Criminological Theories in “Murder on a Sunday Morning”

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Cast
Plot and Analysis
Reference List

Introduction

In trying to develop a deeper understanding of the criminological theories, this research paper will undertake to review a film Murder on a Sunday Morning. The film was directed by a Frenchman known as Jean-Xavier De Lestrade. The film was produced in the year 2001. The film talks about a young African American boy who is accused of stealing from an old woman and then killing her in Florida. The American woman was a tourist. The film chronicles the details of proceedings of the trial of the young African-American. It shows the inability and prejudice of the policing agencies in Jacksonville (Harris, 2002).

Cast

The casts include Mary Anne Stephens, A 65-year-old woman who was killed in Florida and Mr. Stephens, her husband; Brenton Butler, a 15-year-old African American accused of killing Mrs. Stephens; Patrick McGuiness is the accused attorney. The detectives from Jacksonville include Nat Glover, Williams and Darnel.

Plot and Analysis

The movie begins when Mary Anne Stephens is murdered on Sunday morning when she is on vacation with her husband in Florida. The police carry out a soup in order to net the suspect whose descriptions are given as short black skinny boy donning a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. The policemen undertake to search the neighborhood looking for suspicious characters (Ceci and Bruck, 1993). In the process, they come across a fifteen year old boy who had gone to pick his job application letter. The police apprehend this boy because he is black and is wearing a dark shirt. To them this boy fits the description that they were given by the witness. The boy gets arrested and is taken to the scene of crime for questioning by the detectives. The detectives also think the boy might have taken part in crime because he lives around. Butler is taken to Mr. Stephen and confirmed as the suspect (Clancy et al, 2000). The police thus stop to facilitate further investigation in this issue (Cole, 2009). The detectives never bother to inform the suspect’s family about his arrest, they do not contemplate factoring in the issue of murder weapon that might have been used to kill the suspect live alone Mrs. Stephen’s purse. The evidence that can be used to convict the teenager for having killed the victim is very little (Lockhart V. McCree). There is only one witness in the name of Mr. Stephens, who happens to be the victim’s husband, which the prosecution has. Butler’s predicament is not unique as it shows a society where racial profiling flourishes in its entirety. The film shows one Patrick McGuiness, a lawyer who chooses to be a public defender rather than use his skills to make some good money for himself. He undertakes to handle briefs for the suspect Butler. He takes up the teenage boy’s case because he feels that something wrong has taken place. His decision is informed by the bruises that were evident in the boy’s face after he had been arrested. He is convinced that that the bore was subjected to forceful confession. In fact, the signed confection that was adduced by the prosecution meant that the boy was already guilty of the offence. The defense attorney is set to prove that the boy is very innocent (Bartol and Bartol, 2004). The film shows how detectives were negligent and clueless in carrying out their duties (Bersoff and Ogden, 1987). It shows how miscarriage of justice can lead to incarceration of wrong people. The director does not however suggest that Butler was innocent.

Reference List

Bartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2004). Psychology and law: Theory, research, and application, 3rd ed. Belmont: Thomson/Wadsworth

Bersoff, D., & Ogden, D. (1987). In the Supreme Court of the United States: Lockhart v. McCree: Amicus Curiae Brief. American Psychologist, 42, 59 – 68.

Ceci, S. J., & Bruck, M. (1993). Suggestibility of the child witness: A historical review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 403 – 439.

Clancy, S. A., Schachter, D. L., McNally, R. J., & Pitman, R. K. (2000). False recognition in women reporting recovered memories of sexual abuse. Psychological Science, 11, 26 – 31.

Cole, S.A. (2009). Cultural Consequences of Miscarriages of Justice. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, Vol.27, pp. 431–449.

Harris, D. A. (2002). Profiling unmasked; The hard numbers. In Profiles in injustice: Why racial profiling cannot work. New York: New Press.

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Criminological Theories in “Murder on a Sunday Morning”

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