Who Is Coakley's Blood?

890 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of forensic science in the criminal justice system

In order to address the crucial importance of this book review, I shall break down my exposition of the novel into two distinctive sections. The first section I will sermonize will target my deliberation towards the contents of work, themes and subjects of the book. The layout and structure of the content flow effortlessly as the book befalls through chapters that probe a different kind of case that caused innocent human beings to be locked behind bars. These cases that withdraw innocent citizens of their freedom enmesh the lack of evidence and time giving to the defense in order to prove the defendant’s innocence, false accusation involving misjudging of the victim picking of the suspect, and prosecutors that led the victim to believe that the suspect is exigently guilty. Likewise, the theme of the book is …show more content…

According to the book a secretor is an individual whose blood group can be found in variant bodily fluids including seamen therefore, if a person’s blood group was not found in particular body fluids than they would be labeled as a nonsecretor. Coakley blood wasn’t taken until he was convicted which turned out that his blood type did not match the alleged blood type of the rapist. This shocking information could have been the difference of Coakley being incarcerated or free, but due to the lack of time given to the defense team as well as lack of effort they were unable to reveal this information until now. Once this absent piece of evidence was brought to light the judge acknowledge the lapse the criminal justice had made and decided to release Coakley from prison. Nearly two years of time Coakley served in prison before being exonerated due to the phenomenal performance of DNA fingerprint testing proved that justice had not been

Show More
Related

  • A question of Freedom a Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison by R. Dwayne Betts

    2042 Words  | 5 Pages

    In this critic, I will be analyzing and comparing two books. The first book is “A question of Freedom a Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison” by R. Dwayne Betts. The second book is “Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing” by Ted Conover. In this comparison will first give a short summarization of both books. Second I will be answering the fallowing questions, what prisons are discussed? What types of prisoners are there- age, race, sex, level of crime? How current is the information? What are the conditions of the prisons? How are the prisoners treated? How are the guards and their viewpoints represented? How are the prisoners and their viewpoints represented? What forms of rehabilitation are there? What are the social relationships with other inmates? What opportunities are available to occupy prisoners? What point of view is the author taking – critical, Positive, does she/he write from the viewpoint of a guard, a prisoner? What evidence is/are the author’s points based on and how is the evidence presented - for example, first hand observations, Statistics? Also what changes, if any, are proposed or discussed by the author? How does the information in this book compare with what you’ve read in the text and articles and what you have observed on a class trip? Lastly what is your opinion of the information and viewpoint expressed in the book?

    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

  • Assert American Values

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    Whenever an author is creating an argument, they must appeal to whatever grabs his or her selected audience’s attention. When given the topic of Michael Fay, an 18 year old American citizen who was punished in Singapore for vandalism by being caned, two sources appealed to their audience in two contrasting ways. In “Time to Assert American Values,” published by The New York Times, the author tries to capture his or her audience by stirring up emotion. In “Rough Justice: A Caning in Singapore Stirs up a Fierce Debate about Crime and Punishment,” Alejandro Reyes presents factual evidence throughout the entire article to support his claims. After carefully analyzing both texts, it is apparent that Alejandro Reyes gives a more convincing and sufficient argument due to his use of indisputable facts.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Bring Back Flogging

    1362 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Ron Williamson, The Innocent Man

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Garrett, Brandon. Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2011. 86. Print.

    Read More

  • The Assault by Harry Mulisch

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Harry Mulisch’s novel The Assault, the author not only informs society of the variance in perception of good and evil, but also provides evidence on how important it is for an innocent person experiencing guilt to come to terms with their personal past. First, Mulisch uses the characters Takes, Coster, and Ploeg to express the differences in perspective on the night of the assault. Then he uses Anton to express how one cannot hide from the past because of their guilt. Both of these lessons are important to Mulisch and worth sharing with his readers.

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty by David Bruck

    1121 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “The Death Penalty” (1985), David Bruck argues that the death penalty is injustice and that it is fury rather than justice that compels others to “demand that murderers be punished” by death. Bruck relies on varies cases of death row inmates to persuade the readers against capital punishment. His purpose is to persuade readers against the death penalty in order for them to realize that it is inhuman, irrational, and that “neither justice nor self-preservation demands that we kill men whom we have already imprisoned.” Bruck does not employ an array of devices but he does employ some such as juxtaposition, rhetorical questions, and appeals to strengthen his argument. He establishes an informal relationship with his audience of supporters of capital punishment such as Mayor Koch.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Abolishing The Death Penalty

    1653 Words  | 4 Pages

    “ ….Judgments, right or wrong. This concern with concepts such as finality, jurisdiction, and the balance of powers may sound technical, lawyerly, and highly abstract. But so is the criminal justice system….Law must provide simple answers: innocence or guilt, freedom or imprisonment, life or death.” (Baude, 21).

    Read More

  • The Criminal Trial Process

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    In closing, the criminal trial process has been able to reflect the morals and ethics of society to a great extent, despite the few limitations, which hinder its effectiveness. The moral and ethical standards have been effectively been reflected to a great extent in the areas of the adversary system, the system of appeals, legal aid and the jury

    Read More

  • review

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” clearly demonstrated the role of a prosecutor in the courtroom. Albeit in a negative manner, Hunter effectively bridged the functions of the police to the criminal justice process during the trial of Metcalfe (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014, p. 150). The murder trial of Metcalfe provided a frightening view of prosecutorial misconduct and unethical behavior of a prosecutor. Hunter betrayed the public he served by conspiring with Lieutenant Merchant to fabricate DNA evidence to ensure victory in the courtroom.

    Read More

  • Individual Rights Versus Public Order

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    The basis of criminal justice in the United States is one founded on both the rights of the individual and the democratic order of the people. Evinced through the myriad forms whereby liberty and equity marry into the mores of society to form the ethos of a people. However, these two systems of justice are rife with conflicts too. With the challenges of determining prevailing worth in public order and individual rights coming down to the best service of justice for society. Bearing a perpetual eye to their manifestations by the truth of how "the trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so seductively, very often leads to the loss of both" (Hitchens, 2003, para. 5).

    Read More

  • Wrongful Conviction: The Gregory Parsons Case

    242 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gregory Parsons’ with many other cases would bring light to show how most people’s wrongful conviction are motivated by tunnel vision. Police and prosecutors of Parsons’ case were single minded and focused narrowly because of the pressure to solve the case. His case like many others would remind prosecutors that it is not just about winning or losing a case, but rather that they should keep in mind that their role is not to secure a conviction, but to ensure that justice is done.

    Read More

  • Justice System: A Personal Experience

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    For my research paper I decided to observe at the North Justice Center in Fullerton, CA for the morning session. My goal entering there was to watch the process of a criminal trial since I felt that would be the most interesting and would allow me the opportunity to witness all the working parts of our justice system in action. While waiting for the criminal trial to open its doors and start, I managed to come across a post- arraignment court, where I was able to watch a different side of our criminal justice system. This is the side that enforces the punishment and makes sure that restitution is paid for whatever crime was committed. By far the most interesting thing I took from this experience was the differences in how the judges conducted themselves in their courtrooms and the amount of discretion that they were allowed to use. For this paper I will be going over what I observed in both the post-arraignment court and the criminal trial and analyze my findings in a sociological context.

    Read More

  • Contradictions In The Job Of The Prosecutor Case Study

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Color of Blood

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Color of Blood This web of deceit, violence and political maneuvering all starts after a revolution threatens to destroy the regime of an Eastern European nation around 1987. After closely escaping an assassination and a kidnapping, Cardinal Bem finds himself a fugitive with enemies on every side. Terrorists, soldiers and even members of the proletariat will try and stop him at all costs. He will find his true friends and discover the ones who are simply out to get him.

    Read More

More about Who Is Coakley's Blood?

Open Document