Preview

Steven Truscott Case Essay

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
740 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Steven Truscott Case Essay
The Steven Truscott Case

1) The media comes up with their own ideas on the case and sways everyone else's opinion and half of the information stated is false. The media should not play a role in the legal system and it should be left to the court. I don't think we should tell the media as much as we do because they tend to sway opinions.

2) I think it is very important that we reexamine past cases because of the improvements. It is very unfair for those who have been imprisoned due to the inadequate technology. The disadvantage to this is that old cases means old evidence that may not be of any use because of the case's age. Samples may have dried up etc.

3) If someone is convicted of a crime as heinous as murder I feel it is the right thing to do to compensate
…show more content…
1969:Truscott is released on parole and moves to Guelph, Ont., he adopts a new identity, marries, and raises three children.
March 29, 2000: Truscott breaks decades of silence proclaiming his innocence, in a documentary. The program reveals new evidence to suggest that police may have been hasty in arresting him.
November, 2000: A team of legal advocates from AIDWYC assist Truscott.
November 2001: Truscott and his AIDWYC lawyers file an application for retrial section 696.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada. The Minister only considers whether a miscarriage of justice has occurred.
January 2002: Having conducted a preliminary assessment of Steven Truscott's application, the department of Justice recommends that an outside agent be retained to assist in the review of the case. Minister has three options. He can: refer the case to the Court of Appeal, order a new trial, dismiss the application.
October 28, 2004:Federal Minister of Justice, Irwin Cotler, “We have a legal and I believe moral obligation to see if the new evidence would have affected the verdict."
January 18, 2005: Truscott turned

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Issue: Did the court of appeals use the right “standard of review” to change the jury’s facts of who was liable and who was at fault.…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Steven Truscott's Case

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Steven Truscott was a Canadian man. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was sentenced for death in 1959 for the murder of Lynne Harper. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and he continued to maintain his innocence until 2007, when his conviction was declared a miscarriage of justice and he was formally acquitted of the crime. Truscott was scheduled to be hanged. On December 8, 1959; however, a temporary reprieve on November 20, 1959 postponed his execution to February 16, 1960 to allow for an appeal. On January 22, 1960, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. On November 29, 2001, Truscott filed a section 690 Criminal code application for a review of his 1959 murder conviction. Hearings…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1.I do think that changing technologies make it easier to determine who is responsible for a crime. If it werent for such technologies we wouldnt of been so sure as to who had comittied the crime. We can trace DNA, hair, blood, and shoeprints. We are able to see how they murdered or committed the crime step by step.…

    • 160 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ralph Tortoric Case Essay

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages

    *Emily A. Singleton-Burruano* 1 Hands On: Crime and Punishment of a Delusional Emily A. Singleton-Burruano Kaplan University CJ100 Professor Campbell April 20, 2009 KU CJ100 *Emily A. Singleton-Burruano* 2 In the case of Ralph Tortoric I found it hard to determine where I stood from the article in the Kaplan library alone. After extensive internet research I came to the conclusion that I do agree with the judge’s ruling. When Judge Rosen ordered the first competency evaluation Tortoriciwas declared incompetent to stand trial, meaning he was unable to understand the nature of the charges against him. Upon this finding, Tortorici was sent to a secure mental health facility where he spent several months. Eventually, the psychiatrists…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    McLachlin, B. (2004, June 7). Judges of the Court. Retrieved from Supreme Court of Canada: www.scc-csc.gc.ca…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Casey Anthony Trial

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In some ways, the Casey Anthony trial reveals the way that media influence, including the way it is presented online, affects public perception. When one looks at the pages and information that pop up when one searched for information on the trial, a great deal of attention has been given to the way that certain commentators in the media, like Nancy Grace, tried to focus on the inconsistent and, most would say, deplorable behavior of Anthony and the tragedy of the death itself to draw ratings, but far fewer actually focused on the objective legal facts of the case. Thus, when someone sought to find out about the trial, whether through television outlets or online, quite often they were presented with a sensationalistic view of the case, rather than commentary that revealed the problems that the prosecution had with its case, like the lack of an established motive or cause of death, the very issues that prompted the jury to acquit. However, because these issues, or other very basic legal concepts like reasonable doubt, were not given their proper coverage during the trial, most people were outraged with the verdict and believed that the jury had been made of ignorant people, when in reality, their acquittal seems reasonable in a legal context.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The collapse of the case and other miscarriages of justice caused the Home Secretary to set up a Royal Commission on Criminal Justice in 1991. The commission reported in 1993 and…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    PSY328 final proposal

    • 1936 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Wrightsman, L. E., Kassin, S.M, Willis, C.E (Ed.). (1987). In the jury box: Controversies in…

    • 1936 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    3) Should the death penalty be reserved for only murder, or for other crimes as well? (example, kidnapping, rape)…

    • 1912 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Media in Court Cases

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Media in court cases has many effects. One of which is the possibility that the Medias opinion may result in tainting the jury with unproven facts. As humans we make decisions based on how we perceive the world and the information we have on decision we are going to make.…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The media often lacks a full understanding of the judicial system however; their opinion seems to hold much weight with the public. Because the decisions of the United States Supreme Court have a great impact on the lives of the American citizens I think it is crucial…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Australian society has ultimately rejected the idea of the practice of capital punishment making a return into the Australian law books. However, events such as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the Bali bombings have ensured that the spotlight once again shines on the controversial subject. I am in favour of the practice returning to Australia for heinous crimes such as murder, child molestation, serial rapists, and people who commit acts of animal cruelty. This is because:…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Court Report

    • 1871 Words
    • 8 Pages

    [ 2 ]. Doreen J. McBarnet, Conviction: Law, the State, and the Construction of Justice, London, The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1981.…

    • 1871 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In my opinion, I believe that the media distorts the process of criminal justice system. According to David Sugg, “the media keeps the public stay up-to-date on current events within the courts, as it relates to sentencing for high profiled cases.” When the media brings the information to the public, they use headlines that will make for better television, in order to have good ratings. The higher the ratings are the more profit, because crime sells. Often times, news reporters such as Nancy Grace are bias, which can possibly influence the general public. When media present the cases to the public they are often exaggerated. This allows for the public to form an opinion based on the information given by the media, which can influence the criminal…

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Wrongful Convictions

    • 3217 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Every year in the United States of America, millions of crimes are committed that violate and harm the individual rights, properties, and freedoms that are not only guaranteed to American citizens of this country, but also naturally inherent to mankind as whole. Based on the founding principles of our country, which are derived from the Constitution of these United States, justice is dealt accordingly to the perpetrators of these crimes. While this justice is usually fair, due to certain rights given to those who may be charged with crimes, sometimes an error is made. A simple mistake, a missing or broken link in the chain that represents the investigation and trial processes, causes an innocent bystander to become caught up in an investigation, and in many cases, can result in a wrongful conviction. This mistake can come in many forms: a mistaken eyewitness identification, a false confession, misconduct of the governing authorities, improper forensic investigation, or even lazy or unskilled litigation by the defense attorneys. Legal miscarriage like this is not something that should be taken lightly, especially since those affected must not only endure the years spent in prison, but also deal with lost wages, isolation from friends and family, scrutiny from potential employers, and ostracization from their community. According to C. Ronald Huff, director of the Criminal Justice Research Center at Ohio State University, roughly 10,000 United States residents who are not guilty of a crime are convicted every year, a "conservative" estimate of 0.5% of the 1,993,880 index crimes used for his research that was completed in 1990 . Even more alarming are the 138 Death Row inmates who have been exonerated sine 1973 as a result of further DNA testing; while anywhere between a concrete group of 8 and another 31 "possible innocents" have been executed in the United States…

    • 3217 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays