Argumentative Essay: White's Murder In The United States

White was seeking revenge for the wrongs he felt were being perpetrated into him. Once the public was made aware of the murders by Diane Feinstein, approximately forty thousand people gathered and marched from Castro street where Milk was known as the Mayor of Castro street to City Hall and held a silent vigil in the memory of Milk and Mayor Moscone. During jury selection Whites attorney made sure to exclude those who supported gay rights or those he thought were gay and eventually got a jury of working-class Catholic jurors. The prosecution lead by Thomas Norman aimed to convince the jury that this murder had every aspect of first-degree murder, malice, premeditation and deliberation. Various witnesses were called to speak of Whites actuons during that day in City Hall. Rudolph Nothenberg, a deputy to Mayor Moscone, confirmed that the mayor had planned to appoint Dan Horanzey to replace White. Diane Feinstein the new Mayor of San Francisco also testified. She clamed she tried to speak to White but he ran to Milk’s office and she heard shots. The state also called Frank Falzon to the stand, one of two detectives who interviewed White. The prosecution asked if the tape was altered the
detective denied that accusation and the tape was played to the jury; the tape brought four jurors to tears. The defense of Dan White came to be known as the Twinkie Defense due to the claims made by the defense that junk food was to blame for the atrocious crimes committed by White. The defenses official defense was diminished capacity which was caused by White’s sever depression – the defense argued that white was mentally ill. The defense claimed that he was depressed before the shootings and that eventually lead to the murders of Milk and the Mayor. The defense argued that the symptoms of Whites depression are the main reason for the shooting occurring. The symptoms included insomnia, no longer exercising schedule, and most importantly eating a less healthy diet which included items such as: Coco-Cola doughnuts, and Twinkies. The defense claimed that the depression was so sever that his judgment was clouded and he could not tell right from wrong. White’s attorney Douglas Schmidt claimed that normal healthy people don’t just kill people in “cold blood”. Schmidt claimed that White had been an upstanding member of society and if it weren’t for the “biochemical change” that occurred because of his depression he would have never committed such heinous crimes. White’s attorney also claimed that due to this biochemical change White did not have any control over himself. Schmidt also got detective Falzon to admit that the White who committed these crimes was not the White he knew. The defense also claimed that the dirty politics at City Hall assisted in driving White into a deep depression. Mr. Schmidt also made sure to point out the Milk was a homosexual and White growing up as an all American boy was startled by such behavior. The defense produced expert testimony by psychiatrist Dr. Martin Blinder. Dr. Blinder stated that White had changed his normally health conscious diet to a diet that consisted of junk food. Dr. Blinder stated that because White’s depression was so severe these changes occurred in his diet. This state of depression was used to convince the jury that Whites judgment was clouded by his depression to the point that he did not have any self-control. The aim of the defense was to get White convicted of manslaughter rather than murder. Although as strange and unbelievable this defense may seem, after only 36 hours of deliberation the jury had decided on a verdict. The jury refused to convict White on murder charges choosing to convict White on two counts of voluntary manslaughter. The jury reached this decision even though it was clear that White sneaked into City Hall with a loaded gun specifically looking for Milk and Mayor Moscone. Many argued that the defense put on a good defense and that Whites depression was obvious others, however, argue that this was homophobia at its best. White was convicted on two counts of voluntary manslaughter and was given the maximum. On July 3, 1979 White was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison. After the conviction a peaceful demonstration by City Hall turned violent and more than 5,000 police officers reacted which of-course resulted in hundreds of people being injured.
The peaceful protesters started chanting “Avenge Harvey Milk!” and at one point started throwing stones at City hall. The riots ended up being known as “The White Night Riots”. White served five years in prison and is released on January 7, 1984. A few months after he was released White committed suicide by carbon monoxide in his car. Due to the public outrage of White being convicted of a lesser crime rather than murder California voters voted to ban the diminished capacity defense. It is important to note that a gay rights activist Harry Britt, Jr. appointed by Diane Feinstein filled Milk’s
seat. As I have mentioned time after time in this course I am always sadden and disappointed when any individual loses their life. Harvey Milk was a person who was ahead of his time. His main goal in life was to speak for those who didn’t have the choice or the will to. He fought for the rights of not only gay individuals but for those who had been marginalized for years – which included: children, women and other minorities. Besides the fact that a human life was lost in my personal view Harvey Milk did not receive justice. Mayor Moscone much like Harvey Milk was a man ahead of his time. He wanted to create a society where people were accepted and constantly fought against discrimination. He as well is a life lost too soon and one that never received justice. In my opinion White was a homophobe that disliked Milk and disliked Moscone for siding with Milk. He was a very conservative person who saw what he considered traditional values slip away and he simply couldn’t cope with that. I think White believed that he was a political asset to the Mayor and was under the impression that he would always have a place in politics and that is why he resigned and then with the encouragement of others decided to take his job back. White blamed Milk for his shortcomings although he was the only one responsible. I also did not believe the defense theory that he was so depressed that he did not know what he was doing It was clear from his actions that he entered City Hall with the intention of committing murder. I think it is pretty clear from the fact that he sneaked into City Hall instead of walking through the front door. Then he proceeded to go straight to the Mayors office and after murdering the Mayor straight to Milk’s office and ignored anyone who was trying to get his attention. If he truly did not have any control over his actions why didn’t he shoot anyone else? I also think the prosecution could have done a better job during jury selection instead they gave the defense the jury of their dreams. Also the fact that the police officers, which took Whites statements, were his friends and that is highly problematic. I strongly believe that, the jury was bias and it did not like gay individuals. I think any person would be able to see that those murderers were planed and thought out and did not result from any type of mental illness or diminished capacity. I would like to end this essay with a quote from Harvey Milk that truly shows what he was fighting about. “All men are created equal. Now matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. That is what America is about.”