Arson Cases in the United States
research a court case in which the defendant is charged with arson. The court case must have been tried within the United States. Also, there must have been an actual trial; plea bargains or other truncated cases are not appropriate for this assignment. You must attach the case along with your paper in WebTycho as part of this assignment. Failure to submit the actual case will result in a lower grade. In completing the assessment, use information from the text, supplemental readings, videos, classroom conferences/discussions, and external sources, including electronic and print sources. Use either American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines or Bluebook citation format. Please be cognizant that, when using sources not normally considered scholarly, e.g., videos, television programs, and newspaper and magazine articles you will be held responsible for determining their scholarly value. The required sections of the paper are as follows: I. Elements of the crime. Identify and discuss the elements of the crime, as the prosecution proved them. II. Defenses claimed by the defense. Identify and discuss any defenses claimed by the defendant. III. Constitutional protection issues. Identify and discuss any constitutional protection issues (e.g., Miranda warnings, search and seizure). IV. Case brief. Use the required formula: 1. Title and citation 2. Facts of the case 3. Issues 4. Holding (the final decision) 5. Reasoning (how the court arrived at this holding) 6. Analysis (how the facts of the case meet the legal criteria for prosecution) V. Your judgment. If you were the judge or a juror in this case, would you have agreed with the outcome? If yes, explain why; if no, explain why. Format Requirements Paper should be between six and ten pages (1,500 to 2,500 words) Double space 12 pt. font 1" margins Use APA citations for all sources Include APA reference page (not included in word count) Additionally - Create a cover page for your assignment (not included in word count) Include your name Course title and number Project title I WILL NEED THE CASE THAT WAS USED AS I HAVE TO SHoW THE CONTENTS OF THE CASE ALONG WITH THE PAPER. Thank you very much.
Arson Case
Name:
Institution:
Introduction
Arson cases are the most ineffectively prosecuted criminal cases in the United States. Although arson cases are the least often crimes that go to trial, they leads to the largest dollar loss in America. They surpass losses caused by all burglaries, armed robberies and theft combined. Nationally, the arson cases clearance rate is under 10% and conviction rate in relation to incidence occurrence is under 1 %. Statistics show that an arsonist is 99% likely to escape conviction for the crime they committed (Schmallege, 2010). This means that the statistical probability of an innocent person being convicted for crime they did not commit is also very high. This paper examines an arson court case tried within the United States and executed in 2004, the elements of the crime including the defenses claimed, constitutional protection issues of the case and the judgment made are captured in this case. Recommendations on the judgment that were made on the case is also highlighted.
The Case
No. 00-00-24467-CR
The State of Texas vs Cameron Todd Willingham
In the 13th Judicial District of Navarro County, Texas.
Appearances
Mr. John H. Jackson and Mr. Allan J. Bristol As first and second assistant district respectively for attorney Navarro County, Texas, Appearing for the State of Texas.
Mr. David H. Martin and Mr. Robert C. Dunn as Attorneys at Law Appearing for the Defendant
Elements of the crime.
On the 20th day of august 1992, the above and entitled cause was heard for trial in the said court where Honorable Kenneth A. "Buck" Douglas was the presiding judge and the following proceedings ensued (The Just Science Coalition, 2010).
The Fire
On December 23 1991, the Willingham home located in Corsicana, Texas where Willingham shared with his wife caught fire. Willingham who was asleep at the time the fire started survived with minor injuries but his three daughters Kameron, Karmon and Amber perished.
On December 24, 1991, initial investigation and inspection of the fire ensued and the first report was filed. On December 27 1991 three days after the incident, investigator Vasquez Manuel from fire Marshal’s State Office conducted another independent investigation and filed a second report. Both reports termed the cause of the fire as arson and criminal investigation began. On December 31, 1991, Willingham was questioned and arrested one week after on January 8, 1992 and charged with three counts of murder (The Just Science Coalition, 2010).
Issues
The Trial
The trial for Willingham began January 18, 1992 and the state’s case relied on two components namely (1) Fogg and Vasquez arson evidence testimony and (2) John Webb Everett’s testimony an inmate informant in Navarro County jail confined with Willingham who said Willingham had confessed to him. Willingham said he was asleep when the fire started and maintained his innocence throughout the case.
Defenses claimed by the defense
Mr. Dunn filed with the court two formal objections to the charge as presented here.
First, the defendant’s attorney stated that they believed that the case was multifarious in nature and therefore misplaced the burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt. He also stated that the other objections were too numerous to enumerating them one at a time at that moment and asked the court to grant those objections (The Just Science Coalition, 2010).
Constitutional protection Issues
The second defense request is a Constitutional protection issue for the defendant. It regards parole law instruction where Mr. Dunn requested to include the instruction of the jury the parole law, under article 37.07, code of criminal procedure, as applied by 4218. The defense asked the court to consider that and let the jury know by its charge that the minimum requirement of a life sentence is 35 calendar years, if a life sentence is assessed by the jury. The court denied both requests.
Another Constitutional protection issue is that innocent until proven guilty is a right to any person in America. The prosecutor has the responsibility of proving beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty and worthy of a conviction (Harbour, 2012). The defense asked the jury to consider whether they found the evidence beyond reasonable doubt that there was a probability that the defendant would have committed criminal acts of violence that would constitute a continuing treat to the society.
He reminded the jury of the definition of reasonable doubt; ‘the doubt based upon reason and common sense, after a careful and impartial consideration of all the evidence in the case. It is the kind of doubt that would make a reasonable person hesitate to act in the most important of his own affairs’ (Schmallege, 2010). The defense explained that proof beyond reasonable doubt would therefore refer to ...