Research Paper Prompt and submission - 1500 or more words - MLA format
outlaw motorcycle gangs are perpetrated by disparate groups that operate with a common denominator— secrecy. Conventional prosecutorial theory means if one unsavory person must be granted immunity to penetrate the veil of secrecy to secure the conviction of a larger or more dangerous group, the prosecution has made a wise investment on behalf of the public.
The figures described in the Department of Jus- tice table do not convey the full import of the immu- nity application to the reader. Immunity when sought by the federal authorities will almost always be a form of transactional immunity , in which the recipient will be protected from any consequences of his actions that lead to the immunity agreement being sought, save for perjury when testifying pursuant to the immunity order.
The other chief significance of an immunity request is that unlike a plea bargain, immunity will ultimately be tested in a public courtroom. Once a witness testifies under an immunity order, they may be cross-examined with respect to all that was promised and proffered to secure the cooperation of the witness with the state. Many criminal trials become credibility contests between opposing unsavory persons, one of whom is charged, the other immunized into the foun- dation of the prosecution case.
The thirty years of data does not reveal a discern- able pattern of requests. The numbers fluctuate. The one constant factor has been the presence of the Rack- eteer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970, better known by its acronym, RICO. Aimed at the activities of organized criminals, RICO-related prose- cutions by their nature have been a stimulus for wit- ness immunity applications.
The Department of Justice figures highlight a fundamental distinction between the resources of the state and those of the defense. The state must prove its case in a criminal proceeding beyond a reasonable doubt; the ability of the state to procure witnesses on the strength of an offer of prosecutorial immunity is a significant weapon. The defense has no corresponding ability to offer such protection to any of its prospec- tive witnesses, a disparity that has never been addressed in American criminal procedure.
FURTHER RESOURCES Books Goldfarb, Ronald. Perfect Villains, Imperfect Heroes: Robert F.
Kennedy’s War Against Organised Crime. Sterling, Va.: Capital Books, 2002.
Morse, Christopher J. New York Criminal Procedure. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2004.
Web sites Department of Justice. “United States Attorneys Manual.”
<http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa> (accessed February 27, 2006).
University of Arkansas. “No Immunity Request by Local Attorney Could Land Her Tough Sanctions, Maybe Jail.” <http://law.uark.edu/library/finals/brill/web/the- client/marksway2.htm> (accessed February 27, 2006).
Michael Jackson Booked
Photograph
By: Anonymous
Date: November 20, 2003
Source: AP Images
About the Photographer: The photographer who took this booking photograph (mug shot) of Michael Jackson for the Santa Barbara, California, Sherrif’s Deptart- ment is unknown.
INTRODUCTION
Having lived most of his life in the glare of media spotlight, Michael Jackson’s eccentric lifestyle has fre- quently been scrutinized. He became the world’s most famous singer after launching his solo career with Off The Wall in 1979. Three years later Thriller became the biggest-selling album of all time with 51 million albums sold since 1982.
Dubbed “Wacko Jacko” by the British tabloid media, Jackson became as famous for his eccentric behavior as he was for his music. Much attention was focused on his extensive plastic surgery, his penchant for exotic pets and other strange purchases, as well as his perpetually childish demeanor. Jackson cultivated this Peter Pan image, even calling his massive Califor- nia ranch “Neverland” and filling it with fairground equipment.
However this reputation for eccentricity took on a darker complexion when Jackson was accused of sex abuse. In 1993 Jordan Chandler, the teenage son of a Beverly Hills dentist, accused Jackson of molestation. Police investigating the case raided the Neverland Ranch, but the Chandler family settled out of court with Jackson and never filed criminal charges. The settlement was said to be in excess of $20 million.
352 C R I M E A N D P U N I S H M E N T : E S S E N T I A L P R I M A R Y S O U R C E S
M I C H A E L J A C K S O N B O O K E D
cpepsch7 6/20/06 4:45 PM Page 352
After the Chandler case Jackson’s career began to decline. In 2003 the British broadcaster Martin Bashir, who had built his reputation with celebrity interviews, was granted unprecedented access to Jackson’s home to make the documentary Living with Michael Jackson. The film was an extraordinary portrayal of a seem- ingly troubled man, but the most incredible part was when children whom Jackson had befriended were interviewed. They admitted to attending “sleepovers” he hosted and to sharing his bed. Given the pop star’s inherent childishness this did not by itself point to child abuse, but it begged a fundamental question: What 44-year-old man attended sleepover parties with young boys?
Living with Michael Jackson created a storm of headlines. After its screening one of the children interviewed by Bashir, Gavin Arvizo, came forward with new allegations of sexual molestation. Like the Chandler family, the Arvizo’s were represented by
Larry Feldman; and as before the investigation was launched by District Attorney Tom Sneddon.
Jackson was arrested in November 2003, booked in Santa Barbara County, California, and brought to trial in spring 2005. He faced ten charges ranging from child abduction, false imprisonment, and extor- tion to administering alcohol to and committing of a lewd act on a minor. On June 13, 2005, Jackson was acquitted of all charges.
� PRIMARY SOURCE MICHAEL JACKSON BOOKED
See primary source image.
� SIGNIFICANCE
Booking photographs (mug shots) are taken dur- ing every booking after arrest, and often contain addi-
C R I M E A N D P U N I S H M E N T : E S S E N T I A L P R I M A R Y S O U R C E S 353
M I C H A E L J A C K S O N B O O K E D
� PRIMARY SOURCE
Michael Jackson Booked: A 2003 booking card from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department displaying Michael Jackson’s photo and vital statistics. AP IMAGES
cpepsch7 6/20/06 4:45 PM Page 353
tional identifying information as in this case, the height, weight, race, hair color, eye color, and sex of Michael Jackson. Whether the individual is eventually acquitted or found guilty, a record of the mug shot remains and is kept available to share among other law enforcement agencies.
Jackson’s acquittal owed as much to the lack of firm evidence as it did to the defense’s discrediting of the main prosecution witness, Janet Arvizo.
Accusations that Jackson kept a “suitcase” full of pornography in the bedroom he shared with young boys on his controversial sleepovers were found to be unsubstantiated. When it was suggested that he kept and shared pornographic material on his computers,
the judge examined the material but agreed with the defense that it may have been automatically stored by the computers and “there wouldn’t be any way of knowing if anyone looked at the material or not.” The judge also agreed that the material did not match the time period of the alleged crimes. The judge tired of hearing outlandish charges not backed up with evi- dence. When Mrs. Arvizo told the jury that “Never- land is all about booze, pornography and sex with boys” the judge admonished her for her outburst. Charges that Jackson regularly served children alcohol were also never substantiated.
It was the discrediting of Mrs. Arvizo, in fact, that proved the turning point. The Jackson defense team
354 C R I M E A N D P U N I S H M E N T : E S S E N T I A L P R I M A R Y S O U R C E S
M I C H A E L J A C K S O N B O O K E D
Michael Jackson exits the Santa Barbara County courthouse on March 21, 2005, during his trial for child molestation. © CARLO ALLEGRI/POOL/REUTERS/CORBIS
cpepsch7 6/20/06 4:45 PM Page 354
had hired a private detective to uncover information about her and then successfully turned the trial into an examination of her credibility, portraying her as venal and money-grubbing. Her aggressive manner also riled the jurors. One juror, Melissa Herard, told the Guardian, “A lot of the parts of her testimony, I just wanted to break out laughing, but I couldn’t. She was just up and down, up and down.”
After the trial, one juror told CNN’s Larry King that he believed Jackson had “probably molested boys” but that the evidence presented had not been sufficient to warrant a conviction. Although the jurors believed a crime may have been committed, the pros- ecution had not satisfied its burden of proof “beyond reasonable doubt”. On that basis Jackson had been found not guilty.
Critics argued that some jurors may have used the trial aftermath as an ego trip; others questioned whether they had found Mr. Jackson innocent because of his celebrity and their dislike for the accuser’s mother. Eleanor Cook, a 79-year-old juror, criticized Janet Arvizo for snapping her fingers while evidence was being given and said that her attitude was “intim- idatoray”.
After the trial Jackson vowed to change his ways and promised to be more guarded in his interaction with children. Since the trial Jackson has been living in Bahrain and his Neverland ranch was closed in March of 2006.
Despite having his name cleared, plummeting record sales that followed the original accusations, combined with his extravagant lifestyle and the Arvizo trial left Michael Jackson financially ruined and his career in tatters. His previous studio album, Blood on the Dance Floor released in 2003, sold just 900,000 copies, a fraction of the millions he sold in the 1980s. Despite owning a substantial portion of publishing rights to songs by the Beatles, Jackson was left in financial turmoil with post-trial debts said to total $150m.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Web sites
Guardian Unlimited. “Special Report: Michael Jackson Trial” < h t t p : / / w w w. g u a r d i a n . c o . u k / j a c k s o n / 0 , 1 5 8 1 9 , 1428022,00.html> (accessed: Jan 11, 2006).
Sony Music Entertainment, Inc. “Michael Jackson Official Web Site” <http://www.michaeljackson.com/> (accessed: Jan 11, 2006).
Parolees in Revolving Door
Newspaper article
By: Jim H. Zamora
Date: December 23, 2002
Source: Zamora, Jim H. “Parolees in Revolving Door.” San Francisco Chronicle, December 23, 2002, <http://www.sfgate.com/> (accessed January 31, 2006).
About the Author: Jim Herron Zamora is a journalist on the staff of the San Francisco Chronicle. He is currently assigned to the Metro and Oakland Bureaus, writing on topics concerning crime and the criminal justice system, and their impact on residents and life in the East Bay region.
INTRODUCTION Although statistics vary somewhat from state to
state, one of the single largest contributing factors to the ever-growing American prison population is the extraordinarily high recidivism rate. Based on the most current statistics available from the Western Prison Project, more than 700 people are in prison for each 100,000 members of the American population. That figure represents the highest rate among all of the countries in the world for which such statistics are collected. The number of incarcerated Americans has increased by more than sixty percent since 1973. In addition to the roughly two million individuals serving time in the American correctional system, there are approximately four times as many people either on probation or parole, or who have completed their sen- tence requirements.
A very large number of those serving time in the correctional system are repeat offenders who are back in the system as a result of parole or probation viola- tions. As legally defined, probation is a sentencing term that allows a convicted offender to be released into the community with stipulations involving pro- gram attendance, community service, gainful employ- ment, and generally remaining clear of the criminal justice system for a specified period of time. In brief, probation involves suspending all or part of the prison term imposed at sentencing, pending successful com- pletion of the specified probation conditions. An indi- vidual may be given a wholly suspended sentence (serving no period of incarceration) or may be sen- tenced to incarceration followed by probation. Proba- tion is usually given to individuals who are young,
C R I M E A N D P U N I S H M E N T : E S S E N T I A L P R I M A R Y S O U R C E S 355
PA R O L E E S I N R E V O LV I N G D O O R
cpepsch7 6/20/06 4:45 PM Page 355