Brenton Trial

In 1920, Oscar Micheaux directed the silent film Within Our Gates which conducts an in-depth examination of race relations and discrimination within the United States. One of the outcomes of the film is a blatant failure of justice resulting in the lynching of an African American couple, The Landrys. Seemingly, time has not altered the inherent absence of justice concerning the treatment of Black men and women in situations where criminal activity is suspected, legitimately or otherwise. Evidence is found with the killings of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and many other Black victims who died at the hands of police who are tasked with upholding justice and fail to do so. However, what was the popular sentiment toward failure within the legal system between 1920 and 2015? While not representative of this entire time span, in 1962, Robert Mulligan’s film To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on race relations and an African American male wrongly accused of rape who is ultimately killed in a suspicious police shooting. Within Our Gates and To Kill a Mockingbird each offer a presentation of a gross miscarriage of justice that is obvious to the omniscient viewer, but the reaction the films garner from the audience varies from outrage to resignation due to the implementation (or lack thereof) of a visual stimuli, telling of the time period in which the films were produced.

I commence with this anecdote for several reasons one of which is to humbly acknowledge my unique, and privileged position as a Black female scholar in the midst of a war waged against Black bodies. Another reason is to recognize police brutality as a national endemic that plagues Black communities, unveiling remnants of anti-Black racism that legitimately suppresses the lives of Blacks in America . The non-indictments in each case concerning the sanctioned murder of Black youths evoke a

The murder of Carol Jenkins in 1968 is largely accounted for giving Martinsville, Indiana the racist image it has today. Although this was not the first or last act of racist hate crimes in the town, this one stuck in the minds of many people. This woman was murdered by who was thought to have been a local resident, protected by police, and started a huge controversy about racism in this

Throughout this case, many pieces of evidence came up “missing” and many other people who should have been suspects went without being questioned at all. For example, a problem arose at a local Bojangles, the same night of the murders. The manager working at the time called the police, reporting that a black man had stumbled into the restaurant. He was bleeding and mumbling the manger said, and instead of a report being filed, the working officer found it would be much more convenient for her if she just

Marshall’s troubles extended beyond simple land or fishing rights dispute. There are symptoms of serious disease in the justice system when it comes to the life and trials of Marshall. Using a troubled youth and racism, the court system put Marshall away for a murder he didn’t commit. This apparent “murder” occurred in May of 1971 when Marshall met an acquaintance by the name of Sandy Seale late at night. Later on, Roy Ebsary and Jimmy MacNeil joined their party and a confrontation ensued where Ebsary stabbed Seale and slashed Marshall. As any troubled youth would do, they fled the scene. Yet, despite the fact that Marshall was the one to return and phone an ambulance, he was the one eventually convicted of the

Days following the shooting, with pressure rising from black activists and the general community, an FBI investigation into the events was launched. Its unconvincing conclusion

In Richard Wright’s novel, Native Son, the overall issue was with the main character, Bigger Thomas, being accused of raping Mary. The film tells the story of the main character Bigger Thomas, a 20-year old African American man who is growing up in poverty on the Southside of Chicago. Native Son displays a series of events and decisions made by Bigger that will alter his life. The purpose of this essay to examine Richard Wright’s film adaptation of Native Son, and to argue that Bigger Thomas proves to be guilty of murder due to being present with the victim, him covering up the crime, and his history of violence.

On January 24, 2017 I observed the court case of William Satchell vs. Johnny Griffin. The name of the case I observed was Butler in department 20 and the judge present was Michael G Bowman. I arrived to 720 9th Street in Sacramento, CA at 1pm and stayed until 4pm. I observed a murder case where I watched the defense attorney Johnny Griffin try and defend his client Mr. Butler. Mr. Butler shot and killed Carl Talent an innocent man. Carl talent was shot and killed and the defense attorney Johnny Griffin said the killing was a result of a heated argument. The defense attorney Johnny Griffin said Mr. Butler shot and killed Carl Talent due to self-defense because he was scared for his life. The defense attorney Johnny Griffin made clear to

Nevertheless, how the victim’s husband may have felt after the shooting towards the accused, Brenton v. Florida is one of the most botched examples of police work in the history of the United States. Their poor work led to many questions asked. Why did they pick up a 15 year old boy when they witness said the age range was 20-25? Why was there not a broader search? Why was he tortured and forced to confess? Why did he not actually write the confession? I personally try to not jump to this conclusion, but all these questions could easily be tied into racism and the 5th course

Darryl Hunt is an African American born in 1965 in North Carolina. In 1984, he was convicted wrongfully of rape and murder of Deborah Sykes, a young white woman working as a newspaper editor. This paper researches oh his wrongful conviction in North Carolina. Darryl Hunt served nineteen and a half years before DNA evidence exonerated him. The charges leveled against him were because of inconsistencies in the initial stages of the case. An all-white bench convicted the then nineteen-year-old Hunt, even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime. A hotel employee made false claims that he saw Hunt enter the hotel bathroom, and later emerge with bloodstained towels. Other witnesses also fixed Hunt to the case.

Many of us are naive to believe that race no longer exist in our criminal justice system. Darryl Hunt is not the only black man to be accused of a crime that he did not commit. In 1979 James Newsome was charged with armed robbery, and murder of a white proprietor of a grocery store in Chicago. The prosecutors did not find any physical evidence at the crime scene, and his fingerprints were not found on any items that the killer touched in the store. Mr. Newsome had a strong alibi, but three witnesses identified him as the killer. Similar to Darryl Hunt, James Newsome was convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to life in prison. After fifteen years in prison AFIS compared the fingerprint found at the crime scene and identified another man as the killer (Chapter 5, slide 5).

The main issue in the article is racial discrimination in providing judgments on cases between the blacks and their white counterparts. The racial discrimination is coupled with racial stigmatization where the blacks are regarded to be violent and gangsters. The judge uses this to humanize the killer while applying stigmatization to dehumanize the African-American girl.

They were claiming the evidence from witnesses is unclear. There were extreme discrepancies among witnesses regarding the number of people present on the front yard where the shots were fired. Defendant was only expressing his emotion and firing to empty an area that didn’t mean to hit anyone. Also, only one bullet was found which is one the victim body and no evidence shows that bullet was directly hit on the victim. It can be reflected. Base on those the jury could found it was manslaughter and the instruction of manslaughter first degree should be giving. Additionally, she was arguing about the gang evidence. Defendant was prejudiced by the introduction of generalized gang related evidence. Therefore, evidence from gain member should not be used as a consideration. For reasons stated above the court should vacate Defendant’s conviction of first degree murder and remand another new trial and new evidentiary

In John McHale’s Unreasonable Doubt, video documentary is used to promote justice for Joe Amrine who was wrongfully accused and placed on death row. The first theory I will address is Critical Race Theory. This theory identifies and demonstrates that racism is still prominent in today’s society and that it is common, ordinary, and normal. This theory can be applied to Unreasonable Doubt under the pretense that Joe Amrine is a black man in prison. One could

“(George Stinney) was interrogated by several police officers (all of whom were white) without any legal counsel (there)”(Source 9). Then the police gave the court his confession. However "the confession changed to fit the elements. The murder weapon changed. (First) it was a piece of iron, then a spike and then a railroad spike. (The confession) changed in a manner beneficial to law enforcement” (Source 8). This proves that the police were biased against George Stinney. Another example of bias was when “Plowden (defense attorney) (said) there would be no appeal, as the Stinney family had no money to pay for a continuation. However, Plowden never asked the family if they had enough money, he just told the jurors that. That proves that the jury, defense attorney, and police were all