Criminal investigation: police missteps in high-profile cases

1 Times and Trayvon

The police unit that responded to the Trayvon Martin killing did not do a thorough inspection. They did not even know that Zimmerman’s car was there until his wife attempted to move it. They did not thoroughly canvas the neighborhood and knock and doors—otherwise they would have probably learned that Trayvon was a guest there at his father’s girlfriend’s place. The unit did not even have a homicide division because there were so few murders in the region. For that reason, it may be understood that there were gaps in the procedural work: they were simply inexperienced and not staffed for such an investigation. Would the case have ended up differently had the police been more thorough in their investigation? It is difficult to say: the trial quickly became politicized, which means a lot of talking heads were less interested in facts than in race war. As this article shows, however, there was a lot of reason for doubt as to what happened because it basically ended up being Zimmerman’s word against the deceased and the police seemed to accept his word from the get-go without doing much to see if there were any facts that might prove otherwise.

2 Seattle Times

This article is disturbing because it represents what appears to be a clear case of law enforcement officers disregarding evidence because it does not fit their narrative of what happened at a crime scene. The defense lawyers clearly have a good case on their side (which is no doubt why the first trial ended in a mistrial). The prosecution’s side is weak and does not explain motive or the evidence that the defense says was left at the home—such as the missing hair, the bent fireplace tools, and the gashes in the wall. The defense also has offered a motive that seems plausible whereas the prosecution attests that the defendant attacked the victim for no reason. That is not a very good argument and the defense’s position makes more logical sense: the two began fighting because the defendant refused to give the victim a car ride home. The victim assaulted the defendant first in anger and the defendant defended himself with the knife. Since the two had been drinking, this could very well be the case. I expect the likely outcome is another mistrial or even acquittal.

3 Times Kidnapping

The case against Wagstaffe and Connor is another disturbing story. Law enforcement officers appear to have ignored evidence that would have cleared the men of the crime of kidnapping. They’ve been in jail for twenty years now as a result of this dereliction of duty. It reminds me of the Netflix show Making of a Murderer, where a person is selected to be guilty by police because they have a grudge against them. In this case, the police selected Wagstaffe and Connor for an undisclosed reason, though they said it was because the informer (prostitute and heroin addict) identified them. However, the church-going woman who said her car was untouched all night and said the hair band was hers was not allowed to submit her testimony. This is a very problematic issue and law enforcement officers should not be the ones deciding what evidence gets to stay and what gets thrown out. They want an open and shut case in instances like this and they want to be able to show that they have solved a case, but instead of one life being ruined, they ruin multiple others by placing innocent men in jail—all to show that they have been successful in their investigation. This is an offense to honest police work and should be condemned. The police involved in such abuses should be tried.
References
Alexander, K. (19950. Lawyers charge police botched stabbing probe. Seattle Times.
Retrieved from http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19951005&slug=2145171
Dwyer, J. (2011). Evidence, exculpatory and unheard. New York Times. Retrieved
from https://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/nyregion/evidence-in-92-kidnapping-covered-up-lawyers-say.html?mcubz=1
Kovaleski, S. (2012). Trayvon Martin case shadowed by series of police missteps. New
York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/us/trayvon-martin-case-shadowed-by-police-missteps.html?mcubz=1