Aspects of Murder in the U.S.

Three factors provide the focus for this research. These factors are (1) societal views in the United States toward victims and accused persons in murder cases, (2) the use of these societal attitudes by defense and prosecuting counsels in the manipulation of juries, and (3) the degree to which justice is served by the American approach to murder.

Ask almost any American citizen, and one would be told that murder is wrong, and that its perpetrator should be punished severelypolls indicate that 84 percent of Americans approve of capital punishment (Kaminsky, 1985). Ask almost any American about a specific murder, however, or place almost any American on a jury panel in a murder trial, and (1) the act of

murder may not always be perceived as being wrong, and (2) even when the act is perceived as a wrong, the perpetrator may not be punished severely.

In point of fact, while the majority of Americans overtly condemn the act of murder, they tacitly condone some murders. The offense of murder in the United States is,

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ublicity in the press, and the general societal attitude was sympathetic toward him. Except during the actual trials, Bundy's victims were seldom mentioned. In part, this public attitude may be explained by the fact that the victim is dead, while the perpetrator is still alive. As a living human being, public attention may, and often does, result in public sympathy. People tend to not want to hear about victims, because they do not want to be exposed to grief (Magee, 1983). Victims, thus, tend to be forgotten, or, as in the case of Jennifer Levin, they may be sought out for blame. Gary Gilmore is another case of the public abandoning the victim, and providing sympathy for the murderer. In the Gilmore case, the issue of responsibility for murder, and the 5issue of justice were completely set aside for a large proportion of the public, in an effort to prevent Gilmore's execution. Capital punishment became the overriding public issue in the Gilmore case (Kaminsky, 1985). It was no longer Gary Gilmore, the man who brutally murdered innocent people. Rather, it was Gary Gilmore, the man whom a vindictive, murderous state was trying to kill. MANIPULATIONS OF PUBLIC ATTITUDES BY COUNSEL When a child is the murder
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Approximate Word count = 2067
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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