Miscarriage of Justice Essay - 1824 Words

Arguably three of the most sensational criminal trials in American history are the Commonwealth vs. Borden, California vs. Simpson and Los Angeles vs. Rodney King. All three of these cases received unprecedented amounts of media attention and verdicts from the jury that shocked the country. In my opinion justice, especially social and moral justice, was not achieved in these trials. Social class, race and gender all had a huge impact on the jury’s decisions in each of these cases. High priced defense attorneys were able to place reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors despite the substantial amount of evidence proving the seemingly obvious guilt of Borden, Simpson and the Los Angeles Police department. This paper will focus on these†¦show more content†¦She tried purchasing prussic acid the day before the murders, also her parents suffered from severe stomach sickness in the days before their untimely deaths. Relations between Lizzie and her stepmother were strain ed. There was a newly broken axe found in the basement of the home but fingerprinting was not allowed. Lizzie was known to have â€Å"funny spells† which caused her to act oddly and erratically. At the time of the murders she claimed to have been in the barn loft, which would have been stifling hot, looking for fishing lures she surely knew were not there but at their vacation home. A friend, Alice Russell, saw Lizzie burning a light blue dress that Lizzie claimed was old and covered in paint. She was, however, seen wearing a similar dress on the day of the murders. Based on all the above information, how is it possible that the jury deliberated for a mere hour and a half before returning with a not guilty verdict? Well, the highly skilled defense team used holes in the prosecution’s case to cast doubt in the minds of the jurors. Where, the defense asked, was the handle that supposedly broke off the axe, the alleged murder weapon? They also exploited the government’s timeline of events that occurred on that fateful day, which allowed just eight to thirteen minutes between Mr. Borden’s murder and Lizzie’s call to the maid Bridget Sullivan. Suggesting how difficult it would be to wash blood off one’s body, clothes, murder weapon andShow MoreRelatedEssay on miscarriages of justice1953 Words   |  8 Pagesthat one innocent sufferquot; summarises and highlights the mistakes and injustices in the criminal justice system. In a just society, the innocent would never be charged, nor convicted, and the guilty would al ways be caught and punished. Unfortunately, it seems this would be impossible to achieve due to the society in which we live. Therefore, miscarriages of justice occur in the criminal justice system more frequently than is publicised or known to the public at large. They are routine and wouldRead MoreMiscarriages of Justice1771 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"It’s a general problem not specific to the law of the United Kingdom a criminal justice system characterized by an emphasis on crime control rather than due process will inevitably produce miscarriage of justice.† In an imaginary world the law would always give the correct results but in a real world it’s the other way. When they don’t which way do they tend to err? Which way do we want to err? We want the law to err on the side of acquitting guilty people rather than convictingRead MoreSteven Truscott: Miscarriage of Justice995 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Courtney White Mrs. Schweitzer CLU 3M December 8 2013 Steven Truscott: Miscarriage of Justice â€Å"The only two people that know I am innocent, is myself and the killer.† Imagine being blamed for a crime you did not commit, and nobody would believe you no matter what you said. 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It does not discriminate against religion, sex, or race, and it is governed by the rule of equity. All this would suggest that the Canadian Criminal Justice System is one that Canadians can have faith in, knowing that the system will protect everyone: society from the criminals, and innocent people from wrongful incarceration. It is interesting, then, that Canadians actually have quite little faithRead MoreThe Issue Of Wrongful Conviction1746 Words   |  7 Pagesinto an acknowledged reality in most common law jurisdiction; Prominent cases tend not just to attract our consideration regarding the deleterious impacts of a wrongful conviction on an individual but also to illustrate how parts of the criminal justice process have fizzled. An across the nation system of attorneys, columnists and legitimate associations have fought resolutely in the courts to get the freedom of offenders who had, in some cases, spent decades incarcerated. Clearly, wrongful convictionRead MoreThe Criminal Appeal Process And The Adequateness1748 Words   |  7 Pagesenacted as established by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 following a recommendation by the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice 1993 (RCCJ). The CCRC is a body designed to investigate alleged miscarriages of justice. It replaced the Criminal Case Unit of C3 Division of the Home Office where the Home Secretary had the power to order re-investigations of alleged miscarriages of justice and send them back to the Court of Appeal . D ue to a public crisis of confidence the CCRC was established followingRead MoreThe Wrongful Conviction Of Wrongful Convictions Essay1365 Words   |  6 Pagesrooted in miscarriage of justice. The defendants are convicted for crimes not committed where errors are not proven until their death or having served a lot of jail time. Wrongful convictions are fueled by false witnesses, incompetence of defense lawyers and inadequate evidence among others. However, with the emergence of forensic DNA in collection of evidence, the rate of wrongful convictions has decreased in the past few years. This paper focuses on the fallibilities that lead to miscarriage of justiceRead MoreThe Canadian Justice System Is Built On The Principal Of The Presumption Of Innocence1707 Words   |  7 PagesThe Canadian Justice System is built on the principal of the presumption of innocence where emphasis is placed on on ensuring that the innocent go free rather than the guilty being convicted (Huff, 2013). However, miscarriages of justice occur when an individual is wrongfully conviction, and such an occurrence tarnishes the system’s reputation greatly (Campbell Denov, 2005). According to the edited case files presented by Moldaver (2009), Romeo Phillion was wrongly convicted of the murder of anRead MorePersuasive Essay : Convicting The Innocent1938 Words   |  8 PagesMost Americans in the United States would never presume that they would become wrongfully evicted. From young ages, kids are taught to believe in the criminal justice system and believe that it works. It is pounded in our heads to presume the criminal justice is fair. Prior to 1932, research upon this subject was nonexistent. It was not an idea until Judge Learned Hand stated that that the American judicial system has always been haunted by the ghost of the innocent man convicted. He relates the