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Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice

   

Added on  2021-06-16

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Running head: CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE1Introduction to Criminology and Criminal JusticeStudent’s Name:Professor’s Name:Course Title:Date:
Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice_1
CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE2Introduction to Criminology and Criminal JusticeIntroductionMurder is an unlawful killing of another person either intentionally or not. Usually, most societies consider murder as a serious crime that deserves the harshest punishment possible. Usually, the punishments vary from state to state. In the Case Michael T. Slager, there is proof ofmurder which should be punishable by law. Statement of the CaseCase Summary and the Crime CommittedMichael T. Slager case is a case that involved an ex-cop shooting a black, Walter Scott (Sokolove, 2017). It happened on April 4, 2015 in South Carolina specifically at North Carlestonafter Scott was stopped by Slager at a daytime traffic because of a non-functioning brake light. Scott was unarmed and after he tried escaping, the police officer fatally shot him five times on his back. Slager then took his Taser and planted it next to Scott. He handcuffed Scott’s hands andwatched him die and later lied that he shot Scott following a struggle for the Taser. Unfortunately a video surfaced showing how he shot Scott who was fleeing contradicting his police report. Slager was thus charged with murder by a South Carolina grand jury in June 2015. In January 2016, he was released on bond. Later in the year, he was indicted on federal charges which included obstruction of justice and violation of civil rights. The following year he was found guilty of the charges and further returned to jail pending sentencing and the charges were later dropped. Finally, in December 2017, he got sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Level of Court
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CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE3Michael T. Slager case was assigned the federal level of court. The federal courts also have an important role just as the state courts except that they have limited powers on the kinds of cases they can decide (Osunsami, 2016). The federal courts defend most basic rights, including the equal protection and the right to speech. Therefore, this court system was selected because it wasa federal question involving diversity of citizenship because Slager was white and Scott was black. Primary Characters and their RolesMichael Slager – The police officer accused of murdering Walter Scott.David Aylor – Slager’s original lawyer.Feidin Santana – An eyewitness who provided the evidence of a recorded video showing the proof of what exactly happened when Slager committed the crime. Clarence W. Habersham Jr. – An eye witness who was also seen in the video with gloves trying to examine Scott after he was shot by Slager.David C. Norton – The U.S. District Judge deciding the case for Slager.Charges against the Defendant and the Evidence PresentedMichael Slager was charged with murder on April 7. On May 11, 2016 he was charged for illegally using his weapon during the commission of a crime and violating Scott’s civil rights (Harris & Osunsami, 2016). Aside from that, he was also charged with obstruction of justice because he lied to the state investigators the he shot Scott when he was moving towards him witha Taser. Nonetheless, these charges were later dismissed and finally on December 7, 2017, Judge
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