Name of Case: The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson
Year the crime was committed: 1994
Place the crime was committed: Brentwood neighborhood, Los Angeles, CA
Who was the perpetrator? Formal football player and actor O. J. Simpson
Who was the victim? Ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman
List the elements of the crime: Criminal act, criminal intent, concurrence, causation, harm, attendant circumstances
What penal code was violated? Explain the punishment attached to the offense: According to the California Penal Code list, the number of the violated code was 187 PC – Murder. In the discussed case, there were 2 first-degree murders that were carried by a means of a destructive device. This type of murder generally carries a 25-yesr sentence in prison.
One page summary of the incident. Please provide as much information about the facts of the cases: On June 13, 1994, at 12:10 am, Nicole Brown and Jon Goldman were found stabbed outside of Nicole’s house in Brentwood, Los Angeles. O. J. Simpson, the ex-husband of Nicole Brown became the first person of interest because a bloody glove was found behind his house making him the only suspect in murdering two people. In addition, his flight to Chicago right after the murder and the history of sexual assault in the Simson family were other indications that this person can be connected to the violent crime.
Was the perpetrator convicted? If so, what was the sentence? According to the verdict decided on October 3, 1995, it was stated that O. J. Simpson was not guilty in the murder of both individuals.
Introduction
Like everything in the contemporary society, the criminal justice system is not ideal and is surrounded by controversies and discussions about wrongful convictions and unfair judgement of people based on different characteristics. Therefore, the existence of various projects focused on helping individuals who received unfair treatment and contributing to the positive change in the system is essential. The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal organization which main purpose is to support those who were wrongfully convicted by using research, investigation, DNA testing, and developing reforms that will prevent the appearance of injustice in the future. Thus, this project has all the power to save people from death row or life-long imprisonment and give them a possibility to live and long and happy life in the world. It is also extremely important for the criminal justice system that, as a result of all these activities, can advance and become more just.
Case Description
It should primarily be mentioned that are many well-known wrongful conviction cases that were assigned to individuals as a result of various issues. These issues might include such phenomena as mistakes during investigation processes, DNA substitution, and even ethical and racial features of suspects. One of the popular wrongful convocation cases in the history of the United States is the Central Par jogger case. This was a criminal case of the assault and rape of a white woman in the Central Park, Manhattan on April 19, 1989 during the string of other similar attack in the same area (Chancer, 2005). The woman named Trisha Meili went for her regular evening run in the Central Park an, while jogging, was knocked down, raped, and beaten to the point that she spent 12 days in a coma (Chancer, 2005). The crime was quickly associated with the five black Latino teenagers that were sentenced to spend from 6 to twelve years in prison. Individuals were charged with the criminal act, intent, and harm that was brought on the physical and emotional well-being of the woman.
The main reason of the case being overturned are the racial and ethical problems connected to it. At that time, police were focused on associating crimes with poor and wild youth who were constantly looking for trouble. Since the five Latino teenagers could be connected to these stereotypes and descriptions, they were quickly charged with the crime. Therefore, this case was a great example of how the desire to establish immediate justice for the victim can lead negative consequences which, in this case, was the wrongful conviction of five innocent people (Mexal, 2013). However, in 2002, the serial rapist confessed to committing this crime and five men were let out of prison (Johnson, 2005). This case gained a lot of popularity primarily because it was largely connected to the problem of racism in the United States. As a result, these five men were awarded with 41 million dollars for unjust imprisonment (Johnson, 2005).
Conclusion
To summarize, the wrongful convictions is one of the most serious problems that exist in the criminal justice system. This issue existed many decades ago and it is still present in the contemporary world which is a great indication that it has to be managed as soon as possible. An important point that has to be mentioned is that many of those convictions appear as a result of unjust treatment of individuals based on their skin color, nationality, or other distinguishing features. For instance, the discussed case proved that racism can lead to innocent people being sentenced to years in prison for nothing while losing a chance to have normal life and building a successful career. Thus, serious action has to be taken in order to bring positive change to the criminal justice system in the US.
References
Chancer, L. (2005). Before and after the Central Park jogger: When legal cases become social causes. contexts, 4(3), 38-42.
Johnson, M. B. (2005). The Central Park jogger case – police coercion and secrecy in interrogation: The 14th annual Frantz Fanon MD memorial lecture. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 3(1-2), 131-143.
Mexal, S. J. (2013). The roots of “wilding”: Black literary naturalism, the language of wilderness, and hip hop in the Central Park jogger pape. African American Review, 46(1), 101-115. Web.