause of false convictions in the United States is due to misidentifications by eyewitnesses. The role of eyewitness testimony in producing false confessions and the factors that contribute to the unreliability of these eyewitness testimonies are sending innocent people to prison, and changes are being made in order to reform these faulty identification procedures.

    Read More

  • The Cotton Gin

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the late 1700’s the slave population in the United States had decreased. Before the invention of the cotton gin the South, which could only make money by farming, was loosing money because it didn’t have a major crop to export to England and the North besides tobacco and rice. However, these crops could be grown elsewhere. Cotton was the key because it couldn’t be grown in large amounts in other places, but only one type of cotton that could be cleaned easily. This was long-staple cotton. Another problem arose; long-staple cotton only could be grown along the coast. There was another strain of cotton that until then could not be cleaned easily so it wasn’t worth growing. The cotton gin was the solution to this problem. With the invention of the cotton gin short stemmed cotton could be cleaned easily making cotton a valued export and it could be grown anywhere in the south. The era of the “Cotton Kingdom” began with this invention leading into an explosion in the necessity of slaves.

    Read More

  • Forensic Evidence Admissibility For or Against in the Bloodsworth v. State Case

    1944 Words  | 4 Pages

    McNamara, J. M. (2009). Sketchy Eyewitness-Identification Procedures:A Proposal to Draw up Legal Guidelines For The Use of Facial Composites in Criminal Investigations. Univesity of Wisconsin Law School, 764-799.

    Read More

  • Technology in the Criminal Justice System

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    Singer, Julie A. "The Impact Of Dna And Other Technology On The Criminal Justice System: Improvements And Complications."Albany Law Journal Of Science & Technology 17.(2007): 87. LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

  • History of the Death Penalty and Why It Is Not Wrong

    3309 Words  | 7 Pages

    “The case Against the Death Penalty.” aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013

    Read More

  • Memory

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Eyewitness testimony is especially vulnerable to error when the question is misleading or when there’s a difference in ethnicity. However, using an eyewitness as a source of evidence can be risky and is rarely 100% accurate. This can be proven by the theory of the possibility of false memory formation and the question of whether or not a memory can lie. For instance, a group of students saw the face of a young man with straight hair, then heard a description of the face supposedly written by another witness, one that wrongly mentioned light, curly hair. When they reconstructed the face using a kit of facial features, a third of their reconstructions contained the misleading detail, whereas only 5 percent contained it when curly hair was not mentioned (Page 359). This situation shows how misleading information from other sources can be profoundly altered.

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment Justified

    1152 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fein, Bruce. "Individual Rights and Responsibility - The Death Penalty, But Sparingly." Speech. American Bar Association. Feb. 2003. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Picking Cotton

Open Document