The United States court system is among the most reliant court systems in the world. However, even the best court systems make mistakes and cannot be trusted entirely. More than a fair share of citizens that are truly guilty do not get the punishment by law that they deserve. An example of this unjustification is the State of Florida vs. Casey Anthony in 2005 when she murdered her daughter and was found not guilty (Hopper). There should be some type of punishment when the United States court system fails; matters should be taken into the hands of the citizens. In “The Killings” by Andre Dubus, Matt decides the fate of the Strout who murdered his beloved son because he believed the court system will not prevail. In the court system, there are only three options the verdict could be: plead insane, receive capital punishment, or could be put on parole.
The first verdict of the trial would be for Strout to plead insanity. Insanity defence is the claim that a defendant is not responsible for their actions in the case due to mental health problems. There is a 1% percent chance of an insanity plea in all criminal cases, and this percentage significantly increases when it is a homicidal case (Thomson). If Strout were to attend court and plead insanity, he would get off free without any repercussion. Strout was emotionally attached to his wife even though they were going through a divorce that he did not approve of. If Strout was alive, there would have been a high chance that he would plead insanity because he would have claimed he was traumatized. His support for being traumatized would be because his wife cheated on him which left him in an absent state of mind. With Matt killing Strout before the trial, he saved the courtroom time and...
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...y. With Matt killing Stout before he could sit trial he saved the court time and effort of either convicting him of his crime or looking like imbeciles by letting a murderer off the hook. Matt did what any father would do to avenge his son and should not be charged with any crime for avenging his youngest son's death.
Works Cited
Babcock, Sandra. "TIME ON DEATH ROW." DPIC. Death Penalty Information Center, 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Hopper, Jessica, Emily Friedman, Yunji De Nies, and Aaron Katersky. "Casey Anthony Trial: Not Guilty Murder Verdict." ABC News. ABC News Network, 11 July 2011.
Nannette, Miranda. "80 Percent of Murderers Eligible for Parole Released." ABC Owned Television Stations. ABC News Network, 09 Feb. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Thomson, Reuters. "Status of the Insanity Defense." Findlaw. Criminal Find Law, 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
Steve Bogira, a prizewinning writer, spent a year observing Chicago's Cook County Criminal Courthouse. The author focuses on two main issues, the death penalty and innocent defendants who are getting convicted by the pressure of plea bargains, which will be the focus of this review. The book tells many different stories that are told by defendants, prosecutors, a judge, clerks, and jurors; all the people who are being affected and contributing to the miscarriage of justice in today’s courtrooms.
Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, thank you for your attention today. [Slide #2] I would like to assert that separation is not the end of a relationship. Divorce is not the end of a relationship. Even an arrest is not the end of a relationship. Only death is the end of a relationship. In the case of defendant Donna Osborn, her insistence that ‘“one way or another I’ll be free,”’ as told in the testimony of her friend Jack Mathews and repeated in many others’, indicates that despite the lack of planning, the defendant had the full intent to kill her husband, Clinton Osborn.
In July of 2008, one of the biggest crime cases devastated the United States nation-wide. The death of Caylee Anthony, a two year old baby, became the most popular topic in a brief amount of time. Caylee’s mother, Casey Anthony, became the main suspect after the child supposedly was kidnapped and went missing. To this day, the Casey Anthony case shocks me because justice, in my opinion, wasn’t served. I feel as if the criminal conviction system became somewhat corrupted in this case. The entire nation, including the court system, knew that Casey Anthony was behind this criminal act, but yet she escaped all charges. I chose this case not only because it’s debatable, but also to help state the obvious, this case was handled the wrong way. Clearly the legal system was biased, which worked in Casey Anthony’s favor, freeing a murderer.
Matt Fowler’s thoughts transform into revenge as a way of healing for his family. He plans the assassination of Richard Strout. After months of planning, Matt waits for Strout to get off work: “when Strout came around it alone [the building], [sic] Matt got out of the car, giving up the hope he had kept all night (and for the week) that Strout would come out with friends” (Dubus 112-113). Ironic symbolization: Matt Fowler didn’t really want to kill Richard Strout: however, he had to protect his family and avenge the murder of his son. One murder ultimately justifies the second murder within the mindset of Matt. The story concludes with not only two murders, but also with the insinuation of the second murder being justified by Matt and Ruth
There is no question that the love Matt had for Frank was the motivation to kill Richard Strout. The story ends with two physical killings and a moral death as well. Vengeance comes at a very high price, death.
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...
make there decision, but in the end there was no way that the jury was going to believe a
McCoy began his closing argument by stating the fact that Mitch Regan is an 18 years old and he is already a cold-blooded murder. A fact that is undeniable and appealed to the jurors that Mitch is a cold-blooded murder, not just another unfortunate accident. And because Mitch Regan has continuously denied the hideous crime that he has committed and put the responsibility on others, that make him even worst as a person; “he has betrays us all,” as McCoy stated.
As the defense has so diligently pointed out, it is indeed a sad day in the history of our judicial system when an innocent woman is sent to her death for a crime that she did not commit. I, for one, am not planning on having that momentous occasion take place today, and this is for one simple reason: Justine is guilty. While the defense has done nothing but parade Justine’s friends in front of you saying how much of a “nice person” she is, I, the prosecution, have presented you with cold, hard facts, all of which point to the guilt of the defendant.
Through all the media coverage, Sam Reese Sheppard began to have nightmares that his dad was electrocuted, and that he should be to (Quade). He has guilt that made him have the decision to not have kids because it is hard for him to hold his own life together. There has been a huge change in opinion from people who assumed Dr. Sam Sheppard was guilty. Now people see that he was unfairly convicted. This led people to believe that the death penalty should not be used. Although the case will probably never be decided, with all the evidence that has been found, Dr. Sam Sheppard should be considered innocent.
Rogers, Christopher. The Death Penalty. 20 April 1999. Justice For All. 19 April 2001. www.prodeathpenalty.com.
Steve Harmon is guilty of felony murder because he participated and had knowledge about a crime that ended up in the death of an innocent citizen. The judge stated the if you believe that Steve harmon took part in the crime than you must return a verdict of guilty. I believe that Steve went into the drugstore on that day for the purpose of being a lookout. Some of Steve’s journal entry’s lead to him feeling guilty or like a “monster”.
Ewing, Charles Patrick. Insanity : Murder, Madness, And The Law / Charles Patrick Ewing. n.p.: New York : Oxford University Press, 2008., 2008. OCC Library Catalog. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
Vatz, Richard E. "Those Crazy Insanity Pleas." USA Today Magazine 135.2736 (2006): 57. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
As the movie progresses and the evidence is revealed and we see that all present evidence is against the boy and if the verdict results in one which is guilty, it would send him on row for a death sentence would send him to die. It is up to the jurors to provide the correct verdict for the case.