The Los Angeles Riots of 1992 was an extremely controversial time in American history and also a great stepping stone for civil rights. Rodney King, a parolee under the influence of alcohol, although it had been assumed that he was under the influence of narcotics at the time of the arrest, had run red lights and stop signs and was chased down and detained in South Central Los Angeles on March 3rd, 1991 in the Lake View Terrace district. During his arrest, a local resident caught video of a violent beating on Rodney King by four members of the Los Angeles Police Department. This became a rallying cry for activists in and around Los Angeles and other places in the United States. The video that was captured shows four white police officers clubbing and kicking Rodney King repeatedly.
His sentence is changed from manslaughter and he has now been sentenced to 18-20 years in prison for manslaughter, followed by four to five years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm. (Ryan, 2013) During a trial, the evidence is again presented to a court of law or a jury. Being sentenced to Capital Punishment is very unlikely to happen for Burke, as the state of Massachusetts has abolished Capital Punishment and only uses it in very severe cases where the suspect is tried federally (McCarthy, 2014) instead of regionally, like the Boston Bomber Case. Burke most likely got this sentence, because he pleaded guilty, possibly after enough evidence was gathered to prove his guilt and thereby “has taken responsibility for shooting the victim, resulting in his death, over what appears to have been a dispute about money” (Boston.com, 2013) Burke is most likely to receive this sentence, because it is exactly the crime he committed. He committed manslaughter which was proven by the messages on the phone and apparently other evidence that has been found.
The defendant later on denied that any liquor was visible. The defendant was arrested, and the officer seized the alcohol in the car as well as the alcohol he found in the trunk after the arrest. The defendant challenged the constitutionality of his arrest on the grounds that the officer did not have probable cause, and thus the seizure of the alcohol was not agreeable to a valid stop. Legal Issue: Whether or not the requirements of the information on which an officer may act, such as a warrantless search has probable cause? Prosecution Argument: Brinegar already had a reputation on transporting illegal alcohol, and when was pulled over he admitted to having some alcohol on him.
Stanford v Kentucky was a United States Supreme court case that dealt with the imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were at least sixteen years old at the time the crime was committed. Stanford was 17 years old at the time he committed murder in Kentucky. On January 17, 1981, Stanford and an accomplice repeatedly raped and sodomized twenty year old Barpel Poore during and after their robbery at the gas station Poore worked at. Hearings were held to decide on whether Stanford’s case should be held in Juvenile court or adult. The juvenile court did make the decision to transfer his case, therefore; Stanford would be trialed as an adult under a state statute permitting such action as to offenders who are either charged with a class A felony, capital crime or anyone over the age of sixteen and charged with a felony.
During trial, he testified he knew the victim previously, had sex with her prior to that night and on that night. He claimed the wound was from a sudden stop in the car which forced the ice pick the victim was holding (to threaten defendant against ending their relationship) into her chest. During trial evidence of a previous incident was entered as evidence of identity, intent, and planning (as ordered to the jury by the judge). Sixteen year old Judy Baker and Officer Kirk testified that six weeks prior, on the night of November 5, 1957, Williams was apprehended by police running from Miss Baker’s car (parked at Webb City) after she found him in the back seat and screamed. Williams told the officers that he had climbed into the car, a black Plymouth, believing it was his brother’s, to take a nap.
In 1975 Ted was arrested in Utah but was released due to the little evidence, Two years later was convicted of kidnapping and escaped. Ted Bundy killed three people in Florida and was arrested but his parents bailed him out and he sold his car but police impounded it away from new owner. It was then when forensic evidence finally solved this case by finding three different hairs matching the three victims killed in Ted’s car and matched his teeth marks the a bite mark on one of the victims. He was then was sentenced to three death penalties in 1978 when Ted was recaptured and on January 24, 1989 at Railford prison in Starke, Florida Ted Bundy was executed in the electric chair. My opinion on this case was interesting yet disgusting but Ted Bundy was smart about how he attracted his victims.
The encounter ends with Brown on the ground with 8 shots in him. What happened that made the officer shoot the teen though? St. Louis County Police Chief Joe Belmar claims “Brown physically assaulted the officer, and during a struggle between the two, Brown reached for the officer's gun. One shot was fired within the car followed by other gunshots outside of the car (Gannett).” How could we possibly know if this was what actually happened though? For all we know the officer is making this story up to protect his career from a possible mistake that he made.
Manslaughter is defined as the unlawful killing of another human being without malice aforethought. I. Discuss the evidence to sustain a charge of murder against Deft: To be liable for murder, the element of malice aforethought must be present. The evidence shows specific intent to kill, premeditation and deliberation in several ways. The facts tell us that Deft searched for several months but was unable to find the killer, Deft went to the 38th street pier in search of the killer, and that Deft pulled out a handgun and shot Kyle in the chest.
When used, the Three Strikes law treats all crimes the exact same way, which makes the law unjust. For example, someone who raped and murdered a twelve year old girl would receive the same exact punishment as someone who was caught with marijuana. Many people want to put a stop to situations like this, but every day these trials are taking places. The media then tries to persuade the citizens into believing the law is effective by broadcasting different trials that put the person in prison. But, they do not tell the public that they are being put in prison for stealing “videos or pizza” (Messerli).
In the book Monster, this how Steve wrote: “I thought about writing about what happened in the drugstore, but I’d rather not have it in my mind. The pictures of Mr. Nesbitt scare me. I think about him lying there knowing he was going to die. I wonder if it hurt much” (128). The youth is young, they don’t know when other people utilize them, so I think the young people should not put in prison.