After taken to trial, the prosecutor's case “consisted solely of his confession” to obtain a conviction. The Maricopa County Superior Court convicted Miranda of both rape and kidnapping and was then sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison. Miranda appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, claiming that “the police had unconstitutionally obtained his confession” as well as the absence of an attorney during the interrogation and should have been excluded from trial. The police officers involved admitted that they had not given Miranda any explanation of his rights. They argued, however, that because Miranda had been convicted of a crime in the past, he must have been aware of his rights.
Miranda V Arizona I. Facts: The Supreme Court consolidated four different cases that all had issues with the admissibility of evidence; specifically evidence obtained during police interrogations. Ernesto Miranda the first defendant was arrested for kidnapping and rape, he was an immigrant and the officers did not notify him of his rights. Miranda signed a confession after only two hours of interrogation. The confession also came with a statement that he was told of his rights.
Two white women also told the posse that they had been raped by the young black men. These alleged rape victims were Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. Both women were examined within two hours by a medical physician who found neither of the women to have any cuts, bruises, or other injuries. Yet on March 31, all nine of the Scottsboro boys were indicted for the rapes. In the following weeks, eight of the boys were convicted and sentenced to death in the electric chair.
The case of Ted Bundy Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy, born Theodore Robert Cowell (November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989), was an American serial killer active between 1973 and 1978. After more than a decade of vigorous denials, he eventually confessed to over 30 murders, although the actual total of victims remains unknown. Estimates range from 26 to over 100, the general estimate being 35. Ted Bundy murders were confirmed in multiple states including Washington, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Florida. Ted Bundy would rape strangle and beat young women and girls.
Orlando Bosquete was sentenced for 55years in prison because he was bald, shirtless (on a hot summer night) and Hispanic. He was convicted for rapping a Lady in Florida. However, this was a case of mistaken identity, moreover explaining why some psychologists have questioned the effectiveness of an eye witness testimony. A witness is someone who experiences an incident, such as crime or an accident, and then later recalls the experience to a police officer. This is known as eye witness testimony.
The court outlined the basic standards for determining competency due to this case. Milton Dusky, a 33 year old man, was charged with assisting in the rape of an underage female and kidnapping. He was clearly suffering from schizophrenia but was found Competent to Stand Trial and received a sentence of 45 years. On petition of writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, the petitioner requested that his conviction be reversed on the grounds that he was not competent to stand trial at the time of the proceeding. Upon reviewing the evidence, the court decided to
For example, there was a “man [who was] sentenced to prison for 25 years to life under the law for stealing a bottle of vitamins” (Murphy). In March 1999, when the Three Strikes law was challenged by this case, the Supreme Court “refused to hear” (Murphy) a word that was said by the people. By putting them in prison for an excessive amount of years, housing for serious offenders is being made unavailable which will lead to an increase “to an already overcrowded and expensive prison system” (Messerli). Some of the people may have committed the innocuous crime to help their spouse and children. When used, the Three Strikes law treats all crimes the exact same way, which makes the law unjust.
Following on from this, Gudjohnsson carried out a study involving a case study about a 17 year old boy who confessed to crime and was subsequently imprisoned for one year. Later it was found out that his confession was false and he was not guilty of committing the crime. Gudjohnsson wondered how false confessions can arise. The aim of the study was therefore to document the case of the false confession of a youth who was at the time of the confession distressed and susceptible to interrogative pressure. In 1987 two elderly women were found battered to death in their homes, their savings were stolen and there was evidence of sexual assault.
In 1991, Troy Davis was sentenced to death for the murder of a police officer Mark Allen Macphail in Savannah, Georgia. The case against Troy Davis primarily based on only witness testimony without any DNA evidence. Since his 1991 trial, seven of key nine witnesses even changed their testimonies; some claiming police forced them to. However, after years of appeal did not prove his innocent, Troy Davis was finally executed in September 2011 with he still claiming himself innocent. On the same day, Iran publicly hanged a 17-year old boy, name Alireza Molla-Soltani had convicted of killing a popular athlete despite international prohibitions against executing juveniles.
Molly Shattuck 47 sexually assaulted a 15-year-old boy, she gave alcohol, the boy felt violated when he saw her giving him a blow job, she was reported to the police, the Judge sentenced her to probation and to 48 weekends of prison. Nevertheless, Jarred Fogle, who was guilty of possessing child pornography, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. It is okay if the 15-year-old was sober and gave the woman his permission to receive oral sex. Science has proved that a rape victim can be sexually aroused, but this is only a biological response and does not mean that the victim is enjoying it. And it is different if a man is dominated by his female partner as a foreplay.