Armed with a whale's tusk and a fire extinguisher: the heroes who took on the terrorist

On November 29, a man named Usman Khan went on a deadly rampage killing two at an event in London. The attack began Friday afternoon at an event in Fishmonger's Hall, on the north side of London Bridge, organized by the University of Cambridge's Institute of Criminology. Khan wielded two knives, one of which was duck-taped to his hand. According to PA news agency, the 28-year-old had threatened to blow up the building just before 2 p.m. "We believe that the attack began inside before he left the building and proceeded onto London Bridge," Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said. Also wearing a fake suicide bomb vest, Khan stabbed two to death and injured three. After the spree, Khan was shot dead. It was later found that Khan was already a convicted terrorist who was wearing an electronic tag after being released half-way through a 16-year prison sentence for plotting to bomb the London Stock Exchange.



However, brave acts of heroism by citizens throughout the attack luckily prevented more damage and extinguished Khan's killing spree. It was reported that bystanders took a stand against the terrorist at the London Bridge. At the Fishmonger Hall, there was a statue of the narwhal with a very long horn, so somebody brilliantly decided to use the massive horn as a weapon against Khan. The man whacked Khan with the narwhale horn. Several men were seen subduing the attacker by wrestling him to the ground in videos shared online. Someone also sprayed Khan down with a fire extinguisher, while he was wrestled down. British Transport Police confirmed today that one of the men, who had disarmed Khan was a plain clothes officer. Armed police shot Khan dead after the bystanders had moved away.

This case reminds me of the documentary, "State of Hate; Dark Side of the Internet". People full of hate were seen in the documentary and in this terrorist recently. In the documentary, a person ran over protestors, killing some. When there are such extreme consequences of this hate--even person dying-- it is important to realize how we can step in and prevent these events. Khan's attack was already horrible, but the bravery and heroism of the bystanders, that prevented Khan from killing or harming any more people, was very encouraging. "We saw yesterday one example of the worst of humanity -- the actions of this terrorist," Sadiq Khan said. "But we saw many examples of the best of humanity. And when I say the best of us, I include EU citizens. And what we saw yesterday was ordinary citizens, including Londoners who are of Polish origin -- he's a Londoner -- who acted in an extraordinary way. And I'm pretty proud of him." Ordinary citizens--not police officers or soldiers--were capable of extinguishing an entire terrorist attack. In a world where we see mass shootings in the news so often, it is important for us to become aware of anything we can do to lower these numbers of terrorism. In this case, it was civilians stepping in and using physical force (narwhale horn and fire extinguisher) to take down the terrorist.

Miranda and Involuntary Confessions

In Class, we watched a documentary called "When They See Us" about 5 suspected kids who were wrongly prosecuted on charges of sexually assaulting a female who was going on a run at night through the park. When they were being investigated by the police they were pressured into confessing that they were the ones who committed the crime. According to Ave Mince-Didier, the author of the article on the website below, "Under the Fifth Amendment, suspects cannot be forced to incriminate themselves. And the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits coercive questioning by police officers. So, confessions to crimes that are coerced, or involuntary, aren't admissible against defendants in criminal cases, even though they may be true." It also stated, to prevent the defendant from incriminating themselves the cops need to state their Miranda rights, but even if they did state the "Miranda warnings (and especially when they don’t), police can overstep their bounds by questioning defendants in ways that are too harsh or too unfair. When this happens, the prosecution usually cannot use the defendant’s statement (the involuntary or coerced confession) in court." If this is true, I'm confused about why they allowed the confessions to be used during the trial. Is it because they couldn't prove that the police officers did indeed try to pressure them to confess by threatening and violently beating them.

The website also listed examples of coercive tactics which are "depriving the defendant of food, water, or use of the bathroom, threats (although threats to carry out the law, such as threatening to arrest a codefendant, are usually fine), promises of leniency, kicking, striking, or otherwise getting physical with the suspect, and interrogating the suspect at gunpoint." The police officers did all of the above except the, interrogating the suspect at gunpoint. It feels like the American criminal justice system was unfair from the very beginning when it came to this case. 

Source(s):

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/miranda-involuntary-confessions.html

Suicidal Son Told by Father to "Just do it"

Recently a father by the name of Anthony Jerome Lewis was sentenced to first-degree assault, second-degree assault, coercion, and participation for providing the means of assisted suicide, reckless endangerment, firearm use, and child abuse. When confronted by his son who claimed he possessed suicidal thoughts, Lewis instructed the teenager to "just do it" rather than seek help in potentially saving his son's life before it was too late. In addition to the father's willingness for his son to commit suicide, his behavior throughout his son's childhood may have been the reason behind the idea of suicide crossing the son's mind.

While interviewed, the teenager explained his rough childhood growing up with Anthony Lewis. According to the interview, Lewis struck the child with nearly 20 lashes over three different times with a belt or extension cord. He also choked his son mercilessly, as his son mentioned witnessing unusual colors during the strangulation. This was not all Lewis had done though. Furthermore, he cut off his son's education through supposed homeschooling that resulted in endless chores. When not working around the house, he was involuntarily sitting in his room with the absence of electronic devices. The action of leaving his room to use the bathroom was denied unless he asked for pre-approved permission.

This case reminds me of the documentary "I Love You, Now Die", as Michelle Carter portrayed similar characteristics to Lewis, instructing her boyfriend to commit suicide. As both were reached out to as companions and potential help for those who felt weak and vulnerable to suicide, they not only supported the action of killing oneself but demanded that they continue with their thoughts and end their lives. Although Michelle may have not physically abused her boyfriend the same way Lewis abused and treated his son, her repeated texts convincing her boyfriend to commit suicide resulted in death.

Some of the suicides that have occurred in our area lately not only affected the direct family, the close friends, but all those in the community that have been touched by that life at any point. This leads me to believe that anyone that encourages such an act and abuses the mental health of someone that has suicidal thoughts, should be held accountable to the full extent of the law.

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/maryland-man-suicidal-son-just-do-it

Miles of Red Tape: The Civil Justice System's Fatal Flaw

Upon inspection, America's civil justice system would be the best way to seek compensation from another party for damages or harm caused. However, the process of executing or even filing a civil lawsuit is so complicated and costly that it might as well not be worth the effort. Studies say that only 80-92 percent of civil cases actually get to trial; they settle, because one or both of the parties have run out of money, or think they'll run out of money. If that doesn't say something, what will?

Rebecca L. Kourlis, a former justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, sums up the problem quite well:

If you get in a car wreck, and there's an argument about who should be paying damages, your assumption is that you can go to court to have that case resolved. The truth of the matter is that's probably the last place you want to be, because the fees and the costs will ultimately be more than your car is worth, even if you drive a really nice car.

The sheer inefficiency of the civil justice system doesn't just cost time or money; it obstructs justice. If the system is nigh inaccessible- if the system is swamped with redundant policies that waste time and resources- then justice cannot be served. This is the civil court system's greatest weakness.



Sources:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/business/08law.html
- https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/u-s-civil-court-system-needs-major-overhaul-new-book-declares

A Local Death - Oscar Grant

On New Years in 2009, there was a call from someone on BART that said there was a fight that was about to happen. Quickly officers of the BART made sure to stop it in a station in Oakland. They detained about 20 passengers who were thought to be a part of the fight, one of them being 22-year-old Oscar Grant. Though witnesses say that he had nothing to do with the fight, officers were not hesitant to stop him and pin him down at the station. 

There is video evidence suggesting that Grant was pleading to let him go because he didn't have anything to do with it. Witnesses say that he was asking the officers to not shoot him. Video evidence shows that while Grant was making these pleads, two officers were holding onto him trying to make him stop resisting. A third officer, Johannes Mehserle, was watching his fellow colleagues struggle with Grant and opted to reach for his gun and shot Grant in his back, ultimately killing him instantly.

When this case was taken to trial, the jury found Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Though involuntary manslaughter usually calls for a four-year sentence, Mehserle served 11 months in prison. The family of Oscar Grant was not happy with this verdict and opted to file for a civil lawsuit because they felt justice was not served for Oscar Grant and won over 2 million dollars.

Sources:
https://www.thoughtco.com/shooting-death-of-oscar-grant-721526

Kahler and the Insanity Defense

The insanity defense states that mentally ill individuals who can’t distinguish between right and wrong can not be legally punished for their actions in the same way that a mentally healthy person would be. 46 states provide for this defense, but Kansas along with some other states do not.

James Kahler, a Kansas man, is currently being tried for several murders, and the definition of insanity is going under some scrutiny by the Justices. Kahler shot and killed his ex-wife, his former mother in law, and his two teenage daughters, but let his son get away because of his preference for him. While the evidence for Kahler qualifying for the insanity plea is fairly limited, Kansas law says that mental states are irrelevant so long as the defendent has the intent to kill.

On one hand, Justice Kagan said she couldn’t imagine Kahler being found not guilty on any basis of insanity, and Justice Roberts said the plea for insanity in his case was pretty weak. Another concern of the justices was that insane people would be unjustly tried and punished as sane people if the definition of insanity was made too strict.

The example given by Nina Totenberg, an affairs correspondent, was that to consider two men accused of murder. One man says that the man he murdered was a dog, and the other man says that a dog told him to kill the man. Clearly both of the accused are mentally ill in some form or other, and it would be unreasonable for Kansas law to draw the line between them just because the inent changes. The insane defense is reserved for those who can’t understand their behavior and where it lies between right and wrong, which can be a very difficult thing to prove one way or another. These questions aren’t easy, and it’s a difficult decision to make for these Justices.

Keeping the definition of the insanity defense general seems like the best course of action—since situations like these can be highly variable between situations, it’s critical that mentally ill individuals get help, particularly those who pose a danger to society.

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/07/768032974/supreme-court-term-opens-with-case-involving-the-insanity-defense

https://www.law360.com/articles/1173994/kansas-take-on-insanity-defense-to-face-high-court-test

Kodak Black

           Already top class rapper Kodak Black was sentenced for 3 years jail time when he pleaded guilty due to him being arrest at a concert due to weapon charges. While being in jail is when the interesting happens. He is claimed to have beaten an officer grabbing his genitalia and trying to rip them off. With frustration he was threatened with more jail time. Kodak Blacks Reps responded claiming that Kodak Black was drugged in jail which caused this incident. Kodak has claimed he has been in classes trying to control himself while also asking for his later sentence to be served at a rehab center. It is still up in the air if Kodak was actually on drugs. If it is held true does he deserve more prison time? Also what should the outcome of him being drugged in jail be? I think that he should serve the rest of his sentence in an off site location with the chance to go to rehab in his later sentence. If it comes out that he was not actually drugged he should be held responsible for his actions and given the appropriate time added on.











Eric Jones

Clean Hands

Edwin Rommel. The July 20 plot against Hitler. Anti-Nazi resistance from within the ranks. A noble army.

The myth of the clean Wehrmacht persists today. Proponents claim that the Nazi forces were the only perpetrators of the Holocaust, that the German military (the Wehrmacht) committed no war crimes, and that Edwin Rommel, the brilliant German general, was staunchly apolitical. But such a view is beyond ignorant; it is dangerous.

Luftwaffe paratroopers raise their rifles as they prepare to cut down civilians.

The German military helped fulfill Nazism's racial, political, and territorial ambitions. Long after the war, a myth persisted claiming the German military was not involved in the Holocaust and other crimes associated with Nazi genocidal policy. This belief is untrue. The German military participated in many aspects of the Holocaust: in supporting Hitler, in the use of forced labor, and in the mass murder of groups targeted by the Nazis. The military's complicity extended not only to the generals and upper leadership but also to the rank and file...The German army was the most complicit...but all branches participated.

—United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

Within the Wehrmacht's ranks, officers followed Schutzstaffel orders to carry out the Holocaust. The Wehrmacht worked with the Einsatzgruppen, or extermination squads, and marched Jews and undesirables to be shot and kicked into mass graves.

Yet the "Clean Hands" doctrine that states that the Wehrmacht did nothing to carry out Nazi actions remains today. It is often restated by neo-Nazis and far-right groups, but, ironically, historians also tend to adopt this view. There is no real evidence of widespread anti-Nazism in the Wehrmacht, and it is time to abandon the delusion that the German army was anything but complicit in these heinous crimes.

Neo-Nazis protest the Wehrmacht Exhibition

Sources:

Public opinion in semisovereign Germany: the HICOG surveys, 1949–1955

Uncovered files shed light on Hitler's Wehrmacht

The Role of the German Army during the Holocaust

Curtis Flowers’ Seventh Trial

A Mississippi man was tried 6 times for murder, and is now being given a seventh change because of the prosecution’s racially biased jury selection. In each of Curtis Flowers’ six trials two decades ago, Doug Evans deliberately selected white jurors, even eliminating 41 of 42 black jurors. The state has been repeatedly trying to try Flowers under an all-white jury. In 1986, it was ruled unconstitutional to exclude someone from a jury based on race or gender. When the prosecution selects prospective jurors, black candidates are asked 145 questions, and white candidates are asked 12 questions. Flowers has been incarcerated since 1996 for the murder of 4 store employees. The evidence against him is flimsy at best, and only a repeated misconduct on the behalf of the prosecution has kept him behind bars. In 1997 he was found guilty and sentenced to death, but the state court threw out the conviction, which has been turning for years.

The evidence against him ammounts to this: he worked at the furniture store where the employees were murdered, $235 was hidden in his headboard (there was $400 stolen from the cash register), a bloody shoe print, gunpowder residue, eyewitness accounts, and a stolen gun that was unaccounted for. But Flowers has no previous criminal record, and without a just and equal jury, it’s likely that any charge against him will be heavily biased.

Doug Evans in the sixth trial:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/06/21/supreme-court-rules-curtis-flowers-mississippi-death-penalty-case/1120908001/

Fired and Sued

Jeanette Ortiz worked for Chipotle for approximately 14 years, where she was eventually fired after it was believed she had stolen $636. In response to her being falsely accused for criminal behavior, Ortiz took action, taking the case to court and receiving compensation of nearly $8 million. 

Being a mother of nine, Ortiz worked 50 hours a week as a manager with a salary of approximately $70,000 a year. While suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, Chipotle hired another manager in hopes of filling Ortiz's shoes. After reviewing the surveillance footage, this manager claimed Ortiz had stolen money. In denial of such actions, Ortiz requested access to the footage that would indicate such an accusation was valid, though Chipotle insisted such a request did not follow corporate policy. This too was false, as Ortiz's attorney found that Chipotle did not possess a written policy that explicitly states employees are unable to witness the restaurant's video footage. With Ortiz soon becoming capable of accessing the video footage, Chipotle suddenly mentioned the footage was erased. 

Through this case, we can recognize how many cases may be seemingly frivolous, though after further analyzing the details one can determine the reason such accusations succeed in court. The Hot Coffee case is a perfect example of a seemingly frivolous case. When such a case strikes the public eye, many present their viewpoints of how they believe an accusation of coffee being too hot is ridiculous. Though one must not judge a book by its cover, as the accusation has a story behind it and details that could possibly turn many viewpoints around. After becoming educated of the severity of the injury the old lady experienced after being burned, and the temperature the hot coffee was being served at, we soon became aware of the reason McDonald's was forced to pay such a significant amount. 

In the Chipotle case, if one hears that Ortiz sued Chipotle after being fired, they may believe she was simply aggravated by the fact her job was taken away from her. They may believe that she does not deserve to receive any compensation. However, according to Ortiz's attorney, she was branded after her false accusation with a label that limited her options to acquire a new job. The accusations also caused her emotional distress along with mental hardship as she experienced damage to her reputation.

Source:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/05/14/chipotle-wrongfully-accused-a-manager-of-stealing-636-she-just-won-millions-in-court/

The Defense of Being an Idiot

              Health south, one of the US's largest post-acute healthcare services providers was involved in an accounting scandal because of its CEO and founder had been directing employees to grossly exaggerate (in some fiscal years it was exaggerated by 4700%) the company's earnings to meet stockholder expectations. This was in direct violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which prevents corporations from scamming their shareholders. Just before the shares actually went down, the CEO, Richard Scrushy sold $75 million of stock which got the SEC's (Security Exchange Commission) attention.
               He was indicted on 85 counts of money laundering, conspiracy, securities fraud, and mail fraud, though he was only charged with 36 counts. Despite multiple chief executives in his company testifying against him, there was no material evidence to prove Scrushy had been involved in the fraudulent accounting.
                In Court, Scrushy's lawyer argued the Idiot Defense. This is a legal strategy whereby the defendant claims innocence by virtue of ignorance to facts which they should be aware of. In this case, Scrushy claimed all the wrongdoing was done by others (which there was no evidence to the contrary to, save people's words) and done so without his knowledge or consent. He said his skill was in valuation and deal-making, not recognizing fraudulent accounting practices which would be needed to realize what was going on.
                While many other CEOs have tried this defense, Scrushy is the first to actually be acquitted, although some do attribute it to there not being any court-admissible, hard evidence against him.

11 Year Old Girl at Mesa View Middle School Experiences Police Brutality

On August 27, 2019, a police officer by the name of Zach Christensen committed an act of violence as he physically attacked an African American 11 year old girl, throwing her to the floor and repeatedly instructing her to "stop resisting". As he laid on top of her and continued to attempt arresting her, she would scream and weep in agony hoping to break free from his grip.

Due to the fact the girl had brushed a paper against the school's principal after tearing it off the school's front door, the officer accused her of battery and destruction of property. This was the supposed reason he attacked her and the supposed reason he attempted arrest. Prior to her striking the paper against her teacher, the officer was interested in arresting the young girl for "disrupting the educational process", based on the fact she refused to listen to her teachers, interacted with others in class, stood up on the bus, and proceeded to take one additional carton of milk during lunch. 

This example of police brutality illustrates the unjust system we live in today. Many view police as a threat in opposition to being a source of protection. Many experience a violation of their rights, as they are targeted simply for reasons such as the color of their skin. Throughout this year, we have reviewed similar cases connecting to this girl being attacked, such as Michael Brown's confrontation with Darren Wilson. In both cases, we recognize a Caucasian police officer using his stature of authority to intimidate and oppress an African American victim and use excessive force in a situation that could have been handled differently. Our legal system attempts to protect all regardless of color, gender, religion, or sexual orientation, but we still have a long way to go. 


Source:
https://www.theroot.com/watch-school-resource-officer-resigns-after-brutal-att-1839301493

Michelle Carter

         There has always been a lot of controversies when people hear the name, Michelle Carter. Some people believe that she is responsible for the death of Conrad Roy and others believe that she is not. When you look at her, it was proven that she did have mental health issues and people believed that she should be taken off the hook because of that. Although that should be taken into consideration she thoroughly explained to Conrad how he should kill himself. When he even got out of the car because he was scared, she instructed him to get back in the car and do it right then and there.
   
      Conrad and Michelle were in what they had made it seem like a happy relationship, even though they didn't see each other often, they texted a lot and their texts consisted of lots of "I love you" When you look at Michelle after, she kept saying how sad she was and how hard it was for her and obviously it is a hard time when you lose a loved one but was she just saying that or is that how she honestly felt. If she wanted to be happy wouldn't she tell Conrad not to kill himself, since he was what made her happy,

   In my opinion, I believe Michelle Carter is responsible for the death of Conrad Roy. This is because even though as addressed before she had mental health issues, she did not let that interfere when she was completely planning out how Conrad was going to take his life. She had to have thought of the consequences and what was going to happen after but she did not care about that as she wanted all the attention on herself after since everyone was going to be checking up on her and to see how shes doing.

Saugus High School Shooting

         On Thursday, November 14t at Saugus Highschool a gunman randomly opened fire. He had been able to shoot 5 people in the time span of 16 seconds and then it was over. Two students Grace Anne Muehlberger age 15 and  Dominic Blackwell age 14 died from their wounds. Three others were wounded and were able to survive. They were able to identify the gunman Nathaniel Berhow, who died at the hospital after he used the last bullet to shoot himself on his 16th birthday. The Los Angeles County Sherrif Alex Villanueva explained that all the training and practice that they had done as a school really paid off, as so many people knew to hide and barricade themselves. That is why there were not too many injuries but there, unfortunately, was some wounded and dead.

        When we think about it there are so many shootings and things at occur at schools that should not be happening there. A school is a place where we go to learn and where we should feel safe, no parent wants to send their kid to school with the thought of "am I going to see them again later today" CNN got the statistic that there were been 44 school shootings in 46 weeks this year, and that is almost one school shooting per week. This is so crazy this is happening so often people aren't even surprised about it anymore. But bigger actions need to be taken to stop this. A big part of it is mental health, and this is why people need to look out for others and make sure they get the help that they need. Especially school is a place where students can become very stressed and have a lot of anger built up inside of them and they might want to take it out on the school. We cannot let this keep happening, because if we let it keep happening there will be more school shootings and the whole point is to decrease school shootings. We don't want school shootings to become a normal thing to the point where people are saying "I'm not surprised that it happened."

Common Types of Compensatory Damages

After watching Hot Coffee, I wondered what the most common things people claimed for accident damages, and after reading the ones that were harder to quantify, I looked into how people did quantify them monetarily.

Easy to Quantify
Medical Treatment: compensation for the cost of the medical care associated with the accident.
Income: compensation for an accident's effect on your salary (including both the money you lost and the money you will lose as a result of the injury).
Property Loss: vehicles, clothing, and other personal items damaged as a result of the accident.


Hard to Quantify
Pain & Suffering: compensation for any pain or discomfort experienced during or in the immediate aftermath of the accident as well as any ongoing pain associated with the accident.
Emotional Distress: compensation for the psychological effect of the accident on the person including fear, anxiety, and sleep loss.
Loss of Enjoyment: compensation for accident-caused injuries keeping you from hobbies, exercise, and other recreational activities.
Loss of Consortium: compensation for accident-caused injuries impacting a plaintiff's relationship with their spouse.


The 2 Methods For Quantifying
1. take the easy to quantify things such as the cost of medical bills, income loss, and property loss, add them together, and multiply by a number between 1 and 5 (based on injury severity), to get, say, the Pain and Suffering compensation.
2. pick a certain number and charge that amount for each day of recovery from the day of the accident to the day of full recovery.

Why did the Earth cool down mid-1900s?

         From 1940-1775, the average global surface temperature cooled by 0.1 degrees Celsius, providing nonbelievers "irrefutable evidence" that Global Warming doesn't exist. This contradiction puzzled scientists when studying Global Warming until recently, where they finally proved that this cool-down was caused by sulfate particles(created by fossil fuel use) reflecting sunlight. The reason this cool-down ended is because countries began to make an effort reducing sulfur emissions starting in the 1970s. From there, the average global temperature has risen by roughly 0.6 degrees Celsius.

       The average surface temperature now is 1.1 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times. However, ongoing sulfur emissions still occurring now could be slowing this down. Scientists estimate that removing all aerosol emissions at once right now could easily add roughly 0.7 degrees Celsius to global temperatures. What does this mean? I believe this means that climate change is a crisis much worse than we previously thought, as this introduces the threat of larger increases to global temperature as we reduce sulfur and particle emissions.

13 year old threatens to shoot up a middle school

      In today's world gun violence in schools has become an epidemic. Los Angeles just experienced a school shooting on November 14 and yet there was another threat on November 22. A 13-year-old boy was arrested for planning a school shooting. He wanted to shoot Ánimo Mae Jemison Charter Middle School.  The police found out when students from the middle school reported that he was planning to shoot the school. Police searched his house and found that he had an AR-15 and 100 rounds of ammo. 

      Along with the weapon, they found the map of the school and a list of names that the kid was planning on shooting. Luckily the kid was taken into custody and was charged with the criminal threats and could face additional charges. This threat was only an hour away from the shooting at Sagus High School on Nov 14. School shootings and threats are becoming too common and truely has become an epidemic. 

      And there was even a threat at another in Palmdale. There was a fight and following the fight the kid posted pictures with a firearm and threatened the other kids in the fight. This kid who threatened with the firearm was tracked and taken into custody.

      The recent uptick in gun violence has made school shootings and other tragic events seem normal. This should not be the case. Politicians need to have reform gun laws to protect our schools and communities. We also need to figure out where this hatred and violence is coming from. If we can figure out a way to prevent school shootings we will live in a safer society where we are not in constant fear of our lives. But as police learn more about school shootings they are making strides towards stopping and preventing school shootings. Through reform and increased knowledge about school shootings, we should be able to significantly decrease or eliminate school shootings in the United States.

Mistrial Process

A mistrial is when a jury is unable to reach a unanimous decision or there is prosecutorial misconduct or error that results in an unfair trial. In class, there have been some cases that were declared as a mistrial and there were questions I had that went unanswered. Does having a mistrial provide an opportunity for justice? What happens in the event of a mistrial? Does the defendant go free in a mistrial? When searching for an answer, the first website below stated, "the defense and prosecution will have to live with the judge’s decision (as a mistrial), and the case will either be retried, settled, or dismissed." So, it all depends on the case if there is justice or not. For example, in the 3 1/2 Minutes and Ten Bullets Case, the jury could not reach an agreement on the charge of first-degree murder of Jordan Davis, so the judge declared it a mistrial. But they did have a second trial and Dunn was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Jordan Davis. If a case is addressed as a mistrial, then the defense or prosecution can appeal for a second trial if there is enough evidence. If there's an appeal the second website indicates, "a successful appeal usually restores a case to the initial stages, but can sometimes end the case altogether (such as when the appellate court finds that there’s insufficient evidence to retry the defendant).". It was also stated in the third source that, "in the event of a mistrial, the defendant is not convicted, but neither is the defendant acquitted. An acquittal results from a not guilty verdict and cannot be appealed by the prosecution, overturned by the judge, or retried. When there is a mistrial, however, the case may be retried.". So it's possible that the defendant can't go free in a mistrial if there is enough evidence for an appeal to retry and convicted for the crime if they are found guilty.

Sources
https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/criminal/criminal-law-basics/criminal-law-trials-motion-for-mistrial.html
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/appealing-conviction.html
https://fija.org/library-and-resources/library/jury-nullification-faq/what-happens-if-there-is-a-hung-jury.html

Brittany Pilkington

Joseph Pilkington

Brittany Pilkington is a mother from Ohio. She'd grown up in an abusive home with her mom and her mom's boyfriend. In 2009, when she was 17, her mom's boyfriend was charged with sexual battery after it was discovered Brittany was pregnant. Brittany later married her mother's boyfriend, Joseph Pilkington and had 4 kids with him, Noah, Gavin, Niall and Hailey.

In 2014, Brittany's life took a turn. Her infant son, Niall was found dead. Then in April 2015, 4 year old Gavin died and 4 months later, 3 month old Noah was found dead. The day Noah died, Brittany confessed to killing all 3 of her sons. Previous investigations never gathered enough evidence for murder, however, the reason for the killings was shocking. Brittany stated that she was jealous over the attention her husband was giving their sons and felt that he wasn't paying enough attention to her or their daughter, Hailey.

Brittany Pilkington

Brittany originally pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder charges and was set to face the death penalty, later taking a plea deal for 37 years in prison on one count of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of murder. Prosecutors later stated that the death penalty wasn't acceptable due to Brittany's "mental defects."

This case is fairly similar to Andrea Yates'. Both women seem to have problems with their mental health, though Yates' stemmed from postpartum depression and Pilkington's from years of abuse. However, the sentencing is much different. Yates was found not guilty due to insanity and is now receiving help in special facilities. Pilkington has obviously been struggling most of her life and wasn't in the right mental state when she committed the crimes, with prosecutors agreeing that she does have "mental defects." While the nature of this case is extremely grim, I do believe that Pilkington should have been offered help instead of or alongside a jail sentence.

https://nypost.com/2019/11/19/jealous-ohio-mom-gets-37-years-in-prison-for-killing-her-3-sons/
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ohio-mom-suffocated-her-3-180519187.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=2_04
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brittany-pilkington-ohio_n_55d482dee4b07addcb44b99b?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaHVmZnBvc3QuY29tL3RvcGljL2JyaXR0YW55LXBpbGtpbmd0b24&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAM7OW5Y-2HOVV-E-8FLZfe44SBBGqKEldG2zPPE4Nl4bSY19frc4n-LzD-nX-oVRg3NuxFJNS8mFonYOwYqNO4DYbaFUqMYZgRMRpIvLDjdEXZcgbDZ6bPwbnJv7JirRfg3kXuaDf03D6Ogct31gSLk9fOXtV552BzEV_6DVUa7Q

Davon Washington

      Davon Washington was a prisoner in Albany, NY that was in prison for attempted robbery. He was accused of attacking a guard and he was beaten and thrown in solitary confinement. He was forced to stay in solitary confinement for 360 days. He had bruises from the guards beating him. He decided to sue the city for transferring him to the facility in Albany, NY and claiming that the knew that he would be put in solitary confinement. New York City passed a law not allowing people under 21 to be placed in solitary confinement. Davon thought that they sent him to Albany to make sure that he went into solitary confinement.

      The new law in New York City was passed because of a prisoner named Kalief Browder who committed suicide after spending 3 years at Riker's Island. A lot of his time was spent in solitary confinement. After everything in his case, all of his charges were dropped so essentially he was put through prison for no reason.

      As a result of the lawsuit, the mayor of New York City agreed to stop sending minors to the Albany correctional facility. Davon was pleased to hear that nobody would have to be put through solitary confinement at such a young age. Along with Davon, he sued with 3 other men who experienced the same thing. His party was awarded $980,000 for the damages that the state has caused them. The 4 men will split the money. The men hope that this lawsuit will discourage the city from hurting other people's lives in the future.

      Along with solitary confinement the New York system has received many complaints about guard abuse. This should also be under investigation because guards shouldn't be allowed to hurt and beat inmates even though they have authority over them. This is another problem that is difficult to solve. New York City needs to be accountable for their actions in the prison system.

Ransom, Jan. “Beaten and Left in Solitary Confinement, He Thought He Would Die.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Oct. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/20/nyregion/rikers-inmates-solitary-lawsuit.html.

     

California High School Shooting

Throughout global, we have looked at several violent cases. From the dog mauling trial to OJ, these cases seem very distant. It doesn't seem like any of the events that happened in these cases would ever happen to us. However, there are violent events that happen in environments not too far from ours. As of today, there has been 369 shootings in the United States.

Last Thursday morning, on November 14, a teenage boy, in a Southern California high school, opened fire in his school quad, shooting many. Surveillance video captured the boy pulling the gun from his backpack of Saugus High School and shooting five people and then himself. "Within approximately 16 seconds, it was over," sheriff's Capt Kent Wegener said. A sixteen-year-old girl and a fourteen-year-old boy passed away from the shots, authorities reported. The other three students, two girls, a fourteen and fifteen-year-old, and a fourteen-year-old boy were also shot before classes began. They were listed as stable on Thursday night. A 0.45 caliber semi-automatic pistol with no rounds left in it was recovered by investigators, who obtained a search warrant. A student, Sharon Orelana Cordova, told NBC Los Angeles that she was doing homework when she saw people running, so she started running, too. "When I got out, I saw this person lying down on the ground, and I saw blood all over. It was really scary. I was really, really scared. I didn't know what was going on," she said. After shooting, the gunman ended up shooting himself. He later died in the hospital.

It seems like almost every day that there is another shooting in the news. In our society, it has almost become "normalized" to have school shootings. When people see a school shooting in the news it just seems like a normal occurrence. As a society, we can work towards ending school shootings if people become more aware of them and actually work towards fighting against them. High school is a very difficult time for people. Students deal with depression and anxiety and if people become more aware, maybe students' mental health could be improved and there could be a decrease in school shootings.

Court Case Process

The Court Case Process

1. Arraignment:

When the the charges against the offender are read in front of a judge. At an arraignment, lawyers are appointed to a defendant if they don't have one or cant afford one. Along with the lawyer being appointed, the plea is entered as well, bail is also discuss at an arraignment. 

2. Preliminary Hearing:

After the arraignment, there is a preliminary hearing. This is where evidence against the defendant is presented in front of the judge by the prosecutor to show the judge that the defendant is very strongly suspicion of committing the crime that they committed. 

IF a judge finds suspicion in the crime being committed, defendant is "held to answer" where the prosecution/prosecutor proceeds with the trial court level.

IF NOT, if they judge goes against he prosecution or disagrees with them and says there is no "strong suspicion," charges are dropped and case closed. 

3.  2nd preliminary Hearing (If the judge finds strong suspicion against defendant):

After the 1st arraignment and preliminary hearing, if the judge agrees with the prosecution, they wait 2 weeks or 14 days after the first hearing for the "held to answer" he is sent to trial level Superior Court. The judge goes through the same process as before for the hearing.

4. Pretrial Hearing and Motions:

The hearing is resolving the outstanding issues and is the start of the "plea bargain" of the defendant to the judge whereas the motion is where it is a request to a judge to issue a ruling or order on a legal matter. 

5. Jury Trial (Final step): 

Prosecution and defensive teams present evidence to the jury or judge. This includes witnesses that are asked questions in front of a 12 man jury and a judge. 

The jury's job in the case is to look or examine evidence presented in the case and come to a verdict.

The Judge is the one to appoint the sentencing which they do that by interpreting the verdict from the jury and compare it or look at the law to make sure its fair. ( Judges normally look at State Law for )

Equal convictions

Should cops get the same treatment as civilians when they commit a crime? This is a question that I think that many people have tried to answer over the years. there have been numerous cases that try to convict a cop of murder, police brutality and other things, but the majority of them end up by saying NOT GUILTY.

In the case of stranger fruit, there was a young man walking home from a small liquor store nearby when all of a sudden a police officer came by, they started to have a conversation when the police officer started shooting at the young man, he started running to get away and he was wounded, the police officer took his time to get out the car and aim to keep on shooting at the young man, the young man was never armed he didn't have any weapons he never disrespected the officer. When they came into court they were trying to convict the cop of murder but they decided NOT GUILTY. In my opinion, I think he should have been found guilty because there was enough evidence to convict him of second-degree murder.

Central Park 5

In 1989 5 young boys were charged with assault, robbery, riot, rape and attempted murder at the ages of 14 and 16. As of time spent in jail 4 of the boys were sent to a juvenile facility for 6 to 7 years but one unlucky boy Korey Wise was sent to an adult prison for 13 years. If it wasn't for Matias Reyes finally confessing in 2002, Korey Wise would have been in jail for much longer and none of their charges would have been dropped.


At 14 Raymond Santa spent 7 years of his life in jail for something that he did not do, by 1995 he was released from the juvenile facility and changed his life around for the. Raymond is now an activist, designer, and public speaker, he is actually the one that came up with the idea to make their story a movie.

Korey Wise was actually not a suspect in the case until he went to the station with his friend Yusef for support. Even though Korey had nothing to do with the attack, he ended up getting the worst punishment out of all of the boys. At 16 Korey was sentenced to 15 years in prison but got released early from serving 13 years because the person that actually attacked Trisha Meili. Years after his release Korey is now a public speaker and activist.

Yusef Salaam was only 15 when he was convicted of rape and assault, he recently did an interview where he stated how guilty he still felt that his friend Korey Wise had to spend 13 years of his life in prison while he only got 6 years just because he went to the station to support his friend. Yusef is now a poet, activist and inspirational speaker, he tries to express the importance of education and how being incarcerated has an effect on inmate's lives outside of jail.

When Antron was arrested he was just 15 years old, his father and mother both supported him. Antron's father knew what it was like to be interrogated and go to jail so he told Antron his just confess and the police will help him but Antron actually ended up spending 6 years of his life behind bars because he thought what his father was telling him was going to help him.  After spending 6 years in jail and works as a forklift operator, unlike the others, he has chosen to stay out of the spotlight and live a regular life with his family.


At 14 Kevin Richardson was accused of the attack of Trisha Meili because the hairs found at the scene looked like his, before even running a test on the hair the police suspect just because it looked like his, he did it. After serving 6 years in jail, Kevin is now a criminal justice advocate and talks to the public about his experience with the justice system and in jail.

Years after the 5 men were released from jail, they all received $41 million as a group for spending years behind bars and being innocent the entire time. The Central Park 5 could have let what happened to them bring them down and be angry but, they have decided to start families and help educate people in their communities about the justice system and the importance of education.

10 Pills and 24 Years

Rachel Bandman (right)

On January 28, 2016, 19 year old University of Carolina student Rachel Bandman fatally overdosed in her apartment. Police investigations uncovered that 24 year old Anthony "AJ" Hunt was responsible for selling Bandman the pills she used to kill herself. Not only did Hunt sell her these pills, but he knew what she was going to use them for. Bandman had previously tried to overdose, but when the medication she used didn't work, she sent texts to Hunt, "I need more for it to happen, it's just so frustrating that I can't die." Upon hearing this, Hunt sold Bandman 10 oxycodone pills and gave her detailed instructions to take it with NyQuil and wine.

Anthony "AJ" Hunt

Similar to Michelle Carter, Hunt had an opportunity to help Bandman, but instead he chose to make money off her death, and to give instructions on how to die. About a week ago, Hunt plead guilty to distributing the pills that lead to Bandman's death and was sentenced to 24 years. While Hunt is being held responsible for his actions, should he have faced more serious charges, such as manslaughter or even murder?

https://nypost.com/2019/11/20/south-carolina-drug-dealer-accused-of-helping-teen-kill-herself-with-narcotics-he-sold-her/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/11/18/drug-dealer-who-gave-college-student-opioids-end-her-life-was-sentenced-years/