Most of the evidence gathered in this case seems to be circumstantial. There is no direct evidence, which is ultimately why the charges were dismissed against Pape and Smith, along with the legal issues during the proceedings. The most important piece of evidence has to be the DNA evidence and the phone records. DNA evidence was found connecting Smith to the scene. A business card was near a wheelbarrow that Becky, one of the victims, was found dead in that had DNA matching Smith’s. Also, the business card was for a Catholic ministry, a church Pape’s mother volunteered at. This could not have been a coincidence because the likelihood of a random match is very slim. This DNA evidence was the only forensic evidence found at the time of the …show more content…
Shoe prints and tire tracks were also found at the scene. However, as investigation went on, they were unable to find the shoe that matched the print. Investigators concluded that Vicki Friedli was most likely shot with a .40-caliber handgun, possibly a Glock. Hayward, Vicki’s boyfriend and one of the victims of the killing, was shot with a 12-gauge shotgun. In 2007, after a search in Pape’s then home, authorities found the shotgun and shells that could have possibly been used for the weapons killing the victims. Furthermore, a Glock holster was found, but not the actual Glock. With the evidence mentioned, there was enough for an arrest. But ultimately, it was not enough to find both suspects guilty. (Whetstone & Newkirk, 2014)
Social Impact Informal social controls are any tools that are used to control behavior in everyday social life. Some main examples of informal social control include friends, families, and communities. Formal social controls are mechanisms used by the government to regulate and control human behavior and to make people in the society follow laws and conform to norms. The most important tools include the criminal justice system and the criminal law. (Owen, Fradella, Burke, & Joplin, 2012) Informal social controls are a big part of forming the basis of the socialization
Social control/bond theory was developed by Travis Hirschi in1969. The social control approach is one of the three major sociological perspectives in understanding crime in our contemporary criminology. The theory holds that individuals will break the law as a result of the breakdown of the social bonds (Akers & Sellers, 2004, p. 16). Control theorists believe that an individual conformity to societal social values and rules produced by socialization and maintained through social ties to the people and institutions. The social bond may include family attachment, an individual commitment to social norms or institutions like school, employment, churches and mosques. The key elements of the social bonds theory are an attachment to other individuals in the society and the desire to remain committed to following rules. In addition, an individual involvement in typical social behaviours as well as one 's belief or the value systems a person ascribes. According to the theory, crime and delinquency will result when a person bond to society is weak or lose (Demuth & Brown, 2004, p.65). Moreover, as social bonds increase in strength, individual costs of crime increases as well and this ultimately act as a barrier for committing a crime.
Social control theory is critical to criminology because of the strength and impacts a relationship or bond between people have. These relationships are influenced and shaped by behavior, personality and the environment they choose to surround themselves in. Direct social control is important for children, having a healthy family relationship and role models create a balance with social control. If a society works together to create positive support for each other it helps control the crime that is once influenced by negative activities and poor role models.
Today in the crime world, DNA evidence is strongly accepted in solving crime cases. This is all based in part by allowing a crime laboratory to have a designated unit whose main goal is to analyze DNA evidence to aid investigators with positive outcomes in crime case solving. With that being said we are going to discuss the functions of a DNA unit within a crime lab as well as address the vital role these units play in solving crime.
investigations both past and present. It can be used to identify criminals when there is evidence
After reading the article “The Meaning of Social Control” by Peter Berger I agree that social control is present in our daily lives trying to get people to conform in different situations. There are several different kinds of social control from violence, to gossip to even being shunned from a community. In the article it even states, that social control “...refers to the various means used by a society to bring its recalcitrant members back into line. No society can exist without social control (Berger 1).” This quote means without social control people wouldn’t be able to conform to any specific situation which can lead to a lot of issues. Even though conformity in general is perceived as a bad thing it can also be used for good. Like the example given when a police officer gives a person a ticket it teaches the person to not speed or they would get into trouble.
From December 1, 1989 to November 19, 1990 Aileen was responsible for the deaths of seven men, all of who were johns of hers (7): Richard Mallory, December 1, 1989; Dick Humphreys, May 19, 1990; Charles Carskaddon, May 31 1990; Troy Burress, July 30, 1990; Peter Siems, September 11, 1990; Walter Antonio, November 19, 1990; and David Spears, May 19, 1990. David Spears was the only man she was not convicted of killing. She carried a gun with her at all times; the murder weapon was a .22 caliber handgun – a small gun, generally carried by women and generally intended for self-defense. During her many trials, the recovered handgun, which Aileen had dumped in a river, was forensically matched to four of her victims (5).
Formal social control relates more with the gang association in Chicago. Formal social control is being deviant to the laws governing the city itself. For instance, a drug dealer peddling his drugs on the street corner. While Informal social control deals more with the unspoken rules that govern a person. An example of informal would be saying thank you to a waitress for bringing the food out in a timely
Just yesterday, there was a horrifying death, at Smyth’s Gun Shop in Plainfield. A woman by the name of Yvette Harvey killed herself with one of the guns on display at this shop. It was later discovered that the woman obtained the bullets at Walmart. This knowledge was achieved when investigators found a receipt for a box of ammunition in Yvette Harvey’s purse. The owner of the gun shop stated, “ She asked to see a pistol. She said she wanted to keep it in the house, for protection. Then, the woman asked if I had any literature on the model, and when I turned my back to find some, she shot herself with the gun.” Many might also recognize the woman's last name, which is Harvey. Just recently, the woman's daughter was the first killed at the
Before any release, there must be proper evidence showing that the accused had nothing to do with the crime. The introduction of the first person using DNA to prove his innocent was David Vasquez. In 1985, he was convicted, later in 1990; he was released due to DNA evidence (O’Leary, 2012). Since the Vasquez case, DNA testing has been a very powerful technique to use to prove a person’s innocence. A great reason for this is because victims are capable of lying and misidentifying.
In the case in which the man that was walking early in the morning and found a leg in the dumpster. It would of been extremely difficult for the FBI if they wouldn't of had the DNA Index System. By using this system in which federal, state, and local crime scene Labratories are allowed to electronically exchange and compare DNA profiles. The FBI was able to take things like scars and past surgeries that were done to the leg, and compare those things to profiles that had been kept in a hospital. This made it to where the police and the FBI could narrow the possible victims down to persons that had that type of knee surgery. The FBI were able to find a match from the hospital because the hospital was required to keep DNA samples for a minimum
The unborn child was going to be a boy which Jordan also felt jealousy towards since he was a solo child with no siblings. Police had found a twelve gauge shotgun covered by a blanket with a quarter sized hole burnt onto it. This was the weapon that was used to kill the victim, which was testified by a state trooper who stated that the gun smelled like it was freshly fired at the time. Police also found gunshot residue on one of Jordan’s shirt, as well as gunshot residue on his hands. All of this evidence is strongly linked with Jordan being the killer. The police concluded that when Jordan and the oldest daughter of the victim were about to go to school, Kenzie Houck was still asleep in her room. Jordan had obtained the twelve gauge shotgun from his father’s collection of guns and entered Kenzie’s room and wrapped the shotgun with a blanket and fired it off onto her head. Kenzie had died instantly, and eventually the fetus as well. Jordan had dropped the gun on the floor and headed off to school with the victim’s oldest
Before the 1980s, courts relied on testimony and eyewitness accounts as a main source of evidence. Notoriously unreliable, these techniques have since faded away to the stunning reliability of DNA forensics. In 1984, British geneticist Alec Jeffreys of the University of Leicester discovered an interesting new marker in the human genome. Most DNA information is the same in every human, but the junk code between genes is unique to every person. Junk DNA used for investigative purposes can be found in blood, saliva, perspiration, sexual fluid, skin tissue, bone marrow, dental pulp, and hair follicles (Phillips, 2008). By analyzing this junk code, Jeffreys found certain sequences of 10 to 100 base pairs repeated multiple
Forensic DNA analysis is still a relatively new method that has been used to solve cases such as crimes and paternity tests. This method of forensic evaluation is examined by using genetic material, DNA, an acronym for deoxyribonucleic acid. Although each individual’s DNA differs from someone else’s, with the exception of identical twins, around 99.9% of DNA is the same in each person ("The FBI DNA Laboratory"). Therefore, in order to identify the genetic profile of the individual being analyzed, scientists focus on the remaining 0.1% of DNA that differentiates one person from another ("The FBI DNA Laboratory").
Social bonds in some cases can prevent people from committing a crime. However, if these bonds are broken, criminal behavior
Formal social control is a form of control that is “carried out by authorized agents, such as police officers, judges, school administrators,