Sociology of Crime

Kalyfornyah – part 1 & 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVOTG_jL8o8&feature=PlayList&p=04BAE9B96F17CE61&index=11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiPE0r3Mj9c&feature=PlayList&p=04BAE9B96F17CE61&index=12

This article was featured in the New York Times on April 22nd, 2009 on page A22 of the New York eduition. This article gives a story about two business partners who hoped to open a bar room in downtown New York City. The hopes of these two men slowly slipped away during the financial crisis and eventually owed the leasing company $267,000 in back rent. When the two learned of their debt they franticly tried to find out how to not only repay their debt but also how to repair their dream of opening their bar room. In an effort to gain this tremendous amount of money the business partners, Schwartz and Giamongas, conspiricied with SoHo security officer Gogoladze. This conspiricy consisted of a planned kidnapping of a real estate agent. The group kidnapped this man then forced him to give them seven signed blank checks that they would hope to provide a relief of debt.

This story is interesting for a few reasons. First this article is very interesting showing that “stranger” danger still exists. The victim, a real estate agent, had no connection to the offenders. This is a very unlikely circumstance that occurs at very low rates according to class discussion. Antother intersesting topic about this crime is that the offenders were of relatively high ages for criminal acts. The mean age of the three offenders was 46 years old with two men being 35 and the eldest being 70 years old. As we’ve learned in class many offenders tend to “phase” out of crime but these offenders seem to break the pattern. Also the very controversial inclusion that the three offenders were recent immigrants. This tries to point the finger away from American citizens and aims to provide the public with a “black sheep” that they can blame their problems on. All three of the offenders were either on a work visa or alledgely illegal immigrants.

Although the offenders only got away with cashing one of these checks for $25,000 they will certainly being paying this sum back and serving time for their actions. However repayment and incarceration won’t fix this problem thats facing America. Today more and more Americans are weary of job loss so these cases may become more frequent. This common belief is what I feel that this article tries to target. By showing these people as illegal immigrants and “Aliens” of immigration it tends to give the imagery that Americans wouldn’t ever commit an act like this. At a time of hardship the media tries to pull the population together under one united cause and the attack of immigrants is most likely a source that we will utilize considering the recent development of a fence between Texas and Mexico and an even more recent development of swine flu that’s continuely connected to “Mexican Dirtyness”.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/nyregion/22arrest.html?_r=1

This article from the New York times describes a strange and frightening situation in which a man was kidnapped, threatened, and coerced into handing over blank checks to his assailants.  The back story behind the crime was that a bar owner who was having difficulty paying his rent requested that a rather sizeable man go and kidnap this agent and they would then threaten him with torture and possible death in order to steal his checks.  Police have aprehended the accused parties and they are now being charged with kidnapping and robbery.

This account seems similar to the concept of occupational crime described in Coleman’s book in that the crime was committed in order to further the business.  However, there should be question here of how respectable or “white-collar” the profession involved is.  This leads to a question that Coleman addresses; just how white-collar does the crime have to be in order to be concidered as such? This crime seems to involve a group of thugs extorting an innocent man in order to pay their overdue and expensive rent, but it seems possible to argue that the crime could fall under the category of an organizational crime.  After all, it was perpetrated in order to allow for the criminals to pay their rent and open a bar.

The most important distinction here is that the crime was not perpetrated during ordinary business transactions. The parties involved where not all members of the company and, for the most part, the purposes served by the crime are far more individual than they would be in Coleman’s examples of organizational crime.  While this is an interesting case, it is a much better example of desperate men robbing a person in an attempt to break even. So, I would have to say this isn’t exactly white-collar crime by Coleman’s definition but it does blur the lines between white-collar crime and ordinary street crime. This is a problematic factor in Coleman’s conceptualization of white-collar crime and he acknowledges it. When does a street criminal recieve enough recognition and respect that the crime becomes a white-collar one?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/nyregion/22arrest.html?_r=1

This article looks at the crime committed by Mazoltuv Borukhova and Mikhail Mallayev who were both sentenced to life in prison without parole on Tuesday.  The victim’s wife was convicted of ordering Mr. Mallayev to kill her husband.  As the article begins readers are informed that Mr. Malakov (thirty four) was murdered in front of the couple’s four year old daughter at a playground in Forest Hills.  This is a reflection of the news scripts from Gillian and Iyengar from our class notes on February 2nd; the media first announces that a crime has occurred, then transports to the scene and gives a description of the setting, and then identifies the suspects and the efforts of the law enforcement (court sentencing).  Other notes from that day discuss those patterns of reporting which occur in criminal acts; first involving crime and criminals Gilliam and Iyengar also found that our media mainly portrays violent criminal acts and disregards other crime such as white-collar crime.  They found that 83% of these new stories are dedicated to violent crime and that people of color are dangerous with data showing that whites account for 41% of all perpetrators while people of color are 59% of perpetrators.  In this particular case we see patterns of reporting in relations to victims; they say that anyone can be a victim at any time and that the ideal victim is a respectable person engaged in an innocent activity.  Mr. Malakov did nothing harmful to justify his murder and his wife was only mad after a judge awarded him temporary custody of their daughter.  Since this involved a case of homicide the courts have to look at the definitions which vary by state; in the traditional definition first degree would be with malice, intentional, and premeditated.  Specifically in New York first degree murder is only involving special circumstances which could be murder of a police officer, judge, fireman, etc and second degree murder is with malice, intentional, and premeditated (class notes, March 16^th).  From class notes on March 4^th we looked at the role that weapons play in crime and it was reported that in 21% of all violent crime weapons are used, and one-third of those weapons are firearms mainly handguns, strangers are also more likely to use weapons than non- strangers.  On that same day we found out that men are much more likely to be involved in violent crimes (except for rape) as women only account for 15% of violent crime.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/nyregion/22dentist.html?_r=1

This article is about the attempted robbery of a woman offering lap dances in a hotel in Rhode Island. The man tied the woman up but thankfully her husband came into the room before anything could happen. The assailant fled and the husband chased him but was unsuccessful. This attack is believed to be committed by the Craigslist Killer who is the suspect in a murder case and a robbery.
I actually found this article in a different way. My mom had told me about the Craigsist killer so I googled it to learn more and found this article. My mom told me because this past summer I had replied to a bunch of job opportunities I found on Craigslist and my mom was saying that she didn’t want me to do that anymore. This killer has made her extremely worried. This reminds me of the panic that crime can cause which we discussed in class. I’m sure my mom is not alone in her worries and I bet many other people will be deterred from using Craigslist in the future. Craiglist is a very popular site and I would be interested to see how this case affects how many people will visit their site in the future which would be a good testament to whether it caused a panic or not. Also I think there was another murder recently unrelated to these where a woman responded to a babysitting ad on Craigslist and was then murdered and I wonder if this guy got the idea from him. The idea of killing someone who responds to an ad as opposed to someone who posts an ad is much scarier to me because that is what I did and for it to be so random ads another level of fear. I think it is interesting though how much scarier things are the more directly they are related to ones life. Like as soon as I found out this man was responding to masseuse ads, etc. I was immediately less scared because I thought “Oh I would never post a thing like that.” But the babysitting case was in the realm of things I have and would do so it feels way more real to me.
Another thing that interests me is that the killer only murdered one of the victims, robbed from the other, and attempted to rob from the third. Since this article is about the attempted robbery I don’t know a whole lot about the other cases but I would like to know the details of the murder case because it seems like it was not quite the pattern. I wonder if the woman was maybe fighting him and he killed her because it seems weird to me to have the mid set to kill just one victim and not the others. Because this case is receiving so much publicity and because the police have some pictures of the man I feel fairly confident that he will be caught.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/crimeandcourts/Womans_body_found_in_Paterson_street.html

This article is about the investigation of a murder of a Paterson, NJ woman. The woman was found in the middle of the street at 5 am.

As of yet the victims identity has not be released to the public. The article does not reveal whether the victim lived on the residential street that she was found. Also not revealed is cause of death although police cite “suspicious circumstances”.  Police also have not revealed whether they have any suspects in custody.

Paterson, NJ, located on the border of Passaic County and Bergen County (residents of the latter county are mostly of upper-middle class status), is a over populated city (with many low income residents, and residents of many ethnicity’s).  It is also about 20 minutes from NYC. The city is known for its high crime and murder rate although it is reported that there had been no homicides in the city (prior to that event) for three months- a record low.- Many variables (including household income, diversity of races, and overpopulation) can account for the high crime rate of the city.

This article is different from many other news articles/stories reporting homocides (or crime in general). The article tells readers very little about the crime, but makes them aware of the occurrence. This could be because of police reporting to the media (or police restriction of details). Generally, the police tend to not report things to the media in which they unsure of, or makes them look bad to the public.

Police are seeking information about the circumstances surrounding the crime, and will most likely report to news sources their findings when have come up with conclusive evidence.

This article was printed in the New York Times on April 16th, 2009 on page B9 of the New York edition. The article talks about how Quest Diagnostics was convicted of false advertising claims and sentenced to pay back $302 million in damages from the false advertising. In the article this money is divided up to repay many different governmental and state institutions such as Medicaid. These institutions and programs were swayed by this company and bought their product based on their advertisements. As these products showed to be ineffective an investigation was inspired and lead to the realization that these previous promises were false.

This article differs extremely from the common crime stories focused in the New York Times. Although this time of economic despair is surfacing more white collar crime, its still very disproportionate compared to violent street crime that receives much of the news spotlight. White collar crime is a crime that can be very hard to determine the costs and effects of the action. In this story no explaination is given of how the government decided that $302 million would be enough or what it would cover. This is the main reason why its hard to prosequete white collar crime. In the book on white collar crime that we read many crimes were given specific definitions. To me this crime seems to fit into the category of corporation on public. According to the article the company was stealing money from the public through the hands of the leading officials in the company.

A very interesting twist to this story is that there’s actually more than one company involved. Throughout Coleman’s book, The Criminal Elite, there was much haze on how to classify a dual company involved conspiracy. As the past has proved, with Enron, it can be very difficult to prove any individuals guilt in a large scale white collar crime incident. In this new situation I think that it will be even harder to decipher who did what and to punish them appropriately.

Another thing about this article that was very different from most news stories was the absence of individual names. The article only tells of how the company as a whole will be punished. Normally in large scale problems like this a CEO or a president is named to provide the public with some form of imagery. In this case however no names are mentioned which makes the crime seem less personal. To conclude I would like to as a question, this article seemed to be one that only provides momentary outrage which is shortly forgotten while a murder provides outrage that can last a whole persons life, why is this when the costs of this incident may have been more than one life?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/business/16tests.html?_r=1

In Rochester, NH, Douglas Gray, 37, was arrested for his connection with recent robberies of oxycodone from pharmacies. He was charged with two counts of robbery in connection with incidents at the Rite Aid Pharmacy in Farmington on Dec. 29, 2008 and the Rite Aid Pharmacy in Rochester on Feb. 9. Over the past couple months a number of law enforcement agencies have worked together and were able to identify Gray’s residence and were about to arrest him without incident. According to officials, after he was arrested he was transported to Frisbie Hospital after complaining of an injury to his ankle that is believed to have occurred on April 3 when police said he fled from authorities in Maine. The incidents that occurred on April 3 took place when officers in Berwick, Maine were arresting Jocelyn Brown, Gray’s accomplice. Brown was arrested on warrants for conspiracy to commit robbery in the pharmacy robbery in Farmington and criminal liability for the Rochester robbery.

In class on March 25^th we discussed robberies and different characteristics about them and when looking at this situation there are a number of components that are addressed that we have previous addressed in class, the first being the severity of the robbery. According to what we have learned in class, most of the robberies committed are minor and usually amount to less than $1,000. In this case, although Gray is not stealing money, he most likely in either of his robberies was not able to get away with more than $1,000 worth of the drug. The next aspect of this report is the socio-economic status in which the robber is labeled. It is not made clear in the article whether this man is lower or upper class, but by looking at his mug shot and looking at the contents in which he stole, I think it is safe to assume to that this man is of lower socio-economic status and according to typology of robbers, people of lower socio-economic status are more likely to commit such a crime. Therefore he may have been stealing to drugs to then turn around and sell them to make a little extra money for himself and his accomplice. The last component that stands out in this article is the significance on the good in which he stole. When trying to assume what Gray’s motivations were for this robbery, by looking at what he stole, it might be safe to assume that he may have had an addiction to the drug and because of his low socio-economic status he could not buy them off the street so he need to find an alternative way of acquiring the drug. This is significant because in Conklin’s typology of robbers an addiction could be a motivation for robbing because the individual may need to rob to support their habit.

http://www.wmur.com/news/19122309/detail.html

In Long Beach, CA on Thursday April 16^th, Mario Ramirez, age 50, showed up to work at the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and show Hugo Bustamante and Kelly Hales before then turning the gun on himself and pulling the trigger. According to witnesses the scene was very chaotic as gunshots rang out just before noon. Laura Harris, who saw the second shooting as she drove by the emergency entrance, said that Ramirez shot Hales in the leg, then stood over him and shot him again, then put the gun to his own head but appeared to be wavering, pacing and appeared frustrated. She described his behavior to be as if he couldn’t make up his mind about whether or not he was going to kill himself but then he finally put the gun to his and pulled the trigger. It is not clear why Ramirez, a technician at the outpatient pharmacy, killed Bustamante, the pharmacy manager and Hales, the executive director. There was some questioning of whether or not it had to do with a dispute or possible layoffs but according to officials, layoffs had taken place the month before and there were no other reductions planned. According to almost everyone that knew Ramirez they made it clear that this situation just didn’t seem fitting for him considering he was a father of two and also married. Ramirez was described as a family man who was quite and polite and was known around the hospital for being quick with a joke and a smile.

This article goes back to our class on 2/2/2009, when we talked about the news script. Just like many of the other article like this one, there is a structure to how this script is played out in the article. The first component of this article is the announcement of the crime and this is accomplished when the article starts out with the report that Ramirez had shot Hales and Bustamante. As a reader, we were then “transported” to the scene of the crime, where we were filled in on what exactly took place, what the scene of the crime was like during the actual shooting and also who was affected by these events. The final part of the script was the identity of the suspect and the individuals involved and that was accomplished through a detailed description of the killer and also a brief description of the victims.

http://news.aol.com/article/hospital-worker-kills-2-then-self/432057

On April 14^th, 2009, two middle school boys were expelled and arrested for spiking their teacher’s coffee with a substance that sent her to the hospital. These two boys, ages 13 and 14, were arrested after their 39 year old teacher fell ill at Sequoyah Middle school in Auburn Washington. According to the school, the teacher had seen the two boys at her desk earlier that morning, before she had taken a sip of her coffee, did not think anything of it and continued on with her morning. She later got sick from drinking her coffee and had to be rushed to the hospital. Turns out that the solution they put in the coffee was ipecac, which is syrup that induces vomiting. The teacher was then treated at the hospital and was released and is reportedly doing much better. Unfortunately for the boys, on the way out of the school as she was being taken to the hospital, she was able to point out who the two boys were. These boys also had boasted about the prank to fellow classmates and after being apprehended by school security officers, they admitted to spiking the coffee. These boys were then expelled from the school and are currently booked as juveniles with charges on suspicion of introducing a noxious substance with the intent to commit bodily harm.

When talking about juveniles, especially boys, a lot of times we try to justify why they do the things that they do. In most cases that explanation is the “boys will be boys” idea which allows these kids to get away with more than they should. In our society it is expected that boys will be delinquent and will get themselves into trouble, which is something I feel she not be accepted and should be looked down upon. I feel that in too many cases, especially ones like this one, these young men find it to be ok to participate in these behaviors and know that they will probably get a slap on the wrist for their actions. Therefore I hope that a case like this will help establish a foundation for other people and other schools to place more focus on trying to cut down on actions like this. I’m sure that these boys were not intentionally trying to hospitalize this woman or kill her, their intentions were most likely to get a couple laughs out of the situation and to continue on with their day. Therefore, by the school and law enforcement punishing them the way that they did hopefully it will make others think twice about repeating these actions and deter them from participating in this kind of delinquency.

http://news.aol.com/article/teacher-coffee-spiked/427712

In this article mother, Fang Chi-Xue, allegedly killed her 9 year old daughter and tried to strangle her 14 year ld daughter and stabbed herself in the abdomen, killing her unborn fetus. The mother, who at the time was 7½ months pregnant, is now being charged with one count of first degree murder and assault with the intent to murder. Those are not the only charges she could be facing, authorities are still waiting for autopsy results before they decide whether or not Chi- Xue should be charged with a second count of murder in the death of her unborn baby. According to authorities, they are not completely certain when all this took place but do that the 14 year old daughter make a phone call to the father while he was at work and he then call 911 and police finally arrived at 10:30pm. According to reports, the 14 year old suffered minor injuries when her mother tried to strangle her, the 9 year old suffered stab wounds to her wrist and it is still being investigated whether or not she was poisoned as well.

When looking at the scripting of this article there is a lot of emphasis placed on the individuals in the article and the development of how the reader should observe them. After the writer lays out what has taken place with somewhat graphic description, they then go on to say that the violence may have been sparked by an argument with her husband earlier in the evening. To think that all this took place after an argument after the horrific events have been describes, helps establish the mom’s character and can identify her as irrational and crazy. The article also uses interviews from individuals in their quaint Quincy, MA neighborhood, which is made up largely of Chinese and Vietnamese families. Yanmei Lin, the woman from across the street said that she would occasionally see Chi-Xue outside holding the younger child’s hand and she reported how is just so scary to think how all this could have happened. Lin’s comment in this piece may make this crime to look like a crime that occurred in the heat of the moment rather than this mother being serial murderer. Combining both the argument with the husband and this report from Lin, it is probably safe to say that these actions were not premeditated but rather an enormous amount of built up emotional stress, possibly having coming from the children. The ensuing conversation with her husband may have been about the children so it may have flipped a switch and caused her to attempt to kill off all of her offspring.

http://news.aol.com/article/mom-stabs/432827

This article published in the Los Angeles Times on April 18^th discusses recent trends in bank robberies in Southern California.  According to FBI data, bank robberies are rising “during these tough economic times,” while they had been declining in the 90’s. 

            There are several interesting points made by this article.  First, the article does not mention anything about the amount of money that is stolen, or retrieved when the robbers are caught.  I thought this is interesting because we learned in class that the FBI is notably inaccurate at times, and discussing bank robberies without giving actual information on how much has been stolen is a bit odd.  Also as we learned in class, typically in bank robberies very little money is actually stolen, usually with an average of less than five thousand dollars (Lecture 3/25).  This may be a reason why the author of the article didn’t focus on the actual money stolen, but rather the trend an increase of robberies.

            Secondly, the article discussed several well-known robbers who were caught because of surveillance tapes, and because these bank robbers were robbing at high rates, so they left quite a trail of evidence.  Some thief’s they noted were the “salt and pepper bandit,” who robbed at a rate of every other day and the “bullheaded bandit,” who robbed four banks in one day.  These incidents are consistent which what we learned in class, that bank robbers have poor odds for success and on average, 85% are caught by police.  These thieves also play into the stereotype that bank robbers are not the smartest of robbers because they offend at such high rates in the same area, and are almost always caught.   Especially for a crime with a stiff sentence of about twenty-five years average prison sentence, and for a generally low monetary gain (Lecture 3/25).   The article states, “these crimes are fueled by some sort of dependency such as addiction to gambling or drugs.”  This desperate need for money is probably why bank robberies continue, even though they are mostly unsuccessful.

            The article also discussed the involvement of gangs and bank robberies. According to the article “gangs, which were predominantly behind the rise in bank robberies in the late 1980’s and 1990’s have not been as active over the last five years.”

According to the Uniform Crime Reports, crime of all kind has been declining since the 90’s.  Although author john M Hagedorn, of A world of Gangs, sheds light on the fact that gang criminality is on the rise, it is interesting that gangs involvement in bank robberies has decreased, but bank robberies overall have increased.

 To view the whole article click here: #mce_temp_url#

Link to article here.

The article tells that music producer Phil Spector has been convicted of killing a Hollywood actress and could spend the rest of his life in prison. After a deadlocked trial in 2007, this second jury found Spector guilty of second-degree murder. The facts of the case are laid out – that the actress was shot in the mouth by Spector’s gun – interspersed with soundbytes on Spector’s legend in the music industry. Some people were angered by Spector’s potentially short sentence (18 years – for some 69 years old!), claiming that at least justice had been served. The prosecutor indicated that Spector had a problem with rage and violence, while the defense claimed that these statements were indicative of Spector twenty years past, NOT current-day Spector. The article also explains that Spector may have suffered from bipolar personality disorder, though they do not indicate that this might be one reason for the (unexpected) murder of the actress. Yet again, this is another article that trivializes issues of mental health in order to paint a more black-and-white picture of justice. Further, this article gives the reader the upperhand over celebrities, as if to say, “Yeah, you guys aren’t rich or famous. But YOU dont kill random women, do you?” Our fascination with celebrity grows feverish with our obsession to see them fall. Though not supremely famous, Spector’s story reflects the love-hate relationship we, as a society, have with society, as well as the fickle and blind-sided viewing of crimes committed by people with mental health issues.

This is a relatively article which discusses one specific burglary that occurred in a residential area in the early afternoon. And it seems that the burglar was arrested in was a relatively populated area, easily accessible with a lot of traffic every day. The perpetrator in this situation started off trying to steal from two apartments and was found later attempting to get away while on a busy street.

In just looking for crimes involving burglaries, a large number of them seem to involve gas stations and the like. Which points to the fact that people who are going out to steal, are going to the places that are in nearest proximity to them.”The Study shows that properties on corner lots have a higher risk of burglary than other locations.”(Hakim, 447) In the rest of Hakim’s article the study shows that those businesses which are in areas of greater traffic, and therefore larger numbers of people are much more likely to have higher burglar problems than other places might. With the location of the store and whether or not it has an alarm being the two most important factors for criminals in deciding where they will steal from.

Therefore it makes a lot of sense that these crimes occur at gas stations and convenience stores, that have already been purposely place at population centers. This means that while these places are in perfect positions for shoppers and buyers, they are also in the places most likely get visits from burglars. Having the place that the burglar is going to steal from in close proximity to where the burglar lives gives the burglar a certain amount of familiarity to the situation, allowing them to improvise easily if necessary. Though this also means that they are more likely to be recognized and when/if the police get involved they have are more likely to find someone who lives closer to where the crime occurred then someone from outside of the community, that had already fled.

link to article

Link to article here.

In the article, a young girl’s body is found in a suitcase after a massive search. There are signs of sexual assault. A woman, Melissa Huckaby, has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering the young victim. The article proceeds by interviewing the girl’s family and establishing her innocence and the shock and despair of her family upon learning of her death and possible sexual mistreatment. Huckaby’s history of financial instability, criminal record, and morality (i.e. pregnant and unmarried at 22, married and divorced shortly thereafter) are laid out, too. Though the details tying Huckaby are not explained or even hinted at, her name has evidently been released to the police, and given the shocking nature of the crime, articles such as these might turn the tide against Huckaby EVEN IF she has a solid defense and is not responsible for the crime. The focus on children as targets of crime – especially those of sexual or violent nature – serves to heighten the climate of fear for people (especially parents) that surrounds children in America. Huckaby was a school teacher, furthering the idea of helplessness and spontaneity of such crimes. The background sketched of Huckaby portrays her as working-class, reaffirming the commonly held belief that the dregs of society are constantly to blame for the corruption of and disruption into polite society. Huckaby’s defense – which may not be good, given her reported financial straits – may not be equipped to win her an acquittal. Even if she deserves one, articles such as these serve to reaffirm the reader of the danger of the lower class, and it also reinforces the sense of helplessness and fear we feel as a society when we imagine our most vulnerable persons as victims of crime.

     This article published in the Los Angeles Times on April 8^th, describes an Orange County woman who has been charged with allegedly hiring a hit man, (a grocery store butcher) to kill her husband.  The woman was having an intense affair, and she and the lover devised the plan to have her husband killed. The hired hit man not only killed the victim but also brutally attacked the man with a machete that left him with three amputated fingers and most of his nose severed off.

            This is a sick case for several reasons.  First, for a wife to hire to kill her husband is disturbing.  But what is even more disturbing is the way in which the hired hit man almost “butchered” the victim, showing that he most likely gets some sort of satisfaction from killing.  This idea of killing for satisfaction goes against what we read in Ken Levi article “becoming a hit man.”  In this article an interviewed “hit man,” describes his experience in killing people for money “Pete says that he noticed his victim approach, he was aware of the man’s presence.  But he noticed none of the man’s personal features, he did not see the victims face or expressions.”   By aiming to not look directly at the victim, this shows a calculated disconnect with the victim, making it just a job, nothing personal.  This idea of not getting personal contradicts the article in which the hired hit man took the time to not only kill the victim, but to individually cut of fingers and his nose.  Particularly, the hit man cut of the victims ring finger which shows that he got to know the story behind the killing, in which a wife whom no longer wanted to be married, wanted the husband dead. This gruesome act of cutting of the victim’s ring finger shows that the hit man got personal with the case.  Its difficult to think that the hit man did this because he wasn’t emotionally attached to the case, just simply didn’t mind not only killing the victim but also brutally attacking the man.

            This story is fairly unusual because it is a woman being charged for killing a man.  Typically, women commit less crime then men, across time, culture and category  (Lecture 2/25).  However, the woman didn’t actually do the killing herself, so her non-violent involvement is typical of crimes in general, especially murder.  In addition the fact that she and her male lover formulated the attack also is typical because the woman’s involvement in a murder case typically involves a man, and in this case that fits the mold.

to view this story click: #mce_temp_url#

Link to article here.

In the article, a woman’s body is found under the bed of a man taken to the hospital for self-inflicted stab wounds. The man, David Cavalieri, allegedly strangled his girlfriend, wrapped the body in plastic, and left her body under his bed. The police go on to say that they had never encountered such a case before, in which the perpetrator kept the victim’s body with them for weeks.

Firstly, this article portrays Cavalieri as “other.” He attempted suicide or at least wanted to hurt himself, as evidenced by the self-inflicted wounds. Also, the heinous nature of the crime – killing his girlfriend, holding onto the body – makes him different from the “heat of the moment” crimes that we typically read about. To further the idea of marital problems (as evidenced by his killing her), neighbors are interviewed as saying that the two had lived together for many months, but they hadn’t seen her of late. This indicates, too, that the alleged perpetrator is not close with his neighbors, furthering the idea of his otherness. The end part slants Cavalieri as homocidal mastermind, like Hannibal Lector. It explains that while in the hospital, Cavalieri admitted to sheriffs that they might find something in his apartment. One can well imagine the man with an evil grin and a mischievous twinkle his eye, a la Anthony Hopkins, rather than lying in a bed, recovering from self-inflicted wounds. This article’s purpose is not only to inform – it also seeks to slant the reader against this man. No mention is made of his mental state (alleged or confirmed), or of the injuries he sustained. Rather than telling of a potentially troubled man, this is a story of cold-blooded killer who may have wanted to be caught. Between the lines are messages of Cavalieri’s otherness and how this can be dangerous, even deadly.

Link to article here.

In the article, a man is sentenced to death after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. The perpetrator, one Robert Diamond, shot and killed two coworkers outside a warehouse on August 1. The prosecutors argued that the killings were race-related and that the defendant believed two had “conspired to get him into trouble on the job.” The article explains that Diamond was mentally ill (though his illness is not named), and the defense attorney argued that it was behind the killings, calling the judgment a “travesty of justice.”

The article is plainly laid out: here are the dregs of society, killing one another off. For one, there’s the mentally ill assailant. Because most Americans probably believe that a mental illness cannot be responsible for a person’s committing murder, they probably think Diamond deserves the sentence. Diamond’s family members departed upon hearing the verdict, while  Diamond showed no emotion upon hearing of his death sentence. Because the victims were people of color (while Diamond presumably is not, from the picture on the webpage), their biographies were not explored a la the EMT who was killed in the line of duty (as seen in class, and from various other sources). Rather than garner sympathy for the dead, the reporter instead slants Diamond as a random but violent killer. His mental illness, then, is no excuse for his behavior. The fact that the man apparently had little social support – mentally ill but still forced to work to survive; his family is present but abandons him when his fate is sealed – is not mentioned. His dispassionate display in court, upon hearing his sentence, could be for any number of reasons. His illness could mean that he does not know what is happening or what the sentence means. Or, he elected to keep an impassive face because, in American society, men who show emotion are weak – surely a man who has killed two people and been sentenced to death would like to keep his masculine integrity. The defense decries the sentence, as the article mentions, which might normally be taken with a grain of salt. After all, lawyers are seen as the scum of the earth in America. But the fact that someone who went through law school and makes pennies at an often thankless job believes in Diamond’s innocence gives reason for pause. The circumstances, too, become suspect. What methods did the police use to “break” Diamond, make him confess? Does Diamond truly know the gravity of the trial, given his illness? The holes are interesting and are meant to paint mentally ill (read: “other”) people as volatile, random killers. Instead, it reflects the devaluation of people in his situation, as well as the lack of credibility that we assign them, within society.

This article gives examples of a number of different violent crimes ranging from stabbings to homicides that occur through the use of Craigslist. The large number of people who use Craigslist( “50 million Americans each month) and the anonymity of the web allow these crimes to occur much easier over the internet then they would in person.

It seems that the internet is quickly becoming a breeding ground for criminals, whether they may murderers, rapists or thieves. Though social networking sites such as Myspace.com and Facebook.com seem to receive a majority of the news coverage. Though one reason that Craigslist may be more attractive then either of those two sites may have to do with the anonymity which perpetrators can have over the internet. Whether this is in the purchase or sale of an item or a Craigslist personal where someone with bad motives is able to lure unsuspecting victims into their trap. This is at least the way in which the media has chosen to exhibit internet crime. As Sacco notes “The transition from private troubles to public issues is not always a linear process since media interest in particular crime problems can vary in intensity or decline over time.”(Sacco, 150) The medias current interest in these kinds of internet crime may have something to do with how the internet is relatively new.

Though in the news article the CEO of Craigslist is quoted as saying “any misuse of Craigslist for crime is unacceptable” and that “exceedingly few” crimes are connected to the site used by 50 million Americans each month.” This tendency of the media to make relatively niche based crimes into larger “societal issues” which then have to be fixed society at large. In previous cases of crime relating to specific sites, the most well known being Myspace and the proliferation of child molesters on that site; there have been strong backlashes against the sites. Where at least Myspace has been stigmatized as being a hotbed of criminals and rapists. Though this is undoubtedly false, the very strong reaction to what was occurring in a few instances will mean that that stigma is there forever.

This seems to be contrary to how the media seems to act in nearly all other circumstances, that there is a general lack of true “investigative reporting.” That the discover of truth and of hidden crimes is not as much a part of a journalists job, instead they have to focus on articles that are more likely to bring about a certain amount of “shock value.” Though the journalists can’t be completely to blame for this as they are only focusing on their target audience. By confining themselves to areas where they have easier stories (as opposed to ones which involve a lot of time and research).

link to article

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/04/19/2009-04-19_brooklyn_grandmother_is_slain_trying_to_end_fight.html

This article is about a 43 year old grandmother named Vickie Griffin who was stabbed to death outside her Brooklyn home.  Apparently she was killed while trying to play “peacemaker” between two men who were arguing but she fell victim to that same violence that she was trying to prevent.  The author of the article gives us a news script as the police first announce that she was knifed in the chest after she threw herself in the middle of a heated fight, next they transport to the scene of the crime where they say she was stabbed outside of her Brooklyn home and the cops actually transport there to find Vickie Griffin. Lastly, they identify the offender, Abdul Mattocks, 30 years old where they charged the Brooklyn man with second-degree murder and manslaughter (class notes, February 2nd).  The patterns of reporting of crime and criminals which we learned on this same day discuss patterns discussed by Gilliam and Iyengar that say that the media and other forms of reporting send out the message that all crime is violent, as 83% of news stories are solely dedicated to violent crime.  One main similarity between this case and the patterns of crime that we learned about was those relating to the victims as best discusses that anyone may be a victim at any time and that the ideal victim would be an individual who is a respectable person engaged in an innocent activity (class notes February 2nd).  Vickie Griffin was just that, she was simply a bystander to these two men fighting and while she was acting as an innocent witness trying to prevent the fighting she ended up being killed.  We also see from class notes taken on February 2nd that there are patterns which occur in regards to race and ethnicity as well; specifically in homicide we learned that 40% of victims are black, and from the article we can see that this particular victim was part of that percentage.  While looking at the weapons used we see that strangers are more likely to use weapons than non strangers as the offender who killed the victim was too a stranger and was part of the percentage in which 21% of al violent crime include weapons (class notes, March 4th).  As we know that the victim was charged with second degree murder and that the homicide took place in New York we see that the definition which they used was that the murder was with malice, intentional, and premeditated (classs notes, March 16th).  We also see that he was convicted of manslaughter which is also called 3rd degree murder which can be either voluntary (intended to cause death) or involuntary (where the killing took place without malice).

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009904150333

This article is about a city man in Rochester who was found shot and killed on Monday.  Christopher Majors, 20 years old was found lying on the sidewalk near a church in the city of Rochester  with one gunshot wound to his upper body.  On February 2nd we learned about Gilliam and Iyengar’s pattern of scripting and news scripting; they define these scripts as a coherent sequence of events expected by the individual which provide an orderly, predictable set of scenarios.  In regards to news scripting the author of the article sets this up perfectly: first they announce that a crime has occurred in the beginning of the article when they say that around 11 p.m. on Monday police officers responded to a report of a person being shot, next they transport to the scene of the crime where they discuss the victim’s whereabouts and his conditions saying that he was shot once in the upper body, and they then identify any possible suspects, which they have not found yet and discuss the related efforts of law enforcements to find these possible suspects.  In class notes on March 4th while learning about the general victim characteristics, this article adds to these patterns; men account for 85% of victims, mainly in violent crimes (except for rape) like in this instance, and in half of the cases victims are under the age of 25, this victim being both a male and 20 years old.  On that same day we learned about the role weapons play in crime, learning that weapons are used in 21% of all violent crime, that strangers are more likely to use them than non strangers, and that one third of weapons are firearms-mostly handguns.  In Mr. Majors case all three of these statistics confirm and agree with these patterns.  On March 16th we learned about how traditional definitions of homicide can be difficult to define while traditional definitions say that 1st degree is with malice, intentional, and premeditated while 2nd degree is with malice but not intentional or premeditated.  It gets tricky when states such as New York have their own definitions, for example their 1st degree is defined as murder involving special circumstances, while 2nd degree is seen as with malice, intentional and premeditated.  Class notes on March 18th discuss that 77& of homicide victims are males like that of this case.  We also learned that 14% of all victims are killed by a stranger while 11% are killed by an intimate, although we do not know of any possible suspects of this particular case police could use this data to help investigate possible offenders.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990417007

This article focuses on a man named Alfred A. Ligammari Jr., 40 years old who fled the end of his trial on charges that he sexually assaulted a female relative on Thursday.  Jurors convicted him of first and second degree criminal sexual assault, first degree sexual abuse, attempted first degree rape, and endangering the welfare of a child.  He was convicted and faces up to fifty years in prison for these charges.  From class notes on February 2nd we learned about the patterns of reporting for victims; Best states that anyone can be a victim at any time, that it is random adn senseless and that the ideal victim is a respectable person engaged in an innocent activity.  In this case the victim was exactly that, a young female who happened to be a relative of Mr. Ligammari.  From patterns of reporting from the police Fishman claims that police report to the media, avoid stories that do not impact public welfare, emphasize the unusualness of the crime, and promote themselves (class notes, February 2nd).  We see that this holds true in the idea that from such a young age children are socialized to learn about “stranger danger”, the idea that any crime or harm that they face will come from strangers and people whom they do not know and that that is who they should be careful of and look out for.  From articles we have read in class and data that we have observed we can see that this contradicts the reality of these situations; we learn that in regards to the victim offender relationship women are the most likely to know their offenders (in 78% of cases) and this could include intimate partners, relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, etc.  While learning about victim characteristics we see that in regards to gender men are the most likely to be victims except for those convictions of sexual crimes like this one, which makes up 15% of cases.  We also learned that with age 50% of victims are under the age of 25 like the young girl who was victimized in this crime (class notes, March 4th).  On March 23rd we learned the defintions of the convictions which the offender was charged with; the UCR defines forcible rape as the carnal knowledge of a female by force and against her will while the NCVS defines it as forced sexual intercourse including psychological coercion and physical force.  Statutory rape on the other hand is seen as sexual relations with a victim under the age of consent.

This article deals with the case of a stolen mini-bike that ended in the fatal shooting of 14 year old DeOnte’ Rawlings. The story does not end there however as there is question on the circumstances surrounding the killing of the youth by two off duty officers attempting to retrieve the vehicle. There is a level of transparency being called into question regarding this case such as how there could be an allegation of shots exchanged yet the victim had no weapon, the disappearance and then sudden reappearance of the bike, and other matters implying tampering of evidence. Among these ambiguities is a failure to initially interview witnesses at the scene. The implication of this seems to be not just a cover up but also the possibility of another rider of the min-bike and another shooter accounting for lack of ties between what happened with DeOnte’. The key evidence in all this is the same that started the incident and that is the mini-bike.

Because of the secretive nature in which this internal investigation has been conducted the only thing that can be most critically assessed in this crime in relation to our readings is the nature of auto theft and youthful offenders. Based on Fleming’s work we know that auto theft is motivated by one or a combination of three things generally: profit, transportation, and/or recreation. By the nature of the offender’s age in this case and the specific vehicle which had been stolen it is a fair deduction to presume that the higher likelihood of the mini-bike theft was the result of recreational or transportation motive. This may have been a case of thrill seeking gone terribly awry. However the involvement of an unknown shooter in this case still leaves questions to be answered in this case and complicate procession beyond the speculative phase of this analysis.

On the part of the two off duty police there is more scrutiny which need be applied to their handling of this case which has in effect resulted in the necessity for further internal investigation of this case. There are clear policy constraints as revealed by Fleming that restrict the police in what they can and cannot do in the case of auto theft. There seems to be something suspicious to the entirety of how this pursuit was carried out and too many gaps within the story to leave a comfortable feeling that proper policing has occurred in the unfurling of this case.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/18/AR2009041801737.html?sid=ST2009041801738

This article relays the gruesome homicide of a family by their father who was believed to be plagued by psychological issues. Christopher Wood killed his three children and wife before committing suicide. The indications of psychological issues come from a series of notes that were found around the house written by Wood. Compounding this mental illness is also believed to be debt problems that he was facing.

Eerily this report draws connections to Donald Black’s article on Crime as a social control. In the instance of this killing we see a manifestation of some form of the deviant classified self help that Black talks about. If there is validity to the implication of mental illness, the likelihood of Christopher Wood attempting acting in accordance to the effects severe psychological issues triggering impulsive explosive violence in the advent of the financial troubles he had been faced with. This is not to deny the possibility of other factors contributing to the multidimensional nature of the crime committed. However, the level of gratuitous violence exhibited in this case along with the evidence of the notes found around the house implies that there was impulsivity rooted within the act that seemed to be underscored by some form ill conceived logic that homicide would be a way of alleviating his burdens.

As a result we see how Black’s theory fits with the case of an individual who felt obligated for whatever reason to commit the crime which he did in order to manage the current conflict of his life. Whether this motivation was punishment based or moralistic we have no definitive way of ascertaining with the current information available. The argument may be made that there is a level of absence of law that exists in the domestic house hold which would facilitate the likelihood of this violent act occurring as based on Hobbesian theory. As Black states “law may be relatively unavailable both to those with grievance and to those who are the objects of self-help, as when people of low status and people who are intimate have conflicts with each other” (Black 42). This case falls into the latter of the two scenarios.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/18/maryland.family.shot/index.html

Continuing the analysis of the “Los Zetas” recent capture of the media’s interest in their gang activities, this article looks at the ritualized death of one of the gang members killed in Culiacan, Mexico and more in part on the burials made for hit men who have died in service of their bosses. The corpse of this particular gang member is topped off with the iconic picture and quotation from the movie Scarface. I find it interesting how Hagedorn does not delve much into any study of the relationship of iconic movies that revolve around plots of organized crime and gangs, yet there is clearly some level of prominence that they have in the world of gangs. One may argue that messages and associations made with particular movies have an equal if not greater effect than that of their musical counterpart today.
Going beyond this, there is significance to the level of attention paid to the formalities that follow death in gangs. It hints at one of the necessary processes of an institution that operates outside the confines of the state and mainstream conformity. This process is the need for the institution to affirm the identities of its constituents at all stages of their integration into the organization. Credibility or even dis-credibility in death is just another stage in the gang’s institutional process just like any other organization. As Hagedorn states:

What we can learn from a quick glance at the four corners of the globe is that gangs and other kinds of armed non-state actors are a normal presence. The loss of faith in the state has been replace by faith in more local tangible bodies and, as Castells demonstrates, by the “power of identity.” (26 Hagedorn)

This just reinforces the necessity for the “Los Zetas” to have patterns of behavior that addresses matters  such as these that may arise. It is a matter of survival both at the individual level and more notably the organizational level. Hagedorn alludes to this in page 8:
Departing from classic organizational theory, Selznick found that an institution’s main goal was not just to rationally accomplish a specific task but also to find the means for survival…. As organizations institutionalize, they develop rituals and ceremonies that distinguish them from other similar organizations, and come up with an apocryphal organizational history. (8 Hagedorn)
The myths that may emerge in the homage paid to fallen hit men/ gunmen like “Lupito” is not as important in terms as authenticity as they are in terms of their ability to further sustain the organization’s structure and continued pursuit of objectives even after key figures pass away.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/04/16/mexico.death/index.html