This episode began with the attempted murder of a female New York Judge by an unknown assailant with a handgun in daylight outside the courthouse. Judge Karlin’s reputation as being extremely tough on crime and handing out maximum sentences creates a long list of potential suspects. The hitman, carrying no identification, was killed by the judge’s bodyguards, leaving the detectives with no obvious leads.
Reviewing the amount of time the judge had been on the bench, and her former time as an assistant district attorney, led the detectives to start with current cases before delving into twenty years of people with grudges. Recovering the filed away serial number on the gun by forensics leads the detectives to the owner who identifies the
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assassin as his nephew. With the gunman identified, the detectives determined that he visited an inmate who has a trial being presided by Judge Karlin. The inmate in question, is Randall Wylie, a CPA charged with fraud and embezzlement. His meek and mild character presents a distinct problem for the prosecutors in making a case of hiring a hitman. From the beginning of the show, the subject of plea bargains and maximum penalties is discussed and debated.
Judge Karlin is convinced that her standard practice of imposing the maximum penalties is a direct contributor to the streets being safer. Even though Wylie’s case was a white collar crime, she incarcerated him to send a message that she was no less harsh on non-violent criminals. A plea bargain between Wylie and the fraud division of the District Attorney’s office was rejected by the judge for being too lenient. One of the prosecutors admires her for standing up for what’s right rather than playing the ‘numbers game’ to close …show more content…
cases. However, it’s also debated that her hard line stance with Mr. Wylie created the situation where she was almost assassinated. If she had not insisted he be jailed, then he would not have met the other inmate who orchestrated the assassination attempt. This inmate, McGowan, saw an opportunity to reduce his sentence and set an elaborate plan in motion. He convinced Wylie to meet with the proposed assassin in the prison where everything is logged and recorded. He then proposed a plea deal with the prosecutors to testify against Wylie for a reduction in his personal sentence for Arson. Only during the trial of Wyle did the facts come to light, that McGowan orchestrated the events and was now protected under his new plea deal with immunity. The District Attorney’s office discusses how best to make things right, considering they have been played by McGowan. Wylie did initially agree to the hitman’s contract and never informed any authorities that the judge’s life was in danger. Therefore, they DA’s office successfully brokers a plea for twelve and a half years to twenty-five with blanket immunity for the fraud and embezzlement charges. The intense focus of the detectives on this case was not unrealistic, considering the target of assassination was a local judge.
The ability of the forensics lab to recover the gun’s serial number was quick, but again this was probably a very high profile case. The detectives followed the trail of the gun, the assassin, the visit to prison and ended with the inmate. Once they determined that Wylie had a case in front of Judge Karlin, they turned the case over to the prosecutors. Because the detectives had no false trails, or multiple suspects to interview, it seemed that the significant time on this episode was to be the prosecutors and the court
aspects. The prosecutors and the DA made a determination that Wylie had done wrong, not to inform anyone that he was being coerced. When Wylie did not warn anyone that Judge Karlin’s life was in danger, he became culpable. But, they considered the fact if Judge Karlin hadn’t reacted strongly to ‘set an example’, rejecting the plea bargain, and insisting on incarceration for Wylie, then none of it would have occurred. It’s nice to believe that prosecutors have conversations about doing the right thing, balancing mistakes that were made, and attempting to correct over reactions. However, I find it difficult to believe this occurs due to the vast caseloads they carry. It was interesting how the plea bargains and deals were discussed and carried out. The superior, authoritative arrogance of prosecutors when speaking to defendants was portrayed exactly as I believe it happens in reality. The ending of the show where the draconian Judge Karlin vociferously challenges the District Attorney for the leniency of the final plea deal for Wylie shows two strong willed women with the same goals for justice but different views on how to achieve them.
When trying to describe Dan Locallo as a compassionate judge one could use the Tony Cameron, the Larry Bates and the Frank Caruso Jr. criminal cases. Tony Cameron has been in jail for only five months. He was arrested for armed robbery in August of 1997. Cameron has an inner conflict that he keeps fighting-whether or not he wants to plead guilty or not guilty (Courtroom 302, 26). Tony Cameron realizes that if he wants to present his case to the judge he better make it a good one. Most offenders that visit the courthouse feel like...
Criminals can come in many different shapes and sizes. For example, a criminal can be classified as being a murderer or a criminal could just simply have committed fraud in a business setting. There is a large diversity of criminals and it is the judge’s job to determine what is a fair punishment for a guilty verdict. Judge Ron Swanson, a federal judge for the Florida District Court of Appeal, deals with using cost-benefit analysis daily to determine what is fair for everyone involved. Before becoming a judge, Judge Swanson was a prosecutor coming out of law school in the University of Florida. As a prosecutor and a judge, Judge Swanson has always worked to bring justice for the victims, the defendant if he or she is innocent, and for the citizens
On Friday April 24th J.P. Walker, Preacher Lee, Crip Reyer and L.C. Davis got into Reyer’s Oldsmobile and they took off on a mission to kill Mark Charles Parker. (3 other cars of men followed) They went to the courthouse/jail in Poplarville and they could not get in. So they went to Jewel Alford’s House (The jail keeper) to get the keys to the Jail. Alford went with the four men to the courthouse. When he got there he went in and down the hall to Sheriff Moody’s office and got the keys to the jail. He opened the door to the jail and Lee, Reyer, Davis, Walker followed Alford into the jail. Alford then opened Parkers cell and Lee and Davis pulled Parker out of the jail and courthouse to the Reyer's Oldsmobile. Alford then left and the men got into the car.
Jacoby can be easily perceived as an upset and alarmed individual who blames the rise of criminal activity in the United States on the failure of the criminal justice system. He cares about people and believes that the safety of individuals is decreasing because criminals are not punished effectively by imprisonment and that some even receive a “sign of manhood” from going to prison (197). Additionally, he is upset that the ineffective system is so expensive. His concern for his audience’s safety and his carefully argued grounds, which he uses to support his claim, create a persona of an intelligent person of
I have always loved suspenseful whodunit television shows, movies, and books that use forensic science to crack the cases. My favorite television show is The First 48, my favorite movie is The Silence of the Lambs, and my favorite book is The Body Farm. Therefore, I was excited to have the opportunity to take this course and learn even more about the subject of forensics. This essay gives a summary of N. E. Genge’s book, The Forensic Casebook: The Science of Crime Scene Investigation, and includes the things I disliked and liked about the book.
Crime is a common public issue for people living in the inner city, but is not limited to only urban or highly populated cities as it can undoubtedly happen in small community and rural areas as well. In The Real CSI, the documentary exemplified many way in which experts used forensic science as evidence in trial cases to argue and to prove whether a person is innocent or guilty. In this paper, I explained the difference in fingerprinting technology depicted between television shows and in reality, how DNA technology change the way forensics evidence is used in the court proceedings, and how forensic evidence can be misused in the United States adversarial legal system.
people in these 21st century society wonder, “When is Justice to be done?” For district attorneys,
Six months after the initial search of Keith Romig's house, the Unit is still cataloguing the massive amount of seized evidence. Every video and photograph must be thoroughly examined by a team of two detectives. They usually spend long hours watching the all videos seized and reviewing every image, digital or hard copy.
In 2006, over 100 million people in the United States tuned in to watch either CSI or any if the other forensic and criminal investigation related television show each week (CJSG). Since then, the number of viewers has increased rapidly, as well as the amount of television shows with the same type of theme. As a result of the increase of these television programs, researchers are discovering a new phenomenon called the ‘CSI Effect’ that seems to be fueling an interest in forensic science and criminal investigations nationwide. This effect is actually the ability of criminal justice themed television shows to influence and increase victims’, jurors’ and criminals’ ideas about forensics, DNA testing and methods, and criminal investigations (CJSG). Although the connection between the CSI Effect and a criminal’s mind is a growing problem, the CSI Effect influencing jurors in the United States by causing unrealistic expectations for definite forensic evidence, creating an increased ‘knowledge’ about forensic science and by creating an expectation for criminal cases and trials to be equivalent to what happens on popular criminal justice television shows is a much bigger issue.
The court proceedings then move to the probable cause hearing, which is when a judicial officer will review police documents and reports to ensure that probable cause supported the arrest. During this time, Vinny didn’t even bother to cross examine the witnesses brought to testify in favor of the prosecution, which is responsible for presenting the state’s case against the defendant, which is played by Jim Trotter III. It is after this that the defendants decide to use a public defender, which is a state-employed lawyer defending indigent defendants. Ultimately both defendants decide to hire Vinny again, partially because their public defender had a terribly stuttering
One contradiction in the job of the prosecutor is that they have nearly limitless direction in critical matters; however, prosecutors’ are also held to a very high ethical standard. Prosecutors must screen cases to determine which ones need to be prosecuted; nevertheless, this is the source of controversy with most people. “What makes charging decisions more intriguing and controversial is the fact that in making this decision, the prosecutor has nearly limitless discretion” (Hemmens, Brody, & Spohn, 2013). This means the prosecutor’s charging decisions are beyond any judicial review, so it must be apparent that a prosecutor
In 1999, a home invasion occurs where two burglars break in and kill Clyde Shelton’s wife and daughter. A terrifying incident that happened simply by Shelton opening the door without checking for who was entering. He and his wife were tied down while being stabbed, and their daughter was taken away (we assume she is killed as well). Shelton seeks justice from prosecutor Nick Rice, but Rice is unable to find any evidence against the two robbers. Rice is a high ranked prosecutor with a high conviction rate. He wishes to keep his stats high by making a deal with one of the robbers, Clarence Darby, to a lesser charge if he testifies against his partner in crime, Rupert Ames. Shelton gains knowledge of this deal for Rice’s career and feels as if he is cheated by the law system and plots for revenge. Ten years later, one of the robbers, Ames, is being executed for another crime and is put to death by a toxic injection. Normally this type of execution is meant to be painless, but in this case the injections were tampered with and Ames experiences a traumatizing death. When the investigators try to find who would have done this, they first turn to Darby. Darby is about to be arrested by the police when Shelton calls him with a disguised voice leading him to an abandoned warehouse. Shelton, revealing himself paralyses Darby and kills him in his warehouse in the most vicious manner by dismembering him while recording it. When the investigators find Darby’s body they turn to Shelton. Shelton willingly gives himself over into custody, and tries to make a deal with Rice. He says that if Rice gives him what he wants, he will give him a real confession. All the while, investigators discover that Shelton owns a property near the prison with an u...
In Maldonado’s study she focuses on both the frequency and percentage of print recovery on firearm evidence at the Denver Police Department over a two year period. A total of 1,316 case reports ranging from involvement in handguns, magazines, live ammunition, and spent cartridge casings were examined to interpret the process and outcome of each type of examination. Since the most common way the Denver Police Department analyzes prints in relation to firearms is cyanoacrylate ester fuming and fingerprint powders, in Maldonado’s study approximately 480 items were processed with orange magnetic powder the rest of the items were processed either cyanoacrylate ester fuming (super fuming) or RUVIS. The benefit of using RUVIS or super fuming is that they allow one to
Information about any item, related to the criminal, found at the crime scene (weapons, proofs, if any)
Podgor, E. S. (2007). The challenge of white collar sentencing. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.