Martha Thomas
2/13/2018
Case of Jogger’s Murder Hinges, in Part, on Questions Over a Police Stop
Mueller, Benjamin. Case of Jogger's Murder Hinges, in Part, on Questions Over a Police Stop.
“Case of Jogger’s Murder Hinges, in Part, on Questions Over a Police Stop” by Benjamin Mueller explores the controversy of whether illegally obtained evidence can be shown in court. Mr. Lewis,a 20 year old black male, was walking on a public street on Howard Beach in Queens. Lieutenant Russo was suspicious of him and took him in for questioning but released him soon after. The jogger Karina Vetrano was raped and strangled on Howard Beach later that night. The police decided to add Mr. Lewis to the list of suspects and take him back in for questioning. His defense lawyers argued that walking in public is not a crime and did not warrant his arrest in the first place, “The stop was redolent of the abuses of stop-and-frisk, an act of profiling that put Mr. Lewis under scrutiny because he was a black man walking in a mostly white neighborhood.” Even though this defense was convincing, Mr. Lewis remained a suspect because of “a 2010 ruling by the New York Court of Appeals seems to have established that a name cannot be excluded from trial in New York, even if it is the result of an illegal stop.”
This controversy is important because it raises the issue of racial profiling in the police force. The arrest of Mr. Lewis is an instance of racial profiling that backfired on the prosecutor. Because of the initial illegal arrest of Mr. Lewis, it was debated if investigating him for the murder of Vetrano was legal. The laws protecting citizens from racial profiling are inherently important, and if Lieutenant Russo had followed these laws the investigation of Lewis would have gone much more smoothly.
This article was sympathetic to both Lewis and the police force. The structure of the article, placing information about racial profiling in the beginning and end, connected this event to a larger issue. However within the body of the article, it was difficult to follow the investigation of Mr. Lewis chronologically.
3 comments:
Alexander Plaza
Mr.Ippolito
2/13/18
Forensics Comment
Mueller, Benjamin. Case of Jogger's Murder Hinges, in Part, on Questions Over a Police Stop.
NewYork Times, 22 Jan. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/nyregion/case-of-karina-vetrano-murder-hinges-in-part-on-questions-over-a-police-stop.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%20Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection.
Martha, I read your review of “Case of Jogger’s Murder Hinges, in Part, on Questions Over a Police Stop” by Benjamin Mueller and I thought that you did a good job. I thought that you did a nice job with your summary of the article. I was not confused about your topic. This is good for the readers since it creates a understanding of the subject matter for your review. Also, I like that your summary is brief. It does not bore the reader with useless information and you are able to move to the main point of your review faster. Finally, I like that you are looking at aspects of crime that may be a result of unfair practices in the police force like racial profiling.
Although your article was good, there are some things that you could improve on. First, I would want a more clear connection to forensic science. It would be useful in understanding the article in the context of our class.. Also, I think you could add more detail from the text as it would help us understand the review overall.
Overall, I enjoyed your review. You talk about a problem that is a controversial part of law enforcement and forensic science.
Gordon Hoffman
Mr.Ippolito
2/13/18
Current Events Comment
Mueller, Benjamin. Case of Jogger's Murder Hinges, in Part, on Questions Over a Police Stop.
NewYork Times, 22 Jan. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/nyregion/case-of-karina-vetrano-murder-hinges-in-part-on-questions-over-a-police-stop.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%20Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection.
Overall Martha’s review of “Case of Jogger’s Murder Hinges, in Part, on Questions Over a Police Stop” by Benjamin Mueller was done very well. Even though the summary was short it was still very good and wasn’t just big for its own sake and it was kept clear and concise. Her summary was very clear and I wasn’t confused at all and I understood exactly what she was talking about. Additionally l liked that the inclusion of parts of the crime that we don’t often think about such as things like racial profiling by the police. However there are two things Martha could improve on. One thing is she could have added more textual detail as that was lacking and it would have added to the review. She also could have added a little more on the forensic side of things as it would have connected to our class better. Overall Martha did a good job and looked at the darker side of law enforcement that we often overlook.
Mairead Cain
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics
22 December 2017
Mueller, Benjamin. Case of Jogger's Murder Hinges, in Part, on Questions Over a Police Stop.
NewYork Times, 22 Jan. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/nyregion/case-of-karina-vetrano-murder-hinges-in-part-on-questions-over-a-police-stop.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%20Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection.
Martha did a very nice job with her current event review on the article “Case of Jogger’s Murder Hinges, in Part, on Questions Over a Police Stop” from the New York times. I decided to read and analyze the report as the title was rather intriguing. There are many good techniques she uses throughout the report. One example is how Martha explains the exact details of the case. Her focus on this factor of the original report is important as it gives readers and insight on the background information. Another aspect of Martha’s writing that was done rather well was when she included quotes into her report. These quotes allow readers to follow the case closely. Lastly, I appreciated how Martha discussed the societal problems concerning this case. There is clear racial prejudice that has to be prevented and put under control. This would lead to a more peaceful and beneficial relationship with the American police departments and the public.
Overall, Martha’s report was extremely interesting and informative, however there are some details that she could tweak and add to make the current event report even that much better. I recommend that she explains why, exactly, this specific case has an impact on the world of forensic science. It would have been beneficial for her to go into some detail about this because it would have given readers an insight on the information being discussed. Also, Martha could have included more of her own opinion about the article and its impact.
Martha’s report was very informative and I learned extensively about the specific case involving Chanel Lewis and Lieutenant John Russo. Martha was able to keep readers interested on the topic at hand. Before reading the report, I had little knowledge about the details of the case. It is important that cases like this one remain in the public eye and acknowledged.
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