In the novel Monster the main character is Steve and he is in court and jail for being accused of a murder and robbery. I believe that Steve is innocent in this particular case. The main reason why they are seeing Steve so differently is because he black. I agree with what Steve's defense attorney said which was “the jury already knew their opinion as soon as they saw him walk in.” They saw an African American troubled teen walk into the courtroom who looks like he knows something. In addition, in court they barely let Steve tell his side of the story. I think he had nothing to do with this robbery/murder. He seems like he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Steve says to O’brien “ aren’t you are innocent till proven guilty.” Surprisingly
Chris McCandless as depicted in the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and in the movie of the same name by Sean Penn, was not ignorant and he did have common sense. He had every reason to go into the Alaskan wilderness and to say he had no common sense is ridiculous. He was definitely not crazy and his courage and noble ideas should be admired. He was a man that followed his dreams and did something that most of us wish we had the guts to do. What Chris McCandless A.K.A Alexander Supertramp did, was admirable and worthy of respect.
After the 15 day trial, the teenager was found guilty, charged with murder and was sentenced to be hanged. He was the youngest death row inmate in Canada. During the trial, Steven was represented by Frank Donnelly. All the evidence that was shown in court was all circumstantial, and was centered on determining the estimated time of Harper's death which implicated Truscott. Another thing they found as evidence was that he had fresh burns on his penis which led to them believing he did rape her.
His story is quite engaging as he was placed on the death sentence at only fourteen years old in June 1959 of rape and murder of a fellow classmate, arranged to be executed of hanging months after the conviction that he was wrongfully convicted for. Even despite being found not guilty by a jury of the murder of Lynne Harper in 1959, Steven has always claimed he was innocent, though he did not offer his evidence at the original murder trial, the jury did disclose that most of the evidence had been circumstantial. He also even voluntarily submitted to psychiatric probation in prison for truth serum and LSD to help his innocence. There was also no DNA evidence that could have been analyzed in his case. Steven's father, Daniel also had struggled for two decades to clear the name of his
Hey, Cory, I researched and found an article about a man named Harold J. Stewart, a 42-year-old high school dropout, who defended himself in a murder case in Prince George's County, whereas he was accused of beating a sleeping man to death with a baseball bat. (Casteneda, 2008) Stewart’s pro se trial only lasted three days; where is the fairness in this prosecution? The jury only deliberated for about an hour. It seems like Stewart never had a chance; considering, at the most, it takes at least more than a day even to hear evidence in a murder trial. It was faith because the jurors found Stewart not guilty of first-degree murder and not guilty of second-degree murder. (Casteneda, 2008) You know there is a saying a man who represents himself
Walter Dean Myers creates the story of sixteen year old Steve Harmon, from Steve’s point of view, as he struggles with the fact that he is being tried for felony murder. If he loses the case, the result could be the death penalty at worst, and at best, over twenty years in prison. Steve battles to prove his innocence and battle the prosecution with sheer determination. Day to day, Steve’s case seems to be going downhill. He only sees his family for short periods of time, and when he does see them they are faking their emotions to seem happy. While Steve is being held in Manhattan Detention Center, he finds himself living in fear. He describes how his look has changed, the terrible violence in prison, and the only time he can cry is when other
Steven Avery's case has been one of the most captivating cases in the nation to hit the Netflix series. So many people have argued whether or not Steven Avery is guilty or innocetnce. I believe Steven Avery is guilty for the murder of Teresa Halbach. The reason I believe this is because Every piece of information in this case leads to none other than Steven Avery. This is why I believe Steven Avery is guilty for making Teresa Halbach a target, finding evidence in Steven Avery's property, and Brendan for being a witness.
In “The Monster” by Walter Dean Myers, there are many things in prison that most affects Steve Harmon which can cause him to change. First, within the prison, is said that all they talk about is drugs and sex. This is important because it affects Steve because he has nothing to do with that and now knows what it is like which could change him to be like that. Also, in that terrible place they call jail there are many fights that occur in it. For example, Steve Harmon mentions in the story that someone was hit in the face with a tray during breakfast. This shows that Steve hates fights and does not want to be in any. This affects him because of he in jail with a bunch of grown men which start the fights. Finally, prison is a place where Steve
Steve faces the complication of finding separation between him and the others on the trial. Steve was stereotyped because he was black, leading to
The verdict was he was innocent, and James King was sentenced to 25 years to life. This is like the claim to believe in yourself, even if nobody else doesn't. Steve in the end is reflecting on himself in his journal entry on page 280 “after the trial, my father, with tears in his eyes, held me close and said that he was thankful that i didn't not have to go to jail.” This piece of evidence shows happiness from his father because Steve didn't go to jail. This connects to the claim because this gives a reason to believe in yourself and have confidence and Steve did that and now he is back with his family.
The questionable forensic evidence, the untrustworthy witnesses and the insufficient investigation are all reasons why Steven Truscott should never have been charged with the rape and murder of Lynne Harper. Being charged with something you did not commit is something nobody wants to go through. Evidence, witnesses and the investigation portion is very important for a case to run correctly. It took Steven Truscott 42 years to finally get his name cleared. He went through many trials and hearings to finally get the news one day that he was free to go. Most of his life was taken from him that he will never get back. “They finally got it right after all these years. I am so used to fighting. Now we don’t have to fight anymore.”
At trial, the Clayton County district attorney gets around the lack of evidence by simply allowing the white victims to describe their brutal attack at the hands of a black male. The DA piles these emotional accounts on top of false records and contradictory identifications by the victims, and the judge and all white jury never give Johnson a chance for acquittal. I found myself throwing my hands in the air and screaming at the page as I witnessed an innocent man being buried under a blanket of discrimination and blind justice, condemning him to a life in prison.
One reason I believe that Steve is guilty is because of his journal. In Steve’s journal he says, “Anybody can walk into a drugstore and look around.”(115) This proves that Steve was helping to be a lookout in the crime, which means he was an accomplice, and that he was in the drugstore when the crime happened. “It was me, I thought as I tried not to throw up, that had wanted to be tough like them.” Steve also writes in his journal (130). Steve is writing that he wanted to be tough like King and his friends. This proves that he wants to be like King, which might have influenced him to help with the crime. Steve also writes in his journal, “I knew she felt that I didn’t do anything wrong. It was me who wasn’t sure.” (148). Steve wrote this after talking with his mother. Steve is doubting his own innocence, if he is doubting his innocence, then is he really innocent?
Can racial bias have an effect on the verdict of being guilty or innocent? The American judicial courtroom has been comprised of the nation’s many greatest racial discriminatory cases over the past century, but the most racially upstanding case, when referring to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird includes The Scottsboro Trials. Both stories uprise in the 1930s, displaying a white supremacist mindset, which two cases fall into the conviction of rape. The Scottsboro case started on a train to northern Alabama to southern Tennessee, when nine African American boys, ranging in ages from 13-19, allegedly raped two “innocent” Caucasian women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. Racial discrimination uprises in American judicial system when shown in To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scottsboro Trials through the racial prejudice within the jury in the courtroom, easy accessibility to target African Americans, biased accusations, as well as the social pressure to serve in one’s defense.
(2) Aileen never felt guilty toward her victims. In the movie, she mentioned that “people kill each and other everyday” for religion and politics, and “there are heroes”. She could not stop killing because she felt that she had to kill people who could rape her to avoid them to rape somebody else. If she had not been caught, she would kill more people. At the end of the movie, after she was convicted, she still considered that the judge sentenced “a right woman to death”.
Internal and External Description: He is thought by some people as a “talented, bright, and compassionate" kid, on the other hand, some people call him a “Monster”. He isn’t violent, and when he compares himself with the criminals he feels he doesn’t fit in with them. He is scared of the jail environment and the prisoners around him as a result, he has suicidal thoughts. Steve loves his little brother Jerry and cares for his family very much. He appears to be truthful