In this episode of “Criminal Injustice,” with David A. Harris, Harris and guest Beth Schwartzapfel, who is the author of two articles on this set of problems and is a staff writer on the Marshall Project, talk about the Brady v. Maryland rule as well as how this rule is violated daily to the point where it negatively impacts the whole system and why it is long overdue for change on this issue. Back in 1963, the Supreme court decided the case of Brady v. Maryland. In this case, the government withheld crucial evidence from the defense. The supreme court said that if the prosecution has material evidence in its possession that would exonerate or even lessen the punishment the defendant then the prosecution would have disclosed that evidence. …show more content…
Schwartzapfel explains that although there are some cases where criminal discovery is as open as civil discovery, criminal cases are usually more tightly controlled than civil cases. Schwartzapfel also points out a flaw in these state discovery cases, where she says that there are “what” prosecutors are supposed to turn in evidence and then “when” prosecutors are supposed to turn in evidence. So she cleverly brings up the issue that if a state says that prosecutors have to turnover everything they have for evidence but doesn’t have to turn it in until a day before the trial than the Brady rule at this point would be ultimately useless, considering by this time the defendant may have already settled with a plea because that’s already what 90% of defendants do. Schwartzapfel mentions a bar fight where a bouncer was arrested and the prosecutors charged him with gang assault. The prosecutors told him that they had a video of the bar fight and that it wasn’t looking good for him but he still asked the prosecutors see the video. The prosecutors denied to show him the bar fight video and insisted he take the plea deal. The bouncer continued to claim he is innocent and did not want to take the plea deal. Due to him rejecting plea deals, he was facing felony charges that caused him to lose his job and become homeless. Once his lawyer had received the video, it showed that the bouncer was telling the truth about what had happened, which he claimed he was not doing anything besides attempting to break up the fight and this was apparent in the video. Schwartzapfel went on to add that in most cases like the bouncer’s, it is easier to just take the plea deal at times because so many people are afraid of the mandatory minimum laws plus continuing to fight felonies can cause people to lose things like their job as well as privileges and explains that this is why so many people take
Due to the fact that there was a reward for coming forward with evidence, the person who provided the main evidence of the case could have been providing false information for personal gain. Additionally, an eyewitness gave a description of the perpetrator, and the description given looked nothing like Thompson. The prosecutors also failed to show the interview with this description, successfully hiding the evidence from the defense. Perhaps the most consequential Brady violation was that the prosecutors hid blood samples from the case which did not match the blood type of Thompson. Although Brady vs Maryland requires that the prosecutors turn this evidence over to the defense, they did not (Lithwick).
In the article, “On Turning Poverty into on American Crime” by Barbara Ehrenreich, Barbara explains many issues of the struggle of low-wage issue including poverty. She had many problems with the disagreement that was wrong. Barbara explains that she wanted four years ago to reduce poverty making sure people won’t become poor/or homeless as well for employment that minimum wage will surely increase and for criminals to be treated as equally as other citizens should, she also mentioned police will arrested or assume that their violent just by their appearance. She wanted many citizens to have better wage and working condition (para ). Poverty was a huge common outcome through her entire blog, everything added up to poverty, with a few other citizens’ stories.
Adnan’s Trial: The Dark Side Do you think that your decisions are affected by subconsciously without you knowing? Our lives revolve around stereotypes and external influences. Some influences which we may not know where they come from, leaving us with a mystery to solve, just like a crime. This is similarly portrayed in the podcast, Serial starring Sarah Koenig.
Nifong and the Duke Lacrosse case highlight several key institutional failures of the justice system in regards to prosecutorial discretion, prosecutor accountability, and the prosecutors dilemma. Prosecutors are considered by many to be the most powerful actors in the courtroom proceedings as they follow the case from the time of arrest to the sentencing. Prosecutors have a lot of discretion in the justice process as they are the ones who decide: Do I prosecute? Who do I prosecute?
The book “Simple Justice” that was written by Richard Kluger is one of the examples of the successful use of narrative with the scholar style of writing that is telling readers the story behind Brown v. Board of Education. It is needed to state that the book was firstly published in 1976 and at that period it was one of the most precise and detailed descriptions of the decision-making process of the Supreme Court in Brown. That is why, the work of Richard Kluger is so unique, he was able to tell readers the detailed story of the court and that was helpful in the learning of the history as well as in the understanding of the justice system. It is needed to state the fact that in the book Richard Kluger is pointing out on the fact of schools desegregation. He critiques the politics of the government that allowed the school
This occurs because defendants are forced to weigh the costs of going to trial and the possibility of a worse sentence that comes with that choice, and pleading guilty even if they are innocent. Often, the certainty of a plea bargain is more attractive than the uncertainty of a trial, even for an innocent person. Though it is efficient and moves cases through the system, this is simply not
What Brady v. Maryland inspires is a duty upon prosecutors to search all the government files for “Brady” material. If it the any material consistent with the “Brady” ruling exists, it must be voluntarily disclosed by government counsel. However the issue that both prosecutors and defense lawyers have in reference to Brady v. Maryland ruling is it difficult for a prosecutor to decided whether certain evidence is exculpatory to a defendant. Unless a prosecutor can predict with a magic eight ball and wand exactly what a defendant’s defense will be during trial, they may not recognize an exculpatory significance of paperwork or evidence that the government is in possession
The Forgotten Lawmen Part 1 by D. B. McCrea is a brief memoir based on the author's experiences as game warden in Moody County, South Dakota. Through McCrea's simple explanations, we learn a lot about his job description, as well as many of the obstacles he faced during his early years as warden. Run-ins with the general public, with poachers, and with superiors make for a relatively varied and interesting reading experience, but I did not find myself gripped consistently during the book. I was alternately intrigued and bored by the technicalities of the job and details about the local community.
I know that Justice is the most important core value because all people should be treated fairly and be held accountable for their actions. In Radio, justice was served when Coach Jones would punish Johnny and the football team when they had done something wrong. In Radio, there were a plethora of times where justice was served. My first example of justice in the movie Radio was when Coach Jones punished his players when they locked Radio in the shed.
Back in 1975, there was a major case called, Payton V. New York. Theodore Payton was suspected of murdering a gas station manager, they found evidence within his home that connected him with the crime. What caused the problem was the fact New York had a law that allowed unwarranted searches if the person was a suspect. Based off the oral argument presented by Oyez, the police said it didn't count as the evidence because it was in public view when entering the home. It had to be appealed before it was determined as unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court recently began hearing oral arguments in a case, where two men were convicted of bribery by a jury. However, that conviction was overturned by an appeal because the jury had been improperly instructed as to what constitutes a guilty verdict. The attorney for the defense, Lisa Blatt said, “The government should bear the consequences when overlapping charges produce split verdicts of acquittals and invalid convictions.” This quote identifies with one of the fundamental principles of the American legal system, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. While Blatt continues to argue that the vacated conviction is worthless.
(2014). The Trayvon Martin Trial - Two Comments and an Observation. The John Marshall Law Review, 47(4), 11th ser. Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://repository.jmls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2086&context=lawreview.
Since the founding of our judicial system there have always been individuals claiming innocence to a crime that they have been found guilty of, traditionally, after their sentencing no matter how innocent they may or may not be would have to serve, live and possibly die by the decision of their peers. The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck alongside Peter J. Neufeld faces this issue by challenging the sentencing of convicted individuals who claim their innocence and have factual ground to stand upon. The Innocence Project uses the recent advances in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing to prove their client’s innocence by using methods that were not available, too primitive or not provided to their clients during their investigation,
Most people expect others to crumble under the weight of a situation that seems impossible to get out of. Yet, Angel did not allow the abuse and molesting Jordan did to her bring her down. Angel found an escape, dance. The book it states,"In the six years since the arrest and conviction of Jordan Sparks, music had helped Angel to heal and grow. "
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (Martin Luther King Jr.). Injustice even to one man can threaten the foundation that society is built on. What Martin Luther King Jr. is trying to say here is that even the most insignificant act of injustice, even onto one person, is an act of injustice to all people. This seemingly small act of injustice reveals the flaws in society which is a threat to all people. In the novel The Scapegoat By Sophia Nikolaidou, justice is not served.