Terrance Jamar Graham Case Study

FACTS: Graham, 16 years old, was sentenced to three years' probation, with the first year to be served in the county jail. Less than six months after being released, he was arrested for a home-invasion robbery with two accomplices. After that, he was sentenced to life imprison without the possibility of parole.

In the case of Georgia vs. Schmidt, this is an interesting juvenile case. Lacey Schmidt who was 15 at the time of the attack murdered his 14 year old girlfriend at the time in her Miles Road home. He was charged with theft, possession of a firearm and murder. Lacey is accused of shooting and murdering Alana Calahan by shooting her in the back of the head while inside her home in Harlem Georgia. Lacey was sentenced to life without parole. The crime happened in January of 2011 in the neighborhood of Harlem where Lacey and Alana were from. Lacey was then convicted of malice murder, felony murder while in commission of aggravated assault in February 2011 where he received life in prison without parole. Prosecutors say that Lacey had planned the

Ronald Duncan is one prime example of the failings of the juvenile court. It is the one case written about in the book, that the juvenile system has virtually no chance of saving the juvenile from further crime. It also happens to be the one case in which the juvenile court couldn’t transfer the child into adult court, and therefore could not sentence him to a harsh enough sentence. Duncan was charged with two counts of first degree murder, not many days before his sixtieth birthday. When after a night working at Baskin’Robbins the owners, a husband and wife, were going to drive Duncan

Jarrell Milton was initially charged as a juvenile with first-degree murder, but the prosecutors said “that they did not believe Jarrell Milton was the shooter, and his charges were reduced.” The Judge ordered Jarrell to be held at the youth center in secure placement for as of now. The Judge also said “if he was found guilty he would not go to prison, but he would go to a facility known as Boys Town or a rehab center in Kearney and remain under the court’s jurisdiction until the age of 19.” As for the Jamar and Shuntayvious Primes-Willis they were both charged as adults with first-degree murder. Jamar’s attorney requested that his case be moved to juvenile court, but his request got denied mostly because of his age. Primes-Willis also made

In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” by Jennifer Jenkins asserts that teens are becoming more violent and starting commit more crimes because of the national television they watch.Jenkins tells the reader about “JLWOP” (Juvenile Life Without Parole) and how kids are being sentenced to life in prison without parole.Some people are trying to advocate to minimize the offender culpability because of their age.While kids are getting sentenced to life without parole, this disproves juvenile advocates reliance on the undeveloped brain.Some juvenile offenders truly understand what the victim family go through and how long it takes them to recover.There were millions of dollars spent to end JLWOP and to set convicted murderers free.

On January 26, 2001, 13-year-old Lionel Tate was convicted in the first-degree murder of Tiffany Eunick. The incident occurred in July of 1999 in Pembroke Park, Florida. Tate, then twelve, claimed he was imitating pro wrestlers when he killed six-year-old Eunick. He claimed to have picked the girl up and accidentally thrown her into a stair handrail and wall while trying to throw her onto a sofa. Experts all agreed that Eunick was beaten for a period of time. The autopsy report showed that the girl suffered a fractured skull, lacerated liver, broken rib, internal hemorrhaging, and cuts and bruises. One expert said her injuries were comparable to falling from a

The tragic case of Larry and Brandon is a compelling story. It is a reality that stunned the city of Oxnard California when a 14-year-old boy named Brandon McInerney fatally shot a fellow classmate, Larry King, twice in the back of the head. The incident occurred in a computer lab where Brandon ran off after committing the crime. As a result of his actions Brandon McInerney was tried as an adult and was sentenced to 21 years in prison with no chance of parole. He will be released at the age of 39. Now the underlying question is was Brandon’s sentence a just resolution or should he have received more or less years in prison. The truth is that I believe Brandon’s verdict was a fair and just punishment,

In the article “On Punishment and Teen Killers” the author states “My youngest sister was the joy of our close family. When a teenager murdered her and her husband in 1990 in suburban Chicago, she was pregnant with their first child. She begged for the life of her unborn child as he shot her. He reported to a friend, who testified at his trial, about his “thrill kill” that he just wanted to “see what it would feel like to shoot someone.” This teen was charged as adult by the JLWOP ( Juvenile Life without Parole) his problem was he was believed to be a serial killer in the making. In the article Jenkins states “ After a series of other crimes, he planned the murders for months, carefully and privately. He did not act on impulse of peer pressure…” This quote means the teenager had other intentions of killing more people his problem was he just wanted to understand how it felt to kill someone and the consequence after the crimes were done. Maybe he believed since he was underage he would not get charged as an adult.

It is common knowledge that t he degree in which a person is convicted, more often than not, depends on the severity of the crime. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, juvenile crimes were at an all time high which resulted in the a strong advocacy for stricter trials for young criminals . Many congressmen pushed for harsher trials and punishments for juvenile offenders to set the example that even though they are young, their actions have consequences. Miles Corwin, a journalist for

On December 17, 1992, 15 year-old Jacob Ind went to school after having murdered his mother and stepfather in the early hours of that morning. In an interview with Frontline he recalled, “I remember I was sitting in the police station and this is how out of touch of reality I was. I had a small amount of marijuana, like an eighth of an ounce, in my bedroom. And I 'm telling my brother, 'You got to get the marijuana or else I 'm in trouble” (Profile Jacob Ind). His attorneys contended that he was acting in self-defense, claiming that the murders were the climax of years of insult by his parents. On June 17, 1994, he was convicted and handed a mandatory sentence of lifetime without parole. This is just one of many life experiences of juveniles sentenced to life without parole in the U.S. There have been many other instances where the juvenile was not the real murderer, but was however given the lifetime without parole sentence. In those instances the defendant would have been convicted of felony murder, in which the defendant could have just been an active participant in a crime during which a murder was committed and consequently, spend life in jail without parole. Felony murder came into play in the case of Devon and Jovon Knox, in July 2007, the 17-year-old twins set out to steal a car together (Sentencing Juveniles). During the car jack, one of the brothers shot and killed the car’s owner. The panel could not decide which brother pulled

This was very impressive and surely made him stand out in the crowd. On February 14, 1993, Allen and some friends were in an altercation that could have changed Iverson’s life forever. At a bowling alley in Virginia, he and his friends were apparently being too loud. After being asked to be quiet several times, another group of youth began shouting at them and eventually a fight broke out. A group of white youths had a brawl with Iverson and his friends, who were also black. Allen had suspectedly hit a woman in the head with a chair and was arrested along with his friends. He and his friends were the only ones arrested. Iverson’s case was treated as an adult felony, even though he was 17, and drew a 15-year prison sentence. He had ten years taken off, and within four months gained clemency by the Virginia governor, and got his case dropped by the Virginia Court of Appeals with lack of evidence. This made Iverson finish his high school career at Richard Milburn High School, a school for at-risk students, and he couldn’t play sports. But the Georgetown University coach saw potential of the time he has played and offered

Romarr Gipson, at the early age of seven, is the youngest boy to have ever been charged with murder. Gipson along with his eight-year-old friend named Elijah Henderson were charged with first-degree murder of the eleven-year-old Ryan Harris. It was later determined after the boys claimed they murdered Harris, that she was found to be murdered and raped by a 37-year-old man named Floyd Durr. Gipson had already shown signs of psychological issues as a young boy. A psychiatrist determined that he had “cognitive disabilities.” The boy did not speak well and would lose his train of thought easily. Gipson’s family received a $2 million settlement from the city of Chicago from a claim that the boy was framed and psychologically damaged. Roughly eight years after the Harris case, Romarr Gipson found himself before a judge yet again. At this point he is fifteen years old, and facing aggravated battery charges. It appears that a child wrongfully accused of rape and murder will forever be traumatized by such an impactful event that it could easily lead to such problems as post-traumatic stress disorder, social and emotional complications, learning disorders, and behavioral problems. I believe that the “Psychological Theory” along with its sub-theories the “Psychodynamic Theory” and “Behavioral Theory,” help define and

Lionel Tate is the youngest American to get sentenced to prison for life without the possibility of parole. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2001, he was only 13 at the time of the incident. He had supposedly been play wrestling with Tiffany Eunick, a six year old girl, and had her in a chokehold and hit her head on a table. Although it was true, they were wrestling there were other injuries to Eunick such as her liver was lacerated, fractured skull, fractured ribs and a swollen brain. They said the injuries were similar to ones of falling off a three story building. Broward County Circuit Court said “The acts of Lionel Tate were not the playful acts of a child[...] The acts of Lionel Tate were cold, callous and indescribably cruel. In 2004 the state appealed court overturned his conviction

In March 2013, Nehemiah Griego was 15 when he opened fire in his home and killed his three siblings and parents. He claimed that he found his family dead, however he confessed to killing his family and the desire to randomly kill other people. Nehemiah Greigo’s attorney’s claimed that he can be psychologically rehabilitated instead thrown into jail. In the two years that he was in treatment, he greatly improved and might have a second chance of life. As a result, a judge cleared him by sentencing him as a juvenile and released from state custody when he turns 21.

Anthony Rolon was one out of roughly three dozen teens in Massachusetts to be convicted of murder and sentenced to mandatory life in prison without parole during the 1980’s to 1990’s. When the details of Rolon’s crime were being discussed, I initially thought he had intended to kill his victim, Bobby