WHO IS ACTUALLY THE OFFENDER?

AND WHO IS THE GENUINE VICTIM?

Addresses issues raised in Ch. One on pp.9-12 of the 10th edition.

In some interpersonal conflicts, the designations “victim” and “offender” are not immediately evident. If there are two injured parties, each might claim to be the victim. Sometimes, the conflicting claims will be resolved by the actions of the police (by arresting one of the two parties), or the prosecution (by seeking to punish one party in behalf of the other), or ultimately by a jury (convicting one party and vindicating the claims of the other).

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Lawsuit Launched By A Self-Appointed “Protector” Of A Gated Community Who Killed A Person He Considered “Suspicious”

Updates a case that appears on pp. 10-11 of Chapter One in the Tenth Edition

A jury decided that the killing was a “justifiable homicide.” But to many, it was a  needless death fueled by racist stereotypes, and helped to spark the “Black Lives Matter” movement. The mother of the slain teenager has become a crusader for justice and is running for office. Her lawyer wrote a book about the case, criticizing the shooter.  A documentary was made about the case. Now the shooter is suing them, as described here.

Here is some background about this case:

SELF-APPOINTED PROTECTOR OF A NEIGHBORHOOD IS NOT AN OFFENDER BUT ACTUALLY A VICTIM OF A LIFE-THREATENING ASSAULT, JURY DECIDES

Describes how the case appearing in Chapter 1 was resolved after a trial was held during the Summer of 2013.

A legally armed man watching out for his gated community became embroiled in a confrontation with an unarmed teenager whom he thought might be a burglar but actually was doing nothing wrong. The prosecution did not emphasize how race might have been the basis for this mistaken impression and the jury’s verdict was that the shooting during their fight was a justifiable homicide. This high profile case attracted worldwide attention and led to strong and sharply divided opinions about who was the actual  victim and appropriateness of the law about “standing your ground” that prevails in some states. Read about the case and the verdict here and here.

What happened during that confrontation? A TV news segment tries to reconstruct the events here (starting at 7 minutes into the video) .The jury’s verdict about which person was the genuine victim (the survivor) and who acted wrongfully (the deceased) was questioned by many people, some of whom organized demonstrations, as described here.

This case raises the problem of racial profiling, and forces black parents to hold a difficult conversation with their sons who may be negatively stereotyped as offenders and then wind up as innocent victims of violent reactions. Read about the complex issues here.

President Obama confided that he identified with the deceased teenager because he could have been racially profiled with similar terrible consequences when he was young. Read his remarks here and view them here.

In the months since the jury’s verdict declared the survivor to be the victim, and the deceased teen to be the troublemaker, a number of incidents have taken place that picture this survivor in a negative light that undermines his image as an innocent, well-meaning member of a neighborhood watch group. See a media poll here. And then view a video interview with his former wife, who now reveals he was angry and heavily medicated the night of the fatal confrontation, and that he was periodically violent towards her, here. His new girlfriend also disclosed that she too was a victim of domestic violence, as described here. A columnist notes that in the aftermath of the trial, a poll revealed that about 40% of all Americans felt the survivor should have been convicted of something but an equal slice felt he should not have been convicted of anything, which was the jury’s collective view. Then he  sums up these post trial developments here. Surprisingly, amidst all this unfavorable publicity, the survivor of the confrontation granted an interview and insisted, once again, that he was the victim. But a number of commentators disputed his claim of victimhood in this roundtable discussion.

Another incident has taken place: the shooter got into a brawl in a restaurant and was punched by a stranger. Did he provoke this confrontation too? Read this, then decide.

This case also raised controversies about gun carrying and gun laws. See the page on this website about armed self-defense.

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EVERYDAY EXAMPLES OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM TRYING TO SORT THIS OUT:

A confrontation on a Manhattan street initially leads to the arrest of a man with a gun for killing a stranger. But by the next day, the police and prosecutors have changed their mind, as recounted here. 

 

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VIOLENT OFFENDERS SERVING TIME CAN SUDDENLY BECOME VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE

Ruthless Mobster Beaten To Death Behind Bars

Illustrates the point that “victimizers can be victimized,” appearing on pp. 12-13 in Chapter One of the Tenth Edition.

He was a crime boss who terrorized South Boston for two decades, ordering beatings and rub-outs. When it became known that he was an informant for the FBI, feeding the authorities information about his rivals, he went underground and was on the run for 16 years until he was captured, convicted, and imprisoned for life. But when he was transferred out of a secure federal penitentiary into a violent institution, some inmates killed this “snitch” by bashing in his head with a padlock inside a sock, as recounted here.

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A report by the U.S. Justice Department revealed high levels of lethal violence and vicious rapes among inmates in Alabama’s overcrowded, under-funded, and under-staffed prisons, as detailed here

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New York City’s sprawling Rikers Island jail complex, one of biggest in the world, has experienced some backsliding into a morass of fear and violence, as slashings and stabbings rise along with incidences of the use of force by guard. Prisoners (some of them suffering from mental illnesses or reacting to long periods of solitary confinement) endure assaults from other inmates and even from corrections officers, as described here.

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Shootout Between Members Of Motorcycle Gangs Leaves 9 Dead, 20 Wounded, and Nobody Convicted

Prosecutors in Texas were unable to sort out the victims from the offenders, so four years later, not one of the 177 bikers arrested that bloody day was held accountable. This shameful outcome is explained here.

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Woman Who Served Time Writes Memoir –

Is She A Survivor Of Sex Trafficking

or A Prostitute Who Killed Her Customer?

She was just a teenager when she shot a john who appeared to be threatening violence. She claimed she acted in self-defense but  wound up in prison for many years until the governor granted her clemency. Watch an interview as she launches a book tour here.

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New Documentary Examines An Often Cited Case

Highlights the latest developments in a highly publicized case discussed on pp. 9-10 in Chapter One of the Tenth Edition.

In 1993, she garnered media attention across the globe when she cut off her husband’s penis after he had repeatedly abused and sexually assaulted her. In 2019, a four part documentary brings even more media attention to this shamelessly exploited case of marital rape. Why she attacked him while he slept and how the criminal justice system handled this incident is reviewed in this article.  View the trailer for the documentary here.

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BATTERED WOMAN FACES 60 YEARS IN PRISON FOR FIRING GUN 3 TIMES

A woman who has been beaten many times feels that to stave off another beating she must fire 3 warning shots into the kitchen ceiling. Burt her estranged husband feels she was trying to wound or kill him, and a jury believes him. Her conviction is overturned and a support movement argues all charges should be dropped because she acted in self-defense. But the prosecutor vows to retry her for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and to seek consecutive sentences of 20 years in prison for each shot. Read her supporters’ viewpoints here.

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SUBURBAN HOMEOWNER FOUND GUILTY OF MURDERING YOUNG WOMAN POUNDING ON HIS DOOR SEEKING HELP

A man hears a commotion on his porch at 4:30 am. Fearing that he would become a victim of a home invasion, he fires a shotgun blast at a 19 year old woman’s face, as he testified in court here. Read what the prosecutor said happened, and what the version of events by the defense was, in this article. It turns out she was high and drunk, unarmed, and  banging on his door because she was seeking help after a car accident a few hours earlier. A jury rejects his claim that he was defending himself against an impending attack and convicts him of 2nd degree murder. Read the account of the trial, and consider whether her being Black caused him to negatively stereotype her, as raised here. Hear what a prominent civil rights activist has to say about the impact of this verdict on self-defense legislation with “stand your ground” provisions here.

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WOMAN CONVICTED OF MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE FOR KILLING HER FORMER BOYFRIEND

A high profile case that centered on the question of who is really the victim was resolved by a guilty verdict.  A young woman was accused of premeditated murder by the prosecution. They contended she drove many hours to his home, armed with a gun and knife, intending to kill him. She claimed she was compelled to fight him off and had to kill him in self-defense. After months of testimony, the jury did not believe her, in part because he was stabbed 27 times, suffered a slit throat, and was shot in the head.  Read a summary of the charges and counter-arguments here. Then, watch a video of an interview with a friend of the victim here.

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FOURTEEN YEAR-OLD GIRL CHARGED WITH KILLING HER ABUSIVE FATHER

The teenage girl shot her father in the head while he was sleeping. The father’s relatives see him as a victim. But her mother hails her as a hero and says the teen’s actions were intended to protect the family from his violent assaults, as described here. Her defenders include a relative who is a detective who has investigated a great many domestic violence cases, as pictured here.

 

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