Leopold And Loeb's Second Trial Essay

All of the following court cases were utilized by criminals to put society itself on trial. Darrow’s closing argument focused on the plight of wealthy teenagers, the reading materials introduced in the educational system, the historical progress made regarding the death penalty, and the impact that Leopold and Loeb’s murders would have on society (especially boys like them). Manson’s testimony focused on the jail system, President Nixon’s role in the Vietnam war and society’s outsiders. Bukharin’s last plea primarily focused on how the trial will look to future generations and future societies.
The first trial happened in 1920s during the time of prohibition. In 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb killed a 14-year-old kid while trying to

commit “the perfect crime”. They were both wealthy teenagers (age 18 and age 19) from the suburbs of Chicago. They spent months determining how they wanted to carry out their plan to kill someone. On May 21st, 1924, they convinced Bobby Frank to enter their car and then they killed him with a chisel and put their body in a channel. Additionally, they sent a ransom note asking for 10,000 dollars. Leopold’s and Loeb’s parents hired on expensive criminal attorney by the name of Clarence Darrow. The most notable part of the trial was Darrow’s closing argument that was over half a day long. With his argument, he intended to save his clients from the death penalty, he knew that his clients would be found guilty. He gave his speech on August 22, 1924 and it centered around questioning how society would be to blame if these boys were sentenced to death. He alleviated some of the blame from the boys by saying that they killed Bobby Frank because of how they were made that way and that something went wrong during the process of making a boy/man. His argument also focuses on the history behind death penalty in Europe as well as America and all the progress that has been made since the beginning of time. He states that poaching and petty larceny used to be punishable by death and witches used to be murdered by the millions. Eventually, this stopped happening in America because juries made the decision to stop convicting these kinds of crimes. Darrow says that if the rest of the world sees the United States decide to murder these two teenagers it will reflect negatively on America’s society. And, eventually, the trial will be in every house and read by every family. He questions whether this type of exposure will help or hurt society especially those like Leopold and Loeb. Darrow states that “I am not pleading so much for these boys as I am for the infinite number of others to follow, those who perhaps cannot be well defended as these have been, those who may go down in the storm, and the tempest, without aid.” (Closing Argument, 11) By wording it in this way, he is putting society on trial and making them responsible for anything that happens because of the verdict. Additionally, Darrow blamed the educational system for Leopold being exposed to Nietzsche so early in life. Because of Beyond Good and Evil written by Nietzsche, Leopold believed in the concept of the superman which lead him to his opinion that murder was an acceptable act for a superman to commit if the deed gave him pleasure. Ultimately, Darrow was also critical of Leopold’s and Loeb’s upbringing noting that “Wealth has its misfortunes. Too much, too great opportunity and advantage given to a child has its misfortunes.” (Closing Argument, 14) In the end, Leopold and Loeb were charged with murder and kidnapping and each of them received a life sentence plus 99 years.
The second trial happened in the early 1970s.

On August 9th and 10th, 1969, two murders were committed in Los Angeles. On August 9th, the first murder was committed by four people and the victims were Sharon Tate, Tate’s unborn baby, four of her friends and the son of Tate’s gardener. Her blood was used to write the word “pig” on the front door. On August 10th, Leno LaBianca and his wife were also murdered and a fork was used to carve the word “war” into LaBianca’s belly. Manson wasn’t involved in the first murder but he was present at the second murder. After five months, the authorities connected the Manson “family” to these two murders. The first motif behind the murder was Manson’s failed murder career. He chose the first murder house because the previous owner of the house was a producer that passed on Manson’s album/music. The second motif was Helter Skelter, a race war that Manson believed was hinted at in a Beatles’ song. He thought that eventually African-Americans would gain control over White Americans but the African-Americans would be unable to lead so that’s when the Manson Family would step in and lead the new America. They intended for these murders to look as though the victims were killed by black nationalists which is why they painted the word pig on the front door and why they carved the word war into LaBianca’s corpse. They wanted to show that society would automatically assume that it was a case caused by racial tensions. On November 11th, 1970, Charles Manson gave his testimony for the Tate-LaBianca Murder Trial. It was completely centered around the idea that society made him and his family into a murderers. He states that he never went to school so he’s unable to read and write well. Within his speech, Manson said that “My father is the jailhouse. My father is your system…. I am only what you made me. I am only a reflection of you.” (Manson, 1) In jail, he continued to stay unintelligent so he claims that the world grew up without him and

he can’t look at situations the same way others do. Then, he began to talk about the people in his family, he stated: “Most of the people at the ranch that you call the Family were just people that you did not want, people that were alongside the road, picking up his children, but he wasn’t. He was in the White House, sending them off to war….” (Manson, 1). He claimed that society taught them he only helped them to stand up for themselves. At this point, Manson began to make his argument political in nature. He claims that while Manson was helping people on the streets, President Nixon was just sending people off to war. In the end, Manson was charged with murder and conspiracy and received the death penalty. But, his verdict was reduced to life imprisonment when the death penalty was abolished in California.
The third trial happened in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. This trial was part of the Moscow Trials which were show trials held by Joseph Stalin between the years of 1936 and 1938. The defendants were mostly leaders of the Old Bolshevik party. They were accused of plotting to murder Stalin and other USSR leaders, breaking down the Union, and turn the USSR into a capitalistic society. Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s to 1953. He manipulated his way into power by eliminating his political enemies. He began by removing people who opposed him but by the late 1930s he began to kill those who disagreed with him. The Trial of the Twenty-One involved members of the “Bloc of Rightists and Trotskyites” and was led by Nikolai Bukharin and other defendants. Nikolai Bukharin confessed to treason and other crimes, he confessed to crimes in order to support the party. And, he was willing to die as long as it ultimately benefitted the party. His confession was interesting because although he plead guilty to broad charges he denied all of the specifics. Additionally, he wrote multiple letters to Stalin claiming that he was innocent and declared his love for Stalin. In his confession, Bukharin stated that “This trial, which is the concluding one of a series of trials, has exposed all the crimes and the treasonable activities, it has exposed the historical significance and the roots of our struggle against the Party and Soviet government.” (Bukharin, 1). Bukharin wanted the prosecution (and society) to consider how this trial will be looked at by future generations. Finally, he ends his speech with the following cautionary message: “May this trial be the severe lesson, and may the great might of the U.S.S.R. become clear to all” (Bukharin, 10). In conclusion, Nikolai Bukharin along with other leaders were charged with conspiracy and were eventually executed.
Unlike the defendants in the other two trials, Bukharin specifically clarified that he was using his speech to criticize the society’s actions not the society’s mission. He was completely loyal to the Soviet Union but he also wanted this to be the last of the show trials. All three of the trials discussed the defendant’s place in society and how it impacted the crimes they were accused of.