Being on trial can be terrifying. However, being on trial for felony murder would be even worse and the weight on your shoulders would be prodigious. In the book Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, Steve Harmon, a sixteen-year-old black boy, is on trial for felony murder in the city of Harlem, New York. Steve is most likely innocent but in the grand scheme of things, that is not how it looks to be for Steve. It looks as if Steve will be spending his whole life behind bars. Steve’s lawyer, Miss O’Brien, must prove Steve’s innocence to a biased jury so that Steve will not have to have his whole life ruined. Because Steve is a black juvenile on trial for felony murder and even though is innocent, Steve and his lawyer must prove him innocent in the …show more content…
Nesbitt, the owner of the drugstore. Therefore, Steve and his lawyer must fight even harder against the Harlem judicial system in order prove Steve not guilty. One of the only things Steve did related to the robbery was talk to James King, a participant of the robbery, about basketball. Steve’s lawyer, O’Brien, is trying to say that just because Steve talked to King doesn’t mean he is guilty. She attempts to prove this by saying: “Without a plan that says Steve entered an agreement with the robbers, what would he be charged with? Talking about basketball in the streets of Harlem? Does that now constitute a crime? Not in any law journal that I know about” (246). Be that as it may, the distance between Steve and King was already established prior to this moment. However, O’Brien attempts to prove Steve innocent by saying the only thing Steve did was, in correlation the robbery, talk to King about basketball. The instant Steve is put on trial, the reader to sees there was already some sort of bias against Steve, therefore, making it harder for O’Brien to win the …show more content…
Since he is already viewed upon as guilty of felony murder by others, Steve and O’Brien must distance themselves from King. If they do not, Steve will appear as if he has a close relationship with James King therefore making it look even more clear that Steve took part in the robbery and thus not benefiting Steve’s cause. Earlier in the story, from the text, the reader can clearly identify this problem of distance between Steve and King. Therefore, O’Brien tells Steve that he needs to find a way to minimize the relationship between him and King as much as possible. Steve recalls this from his notes as he writes: “Miss O’Brien was mad today. She said that Petrocelli was using a cheap trick. The judge said he was calling a half-day session because he needed to hear pleas in another case. O’Brien said that Petrocelli wanted to leave as bad an image in the mind of the jury as she could” (127). That being said, Steve talked to King regardless and no matter what topic was discussed between the two of them or how brief the conversation was, Petrocelli wants the jury to see this relationship between Steve and King and leave that simmering in the minds of the jury. However, going back to the point that there most likely were biased people, Steve will most likely be looked upon negatively. Lots of things that Petrocelli said hurt Steve’s cause, thus making it harder for the jury to look at
Steve is from a book called Monster, Steve is the protagonist of the story. It takes place in New York in the city Harlem, Steve, a person accused of murder with a phew others. Steve has to go to court to testify that he is innocent with the phew others. The book never really gave a real answer to if Steve is a monster or innocent, but I think Steve is actually a monster in the whole book. In the novel, Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, Steve Harmon was a Monster because he lied and doubted himself.
First he told me about a homicide that occurred in Desoto, Kansas. It involved a guy named Steve having someone kill his girlfriend Rebecca. Police had to take this case to court three times because the jury couldn't agree on a verdict. The first two times it was a hung jury, is when the jury can’t decide on a verdict, because someone on the jury didn't like police officers. They didn't trust or believe anything the police were saying.
Dear Walter Dean Myers, Affiliations can be potential, essential, influential, and of course consequential. Steve, you entered an unthinkable, unimaginable situation, a sequence containing mental and emotional carousels. This evidential trial threw your young self into an overwhelming state, where people who did not know the slightest thing about you wanted you in jail for your entire life--the prosecutor, Sandra Petrocelli, and many citizens who accused YOU of killing Mr.Nesbitt. Your trial highlights the significance of association, how one can be caught up in gang violence, persuasion, on any occasion. They wanted 25 years to life from you, they wanted to deprive you of your late youth, and take away your whole adulthood.
Due to the fact that Steve is in an area with lots of violence and gang activity people assume he would be involved in this robbery and murder of Mr. Nesbitt.
(Myers 235)This proves Steve is a good person because he still cares about if people die,nesbitt and him were not even close and he felt upset about what happened to him. He was disturbed that people would do that to an old man that worked his whole life just to get that drug store. It made him feel sick to his stomach and felt like humanity was falling. Furthermore,During this, Jerry and Steve were on the couch watching tv, Jerry said that they should be superheroes and help people. Steve said that would be cool because he could help people when they need help, when they are hurt, and when they are in danger.
I believe that Steve Harmon is innocent. There are many reasons to believe this. For one “bobo” Evans placed him at the crime scene but Mr. Evans and Mr. King according to Mr. Evans testimony were on drugs. So Steve Harmon could have just happened to be their. Since both Mr. Evans and Mr. King were on drugs i don’t believe that their statements are valid.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, A 16 year old boy Johnny Cade was attacked by a car full of socs. Later on he and his best friend, Ponyboy Curtis, were attacked by the same Socs again leading to Johnny killing Bob Sheldon. In this case, Johnny Cade is not justified in what he did and is guilty. Johnny is claimed guilty for the murder because he wanted revenge against Bob, he could have only easily injured Bob, and he and Pony fled from the crime scene and got a gun from Dally.
Steve Harmons actions depicted his characteristics and we can, therefore, conclude that Steve Harmon is a liar as he lied under oath. Steve was also a guilt-ridden man ashamed of his actions. People who disagree may claim that Steve was undoubtedly innocent as Lorelle Henry, a witness, declared that there were only 2 people, proven to be James King and Bobo Evans, inside the store who eventually murdered Mr.Nesbitt. This may be a strong argument because it shows that Steve was not in the drugstore and could be really innocent. On the contrary, however, Steve’s job was just supposed to be a lookout and ensure that the drugstore was clear of cops or anyone inside.
Another thing to consider is that Steve got no profit from this robbery. When asked who else the money went to bobo said: “When we discovered the guy was dead we decided to lay low”. He says later that steve got no money. If he did they could trace it, but he didn’t. Because there was no transaction, there is nothing linking steve to this crime.
The jury starts the trial by figuring out the boy's motive for trying to kill his father in the first place. The jury casts the first vote, and eleven jurors find the boy guilty of murder. However, the eighth juror doubts the evidence and votes the boy is not guilty of homicide, triggering a new discussion among the jurors about the old man's testimony. Even though the elderly man had sworn to tell the truth, it was later discovered that he had lied when the jury asked how, given his age and condition, he could have run to the stairs in under fifteen seconds. They discovered it would have taken at least forty-two seconds for the elderly man to run from his bedroom to the stairs after Juror 8 acted it out.
His wording shows that he doesn’t know who he is and therefore believes he is a Monster as Ms. Petrocelli calls him. He accepts people’s judgments as his self-truth. Even though, he, himself, accepts the worst he still wants people to perceive him as a good person, especially his mom. Steve’s mom’s words cut deeper in him because his mom believes he didn’t do it while he knows he did. 5 days into the trial, his mother comes by and talks to him hoping to make him feel better, “I could still feel Mama’s pain.
Monster,written by, Walter Dean Myers was a novel about a teenager named Steve Harmon that was accused of being a part of a robbery and a murder. The youth crimes comes to play in Steve’s life because he is a teenager and being tried as an adult. After reading the novel it makes me believe that Steve Harmon was not guilty. One possible reason why Steve Harmon is not guilty could be, because in the story Steve says all he did on the day of the robbery was go to the store to get some mints.
Before the trial, Steve is already scared of what the outcome is and how he might spend his whole life in jail and starts doubting his chances of being found not guilty. During the trial, Steve starts hearing the things the prosecutor is saying and sees the people who are testifying against him, which is already not putting him in a good state of mind, and this combines with him seeing his father who looks very scared of Steve, and this all gives Steve disappointment. After the trial, Steve is found not guilty and gets to return home and we next hear from him five months later where we see his father had left him and that Steve doesn’t even know who he is, which shows that he feels damaged. With all of this in mind, we can see that Steve, a dark-skinned, sixteen-year-old boy, has gone through a change from being afraid to feeling lost with himself through doubt, disappointment, and damage. Image how other people feel in
After Steve heard about how the robbery was taking place, he figured he would go spectate and help if they really needed him. In this case, Steve wouldn’t be lying about how he was just looking
Perceptions from others can be cruel. Criminals are often thought of negatively by themselves and are also disrespected by others in society. The novel Monster presents the impressions people have about Steve Harmon, an accused criminal on trial for robbery and murder. Furthermore, the text explains Steve’s views of himself during and after time in prison from first person point-of-view. The novel Monster by Walter Dean Myers highlights the various perceptions that exist about an accused criminal.