Todd Willingham's Conviction Process One day Cameron Todd Willingham woke up to his house on fire that involved three deaths who were his children.(I need to start my intro sentence differently) Willingham was then prosecuted to death sentence of starting the fire with a motive to kill his children. The investigation involved professionals and eyewitness testimonies in order to conclude that Willingham was guilty but unfortunately there were many flaws to the investigation. The criminal justice system is not perfect and I blame the people involved in the system and the system itself. (I feel like there is something missing in my intro paragraph) After the the tragic fire, two fire investigators arrived at the scene to determine what caused the blaze. The investigation was considered very …show more content…
Willingham was definitely being judged by his physical characteristics rather than real evidence that made him seem guilty. One physical characteristic that was brought up during Willinghams prosecution was his tattoo, which was a skull with a serpent. Jackson, the prosecutor brought up the question to Stacy (Willingham S former wife) that what was the significance of the tattoo as if that would bring in some answers about Willingham's motive to make the crime. Not only was he suspicious due to a tattoo but h was also judged due to his posters. One of the psychologists named Tim Gregory investigated if Willingham fits as a sociopath. As Gregory looked at many of Willingham's rock band posters some that have skulls and fire, concluded that “Many times individuals that have a lot of this type of art have interest in satanic-type activities” (Grann para
The fire in this case was incendiary, or intentional. We know this because of the traces of gasoline in the remains of the home, the trail of the fire, and the gas cans left empty in the living room of the home. Investigators can rule out that the fire was any of the other three because of the evidence found in the home, along with the circumstantial evidence involving the
Good afternoon. My name is Jacob Abuelhawa and I am the defense attorney for Abby Lee Miller. In the case that the prosecutor has presented to you, there is insufficient evidence to prove guilt. Members of the jury, as many of you may know, Abby Lee Miller has starred on a reality show called Dance Moms for the past 7 years.
Kyle Rittenhouse trial observation On November 2, 2021, opening statements began in the trial of WI v. Rittenhouse. The defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse, is accused of killing two men and seriously injuring a third during the violent protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 25, 2020. During the prosecution's opening statements, lead prosecutor Thomas Binger argues that amongst the chaos and violence that occurred during these protests, Mr. Rittenhouse is the only person who kills anyone. The prosecutor makes it clear that the only aspect to be disputed in this case is self-defense and recite Wisconsin statute 939.48 (2) (a).
He appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but in December, 2003, he was notified that it had declined to hear his case. He soon received a court order announcing that “the Director of the Department of Criminal Justice at Huntsville, Texas, acting by and through the executioner designated by said Director . . . is hereby DIRECTED and COMMANDED, at some hour after 6:00 p.m. on the 17th day of February, 2004, at the Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, Texas, to carry out this sentence of death by intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause the death of said Cameron Todd Willingham.”
The arson investigator who belived this was General Hurst and he stated that, “ Flashovers had left natural patterns on the floor that all post flashover fires tend to leave behind, and they had been misidentified as pour patterns. And thus the fire was labeled as arson.” Hurst was one of the only people who believed the fire was not arson. Hurst had the new knowledge of how arson worked and how to properly detect arson unlike the first investigators. Generally those who investigated arson were just firefighters with little to no training.
Ron Williamson grew up in Ada, Oklahoma, the youngest of three children and his parents’ only son. He played baseball at Asher High School, as his parents moved there so he could play under the school’s legendary coach, Murl Bowen. After hitting 500 in the state championships his senior year, he was the 41st pick in the 1971 amateur draft. He turned down a scholarship offer to the University of Oklahoma and signed and spent the 1972 season primarily with the Coos Bay-North Bend A’s hitting 265 in 52 games in 1973. After he hurt his shoulder, the career ended and he returned home in the late 1970’s.
Although British officials consistently widened the definition of piracy, they failed to clearly differentiate the significance between a volunteer and a forced sailor on board a pirate ship. Therefore, nothing contributed to the unpredictability of the later trial proceedings as much as the inconsistency of pirate designations. If seventeenth century piracy trials hinged on the question of violating commissions, those after 1715 rested on determining the accused’s voluntary participation. The court’s determination of a sailor’s status was frequently random and wildly erratic. Worse yet, some justices made no effort to determine the active participation of individuals aboard pirate vessels, leading to instances of brutal rulings even by seventeenth
The purpose of this paper is to help Rose’s attorney out for her Appellate Review. Rose was convicted of killing her roommate. There are a lot of issues regarding this case and there is a big possibility that Rose is innocent. While reviewing the case I find out that there were issues with the jurors which should have resulted in a Batson challenge. Another issue was the whether or not it was beneficial for Rose to take the plea.
When pilgrims first sailed to the new world they maintained their roots in English common law despite their quest for religious freedom. The Pilgrims established Colonial law three years after their landing on Plymouth where it was ruled: “that all criminal facts, and also matters of trespasse and debts betweene man and man should be tried by the verdict of twelve honest men to be impaneled by the authority in forme of a jury upon their oath.” The first case of a jury trial was in Plymouth, 1630 when John Billington was accused of murdering John Newcomin, a fellow colonist that was aboard the Mayflower. The defendant, John Billington was sentenced to hang after the jury convicted him of “willful murder by plain and notorious evidence.” Around the same time the Pilgrims settled in what would become Boston,
Case Gone Wrong: Anthony vs State of Florida Case No. 5D11-2357 If ever there was a botched case it was this one with inconsistencies on the part of the State being overwhelming. I watched this trial intently and read everything available.
It took nine years for the jury to realize Bloodsworth was innocent. This shows our preamble has a flaw if people are sentencing other to jail even though they're innocent, causing the innocent to rot in jail wrongfully.
Kennedy vs. State of Georgia Kennedy v State of Georgia 172 Ga. App. 336 S.E.2d. 169 (1984) Facts Appellant Henry Xavier Kennedy was charged with first degree arson in September 23, 1981. He appealed this case stating that there was not enough evidence for the jury to convict him. The building that he was found guilty of burning down was his own home, he had two mortgages out on his home and just renewed a home owners insurance policy five days prior to the cabin being burnt down that was a total of forty thousand dollars.
The biggest issue within the Criminal Justice system is the large number of wrongful convictions, innocent people sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. People are put in prison for years, even executed for false convictions. This affects not only those put in prison but friends and family of the accused. Wrongful convictions aren’t solely a tragedy for those directly involved either. It weakens the faith the public has for the justice system as well as poses safety issues; when innocent people are put away, the real criminals are still out there.
Crime happens around the world each day. Whether rits murder, rape, theft its a crime and should be looked at as breaking the law. In the short story, “Killings” written by Andre Dubus a boy who goes by the name Frank is murdered. His murderers name is Richard Strout. While awaiting trial Frank 's father Matt Fowler decides to give Mr.Strout a punishment he felt was necessary.
12 Angry Men Interview Interview script: Juror No. 8 [The interviewer stands and greets Juror No. 8. He takes off his coat and sits down.] Interviewer: [smiling gently] Hello No. 8, how are you?