According to Terry Lenamon, expert Criminal Trial Attorney, the first, and most popular, is the “M’Naghten test.” Lenamon says, “Under M’Naghten, the determining factor is whether or not the defendant was (1) able to understand what he (or she) was doing at the time of the crime due to some “defect of reason or disease of the mind” or, (2) if he (or she) was aware of what they were doing, that he (or she) nevertheless failed to comprehend or understand that what they were doing was wrong” (Lenamon). With that in mind, think about how many inmates have not taken that test and have been wrongly convicted. The American Civil Liberties Union states, “Mental Health America, estimates that five to ten percent of all death row inmates suffer from a severe mental illness.” Furthermore, if these people could get tested, they would realize how many people are legally insane and do not deserve to be in jail, but rather a hospital. Consequently, some of the individuals sitting on death row may
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.
Florida case, the U.S. struck down as unconstitutional the imposition of a life without parole sentence on a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide. Although the court found that the state need not guarantee the offender eventual release, it held that if such a sentence is imposed on a juvenile it must provide him or her with some realistic opportunity to obtain release before the end of that term. In this situation a juvenile was wrongly convicted of homicide. This is a tragedy in my view because a young teenager, being wrongly convicted, had his whole life taken from him. This is the definition of corruption in the United States in my
Plea - Bargaining - In a recent sexual assault case involving the gang rape of two 16-year-old girl, the DPP entered into plea bargaining with the accused. In return for guilty pleas, the DPP agreed not to mention that a knife had been used in the attack. Thus Plea-bargaining can mean accused gets a lighter sentence than deserved. [edit] Accessibility The accessibility of the legal system is dependent on; Cost – legal representation is expensive – (look at legal aid) Time – lengthy trials cost more and increases anxiety (look at delays) Denying the accused the right to freedom if on remand. Damaging the reputation of the accused while the case remains unresolved Allows the influence of media, could affect the outcome of the trial.
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.
1891) With these things in mind we must then logically look at the history of the two boys involved in the case. Prior to the case in question, Putney had charges brought against him of misdemeanor assault. However, as was standard in the day and age most criminal cases did not require full trials but were simply heard by justices of the peace and quickly decided. On October 22, 1889, the boy was arrested, tried, and convicted by a justice of the peace, Alonzo Tyler. (Bohlen 1915) He was ordered to pay a fine of $10, then an appeal was filed immediately.
Project#1 Summaries Should juveniles, who have been convicted of murder, receive prison sentences of “life without the possibility of parole”? 14 Years Old: Too Young for Life in Prison? Sevil Omer Two teenagers were convicted murderers and sentenced by being put in prison for a long time without possibility of parole. Opponents of harsh sentences debated that those juveniles deserve to be given second chances. The lawyers for the young criminals believed that their immature behaviors were triggered by semi-developed brains.
Here are the statics: “Since 1989 when the first DNA exoneration occurred, 328 defendants have been exonerated in the United States after being convicted of serious crimes such as rape and murder. The exonerated were 316 men and 12 women; 145 of them were cleared by DNA identification and 183 by other kinds of evidence” (http://www.ur.umich.edu/0304/May10_04/25.shtml). What went wrong? * Eyewitness Misidentification * Improper Forensic Science * False Confessions * Overzealousness/Public Pressure Eyewitness Misidentification Imagine being a victim so frighten and traumatized after such a hideous unimaginable experience. It can be hard, almost impossible to accurately describe the assailant.
Re-Entry of Sex Offenders Francina Moore CRJ422: Criminal Justice Capstone Professor: Robert Jackson February 16th, 2011 One of the worst crimes in the world is a sex crime. Sex crimes are committed by both men and women from all ages. These are crimes that is committed when an individual have sex with an individual without their consent. Statutory rape is when the sex may be consensual, but one person may be old enough to be the victim mother or father, and that person can
Unit 9: Final Project Joe Sloppner CJ140: Introduction to Constitutional Law Instructor: Irene H. Gainer, R.N., J.D. June 17, 2009 In the case Roper v. Simmons (03-633) 543 U.S. 551 (2005), is where a 17 year old, Simmons had planned and committed capital murder. After turning 18 years old, he then was tried and convicted with and imposed sentenced to death (Findlaw, 2009). Simmons filed a petition for state post conviction relief saying that under the Eighth Amendment, it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute juveniles. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, it prohibits the execution of mentally retarded people.