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Injustice in the US court system
Injustice within the criminal justice system
Injustice in the justice system
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In the United States of America, our justice system is here to serve and protect people of the world. Unfortunately, some are able get away with crimes and others are fairly judged. This often happens because their is nothing proving a clear path of innocence or guilt. In the book Monster and the documentary Murder on a Sunday Morning, this can be demonstrated throughout. Based on the information given, the verdict of Steve Harmon seems to be incorrect while the verdict of Brenton Butler seems to be correct.
The verdict of Steve Harmon was found not guilty. Throughout the story, Steve had eyebrow-raising opinions and thoughts about his case. This can lead the reader to believe that Steve is guilty. The number one reason that can lead
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Thought this documentary, there was nothing against Brenton that could prove he had anything to do with the horrible crime. The number reason that Brenton Butler seems innocent not because there was no solid evidence that he was actually near the Ramada Inn in Jacksonville, Florida in between the time of 7 and 9 am. Every piece of evidence the had, which was very minimal, to prove Brenton was actually involved in the crime didn’t add up. The second reason that Brenton Butler was found not guilty is due to how the officers violated many of the states laws and policies while holding Brenton in custody. Brenton was hit once in the face and twice in the stomach by Detective Michael Glover and also his written statement that was supervised by Dwayne Darnell does not match the exact words that Brenton said which against the law. Also when each detective took the stand they seemed nervous or uneasy when being on the stand is an everyday thing they do. The last reason that Brenton Butler seems to be found not guilty is due to the fact that his parents and lawyers had absolute faith that he was innocent. Unlike Steve Harmon, both parents were alongside him the whole case and made sure that Brenton knew that they knew without a doubt he was innocent. Sometimes, a parent knows their child the best and can truly know if their kids are telling truth or …show more content…
In this documentary, we never go into the minds of any of the people, but only get to interpret what we see and hear. This documentary was filmed in Jacksonville, Florida where Brenton Butler, a 15 year old African American boy was accused of the murder of Mary Ann Stephens. The main people in this documentary are Ann Fennell, Patrick McGuiness, Brenton Butler, and detectives Williams, Glover, and Darnell. Ann Fennell and Patrick McGuisness are the two defense attorney’s on Brenton’s behalf. Brenton Butler is the boy being accused of murder. Detectives Williams, Glover, and Darnell are the detectives in department 3 the violated many laws and policies while holing Brenton in
Christine Jessop was a nine year old girl who after bring dropped off by the school bus at her home in Queensville, decided to ride her bike to the park nearby to meet with her friends. After stopping to buy some gum at the local store, she was last seen walking her bike up her driveway by her friend Kim Warren. She did not keep her appointment with her friend at the park, and would never be seen alive again (Anderson & Anderson, 2009). This small town instantly became involved in the search for the missing girl, but with very little evidence to go on time passed, and hope began to diminish for the safe return home of Jessop. On New Year’s Eve 1984, eighty-nine days after Jessop went missing, her body was found badly decomposed in a bush by Fred Patterson fifty-five kilometers from Queensville. An autopsy would later revival that she was raped and mutilated (Anderson & Anderson, 2009). The police still did not have a suspect in the case nor did they have any leads, but now that her body was found the police and the small town were the topic of media, increasing pressure on the police to figure out what had happened to this little girl.
Summary of the Case On August 1987, Donald Butler opened a store in Winnipeg, Manitoba, called the “Avenue Boutique”. In this store, Butler sold and rented pornographic publications that were considered “hard core” and sexual paraphernalia. A couple weeks later, the City of Winnipeg Police searched and seized Butler’s sexually explicit materials lawfully. From this, Butler was charged with 173 counts under s. 163 of the Criminal Code. These charges included s. 163(1)(a) which criminalizes the distribution and the possession for distribution of obscene materials, as wells s. 163(2)(a) for selling and exposing obscene material to the public.
Thus, each person in this documentary can name at least five people that have been arrested, mainly immediate family members. They all have three main things in common: they live in Beecher Terrace, they have more than six charges, and they have some type of mental issue that needs to be resolved to better them.
Both of the boys accusations were very severe. Steve Harmon was being tried for bring an accomplice in a murder/robbery in a convenience store. Even though there's not much information on the arrest itself it was hinted that he was found around the neighborhood and was trying to film for his class when he was arrested .Whereas, Brenton Butler was tried as the killer of an older tourist that was white. Butler was outside by his house when police spotted him, they took him in for questioning just because the description of the murderer was that he was African American. Once arrested they were both introduced to the people who could change their fate in the courtroom.
However, police should have acknowledged that individuals can make mistakenly identify the wrong person, especially an individual who had just tragically witnessed his wife’s death, and that the positive identification can not be the only evidence used to confirm the identity of a suspect. In addition, a search was never conducted on Butler’s home to see if any evidence was there. Unless my memory fails me, police officers also did not perform a gun residue test on Butler to see if he had recently fired a gun. Regardless, police did not find any physical evidence, such as blood, on Butler’s clothes or body. In fact, there was no forensic investigation of evidence conducted at all. Mary Ann Stephen’s purse was later discovered in a trash can, but it wasn’t until after the acquittal of Brenton Butler that a fingerprint belonging to the real killer was found on her purse. Overall, the ethical issues involved in the Brenton Butler case are astounding. The best solution to resolve those issues is to thoroughly perform job duties with integrity. Investigators had to know that more evidence than just a positive identification made by one, rightly upset individual was not substantial enough to confirm the identity of the
What we do know is that many people think Steve is guilty. One of the guards describes the case, “Six days – maybe seven. It’s a motion case. They go through the motions; then they lock them up” (14). The judicial system has many flaws, one of which being that they assume guilt before proof when it comes to people like Steve. The phrase “innocent until proven guilty” does not apply to cases like his. As prosecutor Petrocelli states in reference to people like Steve, “There are also monsters in our communities – people who are willing to steal and to kill, people who disregard the rights of others” (21). O’Brien succinctly sums this up for Steve, “You’re young, you’re Black, and you’re on ...
The book Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?, written by independent journalist and private investigator Ethan Brown, tells the horrific true story of the bayou town of Jennings, Louisiana located in the heart of the Jefferson Davis parish. During the four year duration between 2005 and 2009, the town of Jennings was on edge after the discovery of the bodies of eight murdered women were found in the filthy canals and swamps. The victims became known as the “Jeff Davis 8.” For years, local law enforcement suspected a serial killer, and solely investigated the murders based on that theory alone. The victims were murdered in varying manors, but when alive they all shared many commonalities and were connected to
On April 19th, 1989, Trisha Meili was the victim of violent assault, rape, and sodomy. The vicious attack left her in a coma for 12 days and The New York Times described it as “one of the most widely publicized crimes of the 1980’s.” The documentary, The Central Park Five, reveals the truth about what happened the night of April 19th, and how the subordinate group of young black boys were wrongly convicted. Analyzing the conflict theory of crime in association to the case of the central park five, understanding the way they were treated based on setting, why it was so easy for the law enforcement to pin the crime on the young black boys, and how wrongly convicting someone has great consequences along with relating it
...ebrooks, Chris Richardson, Latonya Wilson, Aaron Wyche, Anthony Carter, Earl Terrell, Clifford Jones, Darren Glass, Charles Stephens, Aaron Jackson, Patrick Rogers, Lubie Geter, Terry Pue, Patrick Baltazar, Curtis Walker, Joseph Bell, Timothy Hill were all victims of this ruthless killing. Regardless of who was behind this killings, each one of them got their lives cut short due to someones cruelty. In conclusion, the Atlanta Missing and Murdered case, a major breakthrough to an investigation which had seen 29 African- American children and adults murdered in a series of killings came with the arrest of 23 year old Wayne B. Williams, who was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment. This was one of the darkest moments in the history of Atlanta, a period of darkness which will forever live in the minds of both the victims and the people of Georgia.
Finally, the argument about the glasses swayed everyone just enough to withdraw the guilty verdict and set the boy free. My next claim is in regards to the “old man” juror. If it were not for him voting not guilty the second time, the boy would have been found guilty. He said the reason he voted that way was because of one juror standing up to the other 11 jurors. He felt that everyone needed to hear all of the arguments because they were dealing with a man’s life.
While talking to the police, the women accused all of the black men of raping them. These women were known prostitutes of the area, but their word was still taken over the black men who were accused. Twelve days later, the trial took place. There were many witnesses that held bias towards the black men. One acquaintance of the women was a white lady who refused to support the lies that were coming out of the white women's mouths.
DNA testing with the help of the Gov. Lastly, Butler was released in January 2000 and
Both cases have similar charges. Both of the men are young and black and are accused of murder while attempting to rob the victims. Both crimes were committed in a public place with a witness point to the jury they both should be pleaded guilty. An example from the novel, Monster the crime took place at a drugstore. In the documentary, “Murder on A Sunday Morning,” the crime took place at a motel on an early Sunday morning. They both consist of racism by either the jury or the police. From the novel Monster the jury was just looking at Steve Harmon and already assuming him guilty not even listening to the story that goes behind the crime. In the documentary “Murder on A Sunday Morning” the police men were taking Brenton Butler as a suspect for the crime because he was walking on the sidewalk when the crime happened. Both men were pleaded not guilty and then the actual killer came forward and confessed to the
Don’t get me wrong, if a person proven guilty of murder, especially as heinous as this crime was, they deserve the death penalty but only if there was “no shadow of a doubt” hard pieces of evidence, more real proof, not circumstantial evidence, are connecting that person to the crime.
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”.