Preview

Richard Alexander Innocent Or Innocent Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
816 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Richard Alexander Innocent Or Innocent Essay
Innocent or Not?
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.” In 1996, Richard Alexander was held in connection to four sexual assaults in South Bend, Indiana. Richard was sentenced to 70 years in prison, but was released after only serving three years. According to innocentproject.org, “Richard was charged with two counts of robbery, two counts of criminal deviate conduct, two counts of attempted rape, two counts of confinement, attempted robbery, rape, burglary and auto theft.” But in 2001, mitochondrial DNA testing showed that Alexander was the assailant in one of the cases, this is when
…show more content…
Alexander was charged in four separate incidences but he only went to trial on three of the cases due to been cleared in the fourth case. The fourth case he was cleared in was due to DNA testing, according to innocenceproject.org “the victim and her fiancé both had identified and were certain that Alexander was the perpetrator. The DNA tested in that incident matched the DNA profile of another man.” When at trial, one of the victims identified Alexander as being the assailant. According to the Innocentproject.org “The victim described the perpetrator as being chest free of hair and tattoos. Alexander’s chest had tattoos and was hairy.” Alexander was then convicted of two cases and was then sentenced to 70 years in prison. Alexander was convicted of the remaining two cases, but mitochondrial DNA testing was not accessible at the time of his conviction, but it was later used to clear him of one of the two crimes he was convicted for. Michael Murphy had confessed to the crime and hairs from the scene had concluded that it matched Murphy’s profile and not Alexander’s. Then that made prosecutors think that maybe Alexander hadn’t committed the seconded incident he was convicted of. Even though, the victim and another eye witness named him as the perpetrator. Modus operandi in the second incident was similar to an assault committed by Mark

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    There was a hair found in a van with stolen goods that was said to link James to the van in the garage of the rented house of Perry. Perry disappeared before the hearing so it was said the James killed him so he could not go to court against him. But DNA testing was not performed. LAter the hair was sent to London for testing and proved that both were innocent.…

    • 249 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ex-Brock Turner Case

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page

    In the September 6 issue of the LA Times, reporter Sarah Parvini published an article about a former rapist registering as a sex offender, and his sentence. Ex-Stanford swimmer, Brock Turner, was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman behind a dumpster. The woman was completely unconscious and due to this, he was charged with three felony counts: assault with the intent to commit rape of an unconscious person, sexual penetration of an unconscious person and sexual penetration of an intoxicated person. Turner originally faced 14 years and jail but got 6 months instead. He was later released 3 months earlier than his 6-month sentence because of good behavior. This article contains conflict, drama, and oddity. This story contains a man vs.…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cupp Versus Murphy Brief

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Merits: The respondent, Daniel Murphy, was convicted by a jury in an Oregon court of the second-degree murder of his wife. The victim died by strangulation in her home in the city of Portland, and abrasions and lacerations were found on her throat. There was no sign of a break-in or robbery. Word of the murder was sent to the estranged husband, Daniel Murphy. Upon receiving the message, Murphy promptly telephoned the Portland police and voluntarily came into Portland for questioning. Shortly after the respondent’s arrival at the station house, where he was met by retained counsel, the police noticed a dark spot on the respondent’s finger. Suspecting that the spot might be dried blood and knowing that evidence of strangulation is often found under the assailant’s fingernails, the police asked Murphy if they could take a sample of scrapings from his fingernails. He refused. Under protest and without a warrant, the police proceeded to take the samples. After this evidence was collected, Murphy was released and was not formally “arrested” until approximately one month later. The samples turned out to contain traces of skin and blood cells, and fabric from the victim’s nightgown. This incriminating evidence was admitted at the trial over defense objections.…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is not enough evidence to prove that he committed a robbery or sexually battered Anna, only enough to charge him with stealing. Conrad may be charged with robbery or sexually battery later, depending on the results of the evidence that are currently being processed. Sergeant Pitts booked Conrad for theft and he notified of the parole board of his violation. His arraignment was held over three days while the police and prosecutor’s office determined if he would have any additional charges filed against him. Conrad did confess to stealing Raferty’s credit card he found on the sidewalk. When the medical evidence came back from the lab, it showed that the DNA tissue scrapings taken from underneath Raferty’s fingernails matched the DNA of Conrad’s, indicating she was assaulted. In addition, the evidence shows that she was sexually abused. The medical report reveals evidence of sexual intercourse and sexual assault. Circumstantial evidence also implies sexual assault and the DNA from the scene matches Conrad’s. Additionally, Conrad does not have an alibi, he was on campus during the incident, and he has a prior conviction of indecent exposure. However, this evidence does not prove that Conrad raped…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I chose to answer the question “Did Texas execute an innocent man?” Todd Willingham may have had a grim personality but he was still innocent of the alleged fire tha the had been accused for. He was put on trial for starting a fire and killing his three children--not for being a ghastly husband and a thug.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After being wrongfully charged with murder, rape, and abduction, Nicholas Yarris became the 140th person in the United States to be exonerated by post-conviction DNA testing. He was initially sentenced to death as the result of his conviction but became excluded from all biological evidence connected to the crime by successive rounds of DNA testing.…

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Victor Burnette spent eight years in a Virginia prison for a rape he didn't commit and nearly 30 years trying to clear his name. Burnette was convicted in 1979 for breaking into a Richmond woman's apartment and raping her. Being labeled as a rapist is an embarrassing and horrible thing. Even though he didn`t do it, it still going to make him feel embarrassed about it. Technology available at the time could not eliminate Burnette as a suspect. Despite maintaining his innocence, Burnette was convicted. The conviction cost him friends and job prospects. While in prison he lost the hearing in his left ear after being attacked by three inmates. He lost eight years of his life in prison, five years on parole, and for 30 years his name was just totally…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    there is no DNA evidence. In a lot of cases, criminals do not leave DNA evidence. The jurors…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Arizona vs Miranda

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Early in 1963, a 17 years old woman was kidnapped and raped in Phoenix, Arizona. The police investigated the case, and soon found and arrested a poor, and mentally disturbed man. The name of this man was Ernesto Miranda. Miranda was 23 years old when he was arrested. On March 13, 1963, Miranda was arrested based on circumstantial evidence linking him to the kidnapping and the rape. After 2 police officers interrogated him for 2 hours, he signed a confession to the rape charge. The form he signed included the following statement:…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Losing one’s innocence, or rather the simple act of growing up is inevitable. The children of primary focus in Harper Lee’s classic, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, succumb to their eventual fate by evolving into mature characters with help from the influential events in the town.…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    ‘Growing up is a journey from childhood to loss of innocence’ How is this true from Jem in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Kirby vs. Illinois

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Law Argument: The court held that since the defendant in the current case was not formally charged with a crime when the identification process took place, the rulings of Wade and Gilbert do not apply here. The court ruled that the defendant had no right to the presence of an attorney in the current case because the police was just conducting normal investigation to solve an unsolved crime. The court further held that if the identification was "unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification", then the defendant could have claimed protection. But in the current case, the court found no such abuse of police power and the conviction was affirmed.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The technique while effective against guilty suspects have a tendency to elicit false confessions from innocent suspects. The Reid technique is applied the same way for both adults and juvenile suspects. However, based on the low maturity level of juvenile offenders they are more likely to wrongfully implicate themselves in criminal activities that they did not have any part of. Confessions carries a lot of weight in a court proceeding, as suspects are often convicted without any physical or corroborating evidence. It was not until recent years that a prevalence of wrongful convictions through false confession was noticed. Wrongfully convicted people spend many years in prison before they were exonerated by DNA evidence. Furthermore, contrary to popular beliefs, numerous studies found that innocent suspects do provide investigators with false incriminating…

    • 1927 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wrongful Convictions

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages

    This in turn could determine the conviction.DNA plays an important role in this evidence if it is…

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The current methods of fingerprinting that involve subjective comparison and matching of fingerprinting has led to disapproval of the method. Extensive testing has shown that the results of fingerprint testing are not valid (Schmalleger, 2011). Fingerprint matches are now being done by experts, those fingerprints that have been previously been examined to make identification of suspects were presented to the same experts in a different context and the results were different. Similarly, DNA evidence for identification of criminals has been marred by several problems. Surreptitious DNA collecting, presentation of partial DNA profiles, and fake DNA evidence; cast doubts on the DNA evidence presented in courts (Schmalleger, 2011).…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays