Ten Top TV Trials of the Modern Era in America

The OJ Simpson Murder Trial

Dubbed the case that changed modern courtroom coverage, over a 100 million people tuned in on October 3, 1995, to watch Simpson receive an acquittal verdict for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. It was the trial that Lawyer Jonnie Cochran coined the phrase, “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit.” 

Amanda Knox’s Conviction is Upheld

After a long wait the Italian Supreme Court’s verdict in the Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito case was finally revealed on Thursday: guilty. The judges in Florence overruled her previous acquittal and sentence her to 28 years and 6 months in prison, while Knox’s ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was also found guilty and given 25 years in jail. But their lawyers vowed to appeal to Italy’s highest court—a process that will take at least a year and drag out this legal saga even further. 

Determining Postmortem Interval: Forensic Entomology

Investigating murders incorporates a host of different forensic professionals, all scientifically collaborating in an effort to corroborate their findings. Forensic entomology combines the study of insects and other arthropods with criminal investigations. In the case of a forensic entomologist; their job, when investigating a homicide, is to help determine the postmortem interval (or time elapsed since death; PMI) of a corpse based on the age of the insects present in the body. To do so, they must first identify the species of the insect. Each species of insect may have vastly different habits, behaviors, and growth rates.

More trouble for the Gun Wielding George Zimmerman

Problems continue for 30yr-old George Zimmerman after being acquitted four months ago of murder in the death teenager Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was arrested Monday night after a “domestic disturbance” with his girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe. According to Samantha’s 911 call the incident began when the former neighborhood watch captain grew upset during an argument and brandished a weapon at her. “He's in my house, breaking all my shit because I asked him to leave,” Scheibe told the dispatcher. “He's got a freaking gun breaking all my stuff right now.”

Repost of Raffaele Sollecito’s Interview with Kate Mansey (two days after Kercher’s murder)

The following is a repost of the interview that British Sunday Times journalist, Kate Mansey, did with Raffaele Sollecito (RS) on November 3, 2007 (Two days after Meredith Kercher was murdered), and was published November 4, 2007. Within, Sollecito claims that he and Amanda Knox were at “a party with one of his friends” on the night that Kercher was murdered. Obviously Sollecito has never used this [fake] alibi in any other tale that he has told, nor has he ever addressed this [false] claim. The following article was available on the internet for a couple of years, but has since been removed. Yet, unfortunately for Sollecito; it has not been forgotten.

 

Knox & Sollecito: A Closer Look at the Footprint Evidence

If you have listen to anything from the American media about the Amanda Knox case you would likely believe that there was no physical evidence at the crime scene linking Knox and Raffaele Sollecito to the murder of Meredith Kercher. However, with just a simple cursory review of some of the official sources it is easy to see that there is actually an abundance of physical evidence against the two convicts. Perhaps the best place to start is Judge Massei’s Report on the conviction of Knox and Kercher. Furthermore, it is imperative to read the Italian Supreme Court’s Reasoning on the case. Aside from the obvious four spots of blood found at the cottage (3 spots in the bathroom and one in Filomena’s room) mixed with Knox and Kercher’s DNA, there are also several pieces of convincing footprint evidence that was used to help convict the three accused, which includes Rudy Guede. Putting the plethora of circumstantial evidence and the other physical evidence aside and simply focusing on the footprint evidence gives us a very clear picture of exactly what occurred that fateful night.

Roe v Wade: The Most Popular Supreme Court Case?

Perhaps one of the most controversial Supreme Court cases ever, if not outright the most controversial, is Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973). It is certainly the most popular Supreme Court case of all time. It all started when Jane Roe, a.k.a. Norma McCorvey, a single mother of two in Dallas, Texas, got pregnant for a third time. Feeling that she could not financially support a third child, twenty-one-year old Jane Roe filed a lawsuit. At that time the Texas law on abortion was severely restrictive, basically stating that a woman could only get a “legal” abortion if the mother’s life was threatened by the continuation of her pregnancy. The defendant in the case was Dallas County District Attorney, Henry Wade, who represented the State of Texas.