David Sinclair, the father of five-month-old Joshua, was sentenced to seven years and three months in jail. Originally the cause of the tot’s death was unidentified. The man stated that the baby simply turned blue and stopped breathing, that’s why he immediately dialed 999. The High Court in Glasgow that took jurisdiction soon discovered information. A team of medical experts found out that the man assaulted his baby son by shaking him and caused the injuries which killed him (Glanfield, 2016). Though Sinclair knew that he shook Joshua approximately five seconds, he disclosed that only after the extensive medical investigations. It was not a planned injure, but a momentary loss of control which led to tragic consequences. Sinclair loved his son and all neighbors considered him to be a good parent.
The court initially charged the man with murder, but then pleaded him guilty to the lesser charge. Mrs Sinclair, who was previously standing by her husband, refused to support him anymore. Some days before the trial, the woman confessed judge Lord Bracadale that she had been ‘misled’ by the killer (Glanfield, 2016). The woman did not even appear in court to see her husband sentenced. Lord Bracadale depicted Joshua’a death as a big catastrophe and emphasized that nothing could bring the little baby back to life. When the verdict was announced, Sinclair was led away to start his sentence not even shedding one tear.
In conclusion, no matter what were the reasons of Sinclair’s aggressive behavior, the High Court that took the case was the most appropriate for that situation because of its true complicity and great importance. The court claimed that the baby died at the hands of his father, a person whose first and foremost mission was to protect and look after his son (Glanfield, 2016). Thus, under any circumstances, child abuse in any form is a sorrowful crime and its defendants had to be punished deservedly.
In Cleveland, Ohio, prosecutors have offered Ariel Castro, the U. S. man, who was accused of imprisoning three women and exposing them to a decade of beatings, rapes and misconduct, a plea deal that would present him the chance of avoiding the death penalty. Castro accepting a plea, agreed to a term of life plus 1,000 years in prison, consciously waived his right to a trial in the case. The city due to that plea agreement was respected from painful trial and the women were spared from reliving their tumultuous dreams on the witness box.
According to authorities, three captivated woman, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Georgina “Gina” Dejesus, were separately abducted between 2002 and 2004 when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old. The former school bus driver kidnapped each of the women by offering them a ride. Castro was considered to be a friend of one of the victim’s family and even was present at requiems marking her disappearance (Welsh-Huggins, 2013). The women managed to escape Castro’s house one day and immediately shrieked neigbours for help. The man was arrested within hours.
Castro pled guilty to 937 counts, including an aggravated assault that ended the pregnancy of one of his estimated victims. The man was also accused of continually confining the women, chaining them in different places and assaulting them when captives attempted to escape. Hundreds of others count of rape, assault and kidnapping were believed to be connected with his name too.
Taking into consideration all criminal cases related to Ariel Castro, the man really deserved a death penalty. To my mind, judge should accept the sentence of life without parole plus an additional 1,000 years. The three women would not have to testify and would be relieved and completely safe knowing that their captor would never be released from prison.
Darryl Pinkins was convicted of rape and robbery of a Hammond woman and was destined to 65 years in prison. The case was also known as a car-bump rape due to the fact that aggressors According to police reports, five men deliberately crashed the woman into the rear of her car and then assailed her when she got out to examine the damage (Schultz, 2016). They then raped the victim for two hours before she managed to escape. Police found the coveralls that the men utilized to cover the woman’s face and attributed them to Luria Brothers, a slag processor at Bethlehem Steel. Darryl Pinkins and Roosevelt Glenn worked there.
There was not the DNA evidence at the time that could fully conform to Pinkins. The victim, however, determined him as one of her assailants and a detainee who shared cell with Pinkins, gave testimony that man confessed to the rape. For years after his conviction, Pinkins wrote to the Innocence Project, asking for help and hoping to prove his innocence one day. Frances Watson, Pinkins’ attorney found the case rather doubtful and could not believe that a married, employed and never been arrested of the rape man like Pinkins really committed such a ruthless crime.
Watson and her law students started to work seriously on the case. Great progress though, happened only when the private company Cybergenetics invented new technology called TrueAllele. This test demonstrated that neither Pinkins’ nor Glenn’s DNA matched any of the five DNA samples from the victim’s clothing. Takng into account the appearance of new evidence, the Indiana Court of Appeals accorded permission to take the case back to Lake County (Schultz, 2016). As a result, Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter Jr. stated that his office was dismissing all charges against Pinkins.
In conclusion, in spite of the long and tiresome process that could even last decades, the Innocence Project succeeds in assisting to free innocent people in the end. Every small detail is surely worthy to be paid attention and is able to shed the light on the whole situation, as actually happened in Pinkins’ case.
References
Glanfield, Emma. (2016). Father who shook his baby to death raised thousands for cot death charity after lying about how he had died. Mail Online, pp. 1-2.
Schultz, Teresa & Lazerus, Christin. (2016). Gary, Indiana Man Freed in Decades-Old Gang Rape. Chacago Tribune, pp. 1-3.
Welsh-Huggins. (2013). Ariel Castro agrees to plea in Ohio kidnap case. Global News. The Associated Press, pp. 1-2.
