8 Famous People Who Were Juvenile Delinquents

8 Famous People Who Were Juvenile Delinquents

 

Not all juvenile delinquents go on to lead lives of crime. In fact, a few of them have used their experiences to feed their aspirations to become successful actors, singers or athletes — three professions that require unwavering confidence, fearlessness, and a degree of daredevilism. The following guys reformed their behavior just enough to overcome the odds and become famous. Each one of them, despite leading less-than-perfect adulthoods in some cases, have accomplished more in their lifetimes than most people ever will.

1. Mark Wahlberg

As the youngest of nine children, Wahlberg learned early that he had to fight for what he wanted. So when his parents divorced, he started running with a bad crowd. As a 13-year-old, he developed an addiction to cocaine, and at 14, he stopped attending school. His low point came at 16, when he was charged with attempted murder for beating a Vietnamese refugee with a metal hook, leaving the victim blind. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but served just 45 days. During his stay behind bars, he realized that his life was spiraling out of control, and that change was needed. He turned to his parish priest, who helped him get on the straight and narrow. Soon after, he joined his brother’s boy band New Kids on the Block, catapulting to fame in early adulthood.

2. 50 Cent

Born to a cocaine dealer, Curtis Jackson III struggled to survive in South Jamaica, Queens. Fittingly, he became an amateur boxer, which toughened him up and took him off of the streets — at least for a while. He became a drug dealer at age 12, escaping the watchful eyes of his grandparents, who thought he was keeping busy in after-school programs. It was an activity that he didn’t conceal at school, and it eventually caught up to him. When he was a sophomore, his school’s metal detectors indicated that he was carrying a gun. He subsequently spent time in a correctional boot camp, which motivated him to change — hence the moniker 50 Cent.

3. Snoop Dogg

Participating in the Golgotha Trinity Baptist Church didn’t prevent Snoop from rebelling as a teenager. During high school, he got in trouble for cocaine trafficking, spending six months in jail as a result. He also dealt marijuana, even selling some to another rebellious high schooler, Cameron Diaz — according to her, anyway. A member of the Rollin’ 20 Crips gang in Long Beach, he collected enough interesting experiences about which to rap. By the age of 22, after spending a few years in trouble with the law as he was attempting to hit it big, his album Doggystle debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling more than eight million copies worldwide.

4. Danny Trejo

Few non-A-list stars have such a distinctive niche as Trejo. Not particularly handsome, his badly weathered face and numerous tattoos make him the perfect movie criminal — the firsthand experience helps too. He got high for the first time at the age of eight, and eventually became addicted to heroin as he committed petty crimes with his uncle, his role model. He spent time in a California Youth Authority facility for assault after stabbing a man who made a crack about his girlfriend. For a large portion of his adulthood, he continued to get into trouble, spending time in California’s infamous San Quentin State Prison, where he became the lightweight and welterweight boxing champion. Joining the twelve-step program, he knocked out his drug addiction, enabling him to demonstrate his acting chops in his first film Runaway Train.

5. Mike Tyson

A sensitive boy with a lisp and high-pitched voice, Tyson didn’t take too kindly to kids who made fun of him. Already struggling in poor Brownsville, Brooklyn, he honed his fighting skills by defending himself against the cruelty of older kids who were equally as frustrated with life. He was first arrested at the age of 12 when he snatched a purse, which resulted in him being sent to Tryon School for Boys. He had been arrested multiple times by the age of 13, and at 16, his mother died. Fortunately for Tyson, he was introduced to boxing trainer Cus D’Amato by one of his juvenile detention center counselors. D’Amato became his legal guardian, serving as a mentor while molding him into a heavyweight champion.

6. Robert Mitchum

Although Mitchum was undoubtedly a film legend, he stood apart from other legends of his day because of his embodiment of the tough, outcast character. As with Trejo and Wahlberg, it was his real-life personal experiences that made him great at his craft. In middle school, he was expelled for fighting with the principal. When he was expelled from high school, he decided to travel the country by hopping railcars, securing a variety of jobs including professional boxing. The low point of his journey came in Savannah, Georgia, when he was arrested for vagrancy and placed on a chain gang, prompting to him to return home after his release. He moved to Long Beach in 1936, where he joined a local theater guild, marking the beginning of his five-decade-long acting career.

7. Merle Haggard

Rappers and county music singers tend to lead interesting lives. Haggard, like 50 Cent and Snoop, got an early start in troublemaking. His father died when Merle was just nine years old, so he lacked the guidance craved by young men. At the age of 13, he was sent to a juvenile detention center in California for shoplifting lingerie, and at 14, he ran off with a friend to Texas. When he returned, he was arrested for truancy and petty larceny, and was sent back to the detention center. He escaped and worked odd jobs until he was caught and shipped to the high-security Preston School of Industry, where he had two stays — the second time came after he administered a beating after an attempted burglary. He turned his life around in prison, as he earned a high school diploma, facilitating his ascension to the top of the country music charts.

8. Allen Iverson

Before Iverson had a distinguished NBA career, he had a distinguished high school career as both a point guard and quarterback, leading both teams to Virginia state championships. Oozing with potential, he was highly coveted by numerous top-flight programs, including Georgetown basketball, which eventually secured his commitment. He almost threw it all away, however, when he participated in a white versus black melee at a bowling alley in which he allegedly struck a woman in her head with a chair. Arrested with four of his friends, the 17-year-old was convicted as an adult on a rare state statute intended to prevent lynching. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but only served four months, as the conviction was overturned due to insufficient evidence. A year later, he earned the Big East Rookie of the Year award.

*Today’s article brought to you by www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com.

 

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Leslie Budewitz: Protective Orders

Leslie Budewitz: Protective Orders

Leslie Budewitz is the author of Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure (Quill Driver Books, October 2011). She is a practicing lawyer and a mystery writer living in northwest Montana. Read an excerpt and more articles for writers, or send her a question, at www.LawandFiction.com

PROTECTIVE ORDERS

A recent double homicide in Helena, Montana spotlights protective orders. Joe Gable and Michelle Coller married in 1986. They separated two years ago, and Michelle moved out of state. In September, she returned to Montana unexpectedly, and began what Joe viewed as harassment and intimidation. In one incident, she drove to his apartment, blocked his car with hers, entered, threw his laptop down the stairs, and refused to leave–all while he was changing the locks to keep her from getting in. http://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/shooting-details-emerge/article_8a5e5de6-f6ea-11e0-b9d6-001cc4c002e0.html

Joe requested a temporary order of protection. The judge concluded that his evidence did not establish personal danger or threat, and denied the request. http://helenair.com/news/local/protection-order-denied-by-judge/article_34a52548-f62b-11e0-8e0b-001cc4c002e0.html

Three weeks later, Joe filed for divorce. Two days later, Michelle entered his apartment at 6:00 a.m., and shot and killed him and another woman. She’s been charged with two counts of deliberate homicide.

I can only imagine how the judge feels. The situation proved more volatile–and violent–than the evidence before her had indicated. News accounts suggest she did not know the couple’s troubled history, including previous calls to police, or recent concerns by friends about Michelle’s mental health. http://helenair.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/joe-and-michelle-gable-timeline-of-a-troubled-relationship/article_87ca364a-f6ea-11e0-ba97-001cc4c002e0.html

So what’s the process for getting a protective order–also called a restraining order or “no contact” order? State laws vary, so writers, check your story state. (Start by Googling “protective order” and the state name.) Most court systems provide forms, requiring some or all of the following information:

– Relationship between applicant and respondent, e.g., married, divorced, separated, dating, parents of a minor child.

– Recent abuse, including when and where the incident occurred, who was present, any injuries, whether a gun or other weapon was threatened or used, and whether police were called.

– Past abuse, with the same information.

– Does respondent have a gun?

– Past or pending court cases between the parties.

– Protection sought. This may be as simple as checking boxes.

Examples:

– No threats or acts of violence against applicant and other persons specified.

– No calls, emails, or other contact or communication with applicant and specified family members, victims or witnesses.

– Not take specified children out of the state or county.

– Maintain a specified distance from applicant or other persons protected in specific locations, e.g., home, work, vehicle, school, or day care.

– Not possess firearms.

– Not take, sell, damage, or dispose of specified property.

– Possession or use of specified property, e.g., a residence, vehicle, or other personal property, regardless of ownership.

– Is law enforcement help requested to obtain the property?

– The court may also order anger management counseling, or alcohol or chemical dependency counseling or treatment.

– Any other protection applicant thinks necessary. The judge can impose any conditions she thinks appropriate. Most courts use pre-printed orders with blanks for additions.

– Applicant should bring any witnesses to the hearing, along with any threatening letters, texts, voice mail messages, and so on.

– Applicant can request that her address be kept confidential. Obviously, that wouldn’t have helped Joe Gable, unless he had moved.

Orders are usually temporary, e.g., 20 days. The parties are required to come to court for a hearing on whether an order should be renewed, modified, or made permanent.

State law may also allow use of protective orders to grant temporary custody of minor children, establish visitation, and order temporary support payments.

Sample forms:

Montana: http://www.doj.mt.gov/victims/domesticviolence.asp

Texas: https://www.oag.state.tx.us/victims/protective.shtml

Maryland: http://www.courts.state.md.us/family/forms/protectorder.html

If Joe Gable had shown sufficient danger or threat, would Michelle have honored the protective order? No way of knowing. Orders are often violated, sometimes with tragic consequences. But they are an important tool in decreasing violence, and protecting us all.

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By the way, folks, Leslie is my go-to expert for all things legal. Her new book is a must-have for every crime writer.


Get a copy here.

And Leslie’s just accepted a three-book offer from Berkley Prime Crime for The Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana, debuting in 2013!

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Ellie and Jennifer Oberth: Mother And Daughter Quality Time

Ellie and Jennifer Oberth

 

The Writers Police Academy 2011 was a hands-on, jam-packed, thrilling, instructive, humorous, realistic experience. You won’t find classes on ‘How to Write Interesting Characters’ or ‘How to Land an Agent’ like all the other writers conventions. Instead, we handled Glocks, felt the intensity of a fire and even dug a grave. We got to read the ‘Law Enforcement Code of Ethics’ as a group and witness a hostage negotiation unfold before our eyes.

Invaluable training that allows writers to add to our arsenal of knowledge and skills that we can then draw from as we sit in our comfy homes and write about events that we otherwise would not have experienced.

And it was an absolute blast!

Ellie:

It was kinda funny that some of the experts weren’t sure what was expected of them. When informed that we were there to learn how to kill people and investigate crimes, they got into the spirit and answered our questions in depth. It is said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing – well, I now have more than ‘a little’ knowledge.

My first class was ‘Alternate Light Source’. Our instructors answered questions, showed us equipment and then let us loose with the blacklights and goggles. Iridescent specks glowed to life. Evidence! Evidence of what – you didn’t know. That’s what the labs are for.  But samples had to be collected and sent to them and here we were playing crime scene technicians!

During the Academy, Lee asked me what my favorite activity was. Hands down – FATS; a computerized training scenario for police officers. My daughter and I were partners.

The trainers showed us how to load our Glocks. I was the designated yeller (I’m a mom – it’s what we do best). The first scenario had us in the middle of a swat team bursting into a suspected drug dealer’s house. We found a guy alone in a room reaching into a dresser drawer. “SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!”  “GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!” No one was more surprised than I when the suspect put his hands in the air and lay down on the floor.

We ran through five different scenarios. I issued orders, but when we had to shoot, my daughter got ‘the kill’ shots. Hmmm, I’d better be careful not to yell at her anymore…

Jennifer:

I took very few notes but soaked in a ton of info.

I adored Joy, the police dog and her no nonsense handler. The firefighters committed arson – just for us. We got to feel the heat, hear the crackling flames and watch the black soot and smoke rise and choke out the sky.

My favorite class was FATS – Mom gave a great summary of it above. She surprised me with her shouted commands but she is Mom so, you know… (Not much will replace the coolness of shooting guns next to your mother who’s yelling at bad guys, by the way.)

The classes that struck me the most were the Jail Searches and Women in Law Enforcement, both led expertly by Sgt. Catherine Netter. She really impressed me. The behind-the-scenes look of what women deal with as prison guards was so surprising I might write a new series featuring a female guard!

Did you know that female officers tend to command respect and authority with the male prisoners easier than male guards do? Many male prisoners come from homes where the mother was in charge and this translates well into prison life. (At least for the female guards.)

Another fact I wouldn’t have guessed, women inmates are generally nurturing to one another and will create make up and accessories out of crayons and candy wrappers and help each other dress up for court appearances.

Another tidbit we walked away with was the commitment and generosity of the instructors and the volunteers. The buses didn’t drive themselves, the name tags and print outs didn’t appear by magic and when you see instructors and fellow classmates walking in from the pouring rain, dripping mud and droplets everywhere, you know you’re a part of something amazing.

The instructors are professionals in the field of criminology.  From the prison guard, bio-terrorism specialist, arson investigator, police dog and her handler, sniper, crime lab techs to the crime scene photographer and the list goes on and on…

We witnessed arson, prison smells, felt the adrenaline course through our veins as we fired guns at a threatening computer image, heard the shouts of the self-defense class carry down the halls, lunched with the fire marshal AND dug a shallow grave.

Where else could we have done all this?  The Writers Academy was one of the most unique and rewarding experiences I’ve had in my lifetime.  And I got to share it with my Mom, a fellow mystery author.

Ellie Oberth

I write cozy mysteries. My “Who Murdered…” series starts with “Who Murdered the Ghost?”  The second ebook “Who Murdered the Clown?” is due out by the end of the year.  My protagonist is a small town (NH) cop.

Since I don’t know any small town cops, the Writers Police Academy was a godsend. I’ve attended numerous mystery conventions throughout the years, but this one beat them all. The hands-on experiences were phenomenal. It provided that touch of realism that every writer strives for. (If there’s any New Hampshire cops out there looking for a new BFF, I’d love to pick your brain regarding small town procedures!)

Ellie: http://ellieoberth.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Oberth

Now for a little irony – My short story series (Ella Westin Mysteries) and novels (soon to be published) are set in the 1800’s. Forensics was a completely different animal back then but the similarities of attention to detail, perseverance and dedication remain the same. Married to Murder, Honeymoon Homicide and Toxic Train (third in the series and soon to be published) follow a female government agent as she gets used to married life while solving murders.  The novel series start with The Masked Rider: Origins and is the story of the next two generations of Westins solving crime near Chicago in 1875.

Maybe you think I wouldn’t benefit from 21st century technology, but every experience adds to the realism of writing.  Plus the fact that I’m about to publish a contemporary mystery series called The Georgia H. Mysteries.  The first story in this new series, Georgia Meets Virginia, should be published this year – and there’s a flamethrower in it.

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10 Countries That Still Embrace Capital Punishment

10 Countries with Capitol Punishment

Over the years, capital punishment has gained and lost support around the world as countries have developed new laws to retain the death penalty for certain crimes, approve it in exceptional circumstances or have abolished it altogether. Out of those 58 countries that still uphold the death penalty, 527 people were executed in 23 countries in 2010. Here are 10 countries that still embrace capital punishment:

  1. China

    China carries out the most executions than any other country in the world. China is considered to be the only country in the world to regularly execute thousands of people each year. Even though the Chinese government does not disclose the total number of executions it performs, Amnesty International has counted thousands of executions during 2010.

  2. United States

    The United States has one of the highest numbers of executions each year. In 2010, the United States executed 46 people in 2010, which was a 12% drop from 2009 and a 50% drop from a decade ago. Currently, 34 of the 50 U.S. states still use the death penalty, and Texas, Virginia and Oklahoma have carried out the most executions in the United States since 1976.

  3. Pakistan

    Since October 2008, the Pakistan Peoples Party enforced a moratorium on the death penalty, which prevented the government from executing criminals in 2009 and 2010. Despite the moratorium, the Pakistani government continues to sentence hundreds of people to death and thousands have remained on death row from previous sentences.

  4. Iran

    Iran has the second highest number of executions in the world. Iran is known for its brutal public executions and lack of discretion about the age of the offenders. In 2010, Iran executed at least 252 people, many of which are for drug-related offenses. In Iran, the death penalty can be given for murder, armed robbery, drug trafficking, rape and pedophilia, as well as homosexuality and apostasy.

  5. North Korea

    North Korea still embraces the death penalty and is a prolific user of this form of punishment. The country performs public executions and allows the death penalty in cases of prostitution, drug transactions, plots against national sovereignty, terrorism, murder and treason. In 2010, North Korea executed at least 60 people.

  6. Saudi Arabia

    Saudi Arabia embraces capital punishment as a way to penalize murderers, drug offenders and those who engage in witchcraft, sexual misconduct and violent or non-violent offenses. In 2010, Saudi Arabia carried out at least 27 executions. The current method for public executions mostly consists of beheading by sword.

  7. Yemen

    Yemen still embraces capital punishment as a form of penalizing those who commit murder and adultery and engage in homosexuality and apostasy. Yemen currently performs public executions by a firing squad, but has also permitted stoning and beheadings in the past. Yemen has proven to be a prolific user of the death penalty and committed at least 53 executions in 2010.

  8. Indonesia

    Indonesia embraces capital punishment and issues the death penalty for those who commit murder, drug trafficking and terrorism. Indonesia carries out executions by a firing squad. Although Indonesia hasn’t performed an execution since 2008 and there has been a shift in the attitude against the death penalty, it has yet to abolish capital punishment.

  9. Bangladesh

    Bangladesh still embraces the death penalty as a form of punishment for those who commit murder, drug offenses, and human trafficking of children and women for immoral and illegal purposes. Bangladesh has imposed mandatory death sentences for these and other crimes, but does not often take into account extenuating circumstances. Bangladesh permits public and jail executions by hanging. In 2010, the country performed at least 9 executions.

  10. Iraq

    Despite an unconfirmed number of executions in 2010, Amnesty International can confirm that Iraq still embraces the death penalty and has the third highest number of executions in the world since 2007. Iraq executed at least 120 people in 2009 and sentenced at least 1,129 people to death the same year, which was more than any other country other than China.

*Today’s article courtesy of criminaljusticedegreesguide.com

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10 Teachers Who Turned Into Infamous Criminals

10 Teachers Who Turned Into Infamous Criminals

Teachers are charged with molding young minds, protecting our children, and serving as role models, but some of them have actually been charged with crimes. Getting caught was probably not in their lesson plan, and some quit their careers as teachers before becoming psychopathic murderers, but the kind of wrong-doers sometimes found in our education system is just frightening. You’ll want to get background checks on your professors or kids’ teachers after reading about these 10 teachers who became criminals.

  1. Andrei Chikatilo

    Known in Russia as the Rovstov Ripper, Andrei Chikatilo was convicted for murdering 52 victims, though he confessed to 56 killings. But before his homicidal spree from 1978 to 1990, Chikatilo got a degree in Russian literature and then started an unsuccessful career as a teacher. Complaints of indecent assaults seemed to follow him, so he had to move from school to school. He committed his first murder while still teaching, but soon after that killing, he went to work at a factory. Chikatilo’s method of killing involved luring women and children to remote areas where he would stab them to death for sexual release. He was executed for his crimes in 1994.

  2. Albert Fentress

    A story about a middle-school teacher who kills and eats a local teenager sounds like the stuff of fiction, but it happened in 1979. Albert Fentress, an educator in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., murdered 18-year-old Paul Masters when the young man wandered into his yard. Fentress somehow got Masters to come down to his basement where he tied him to a post, mutilated him, and then shot him in the head. After Masters was dead, Fentress cooked and ate some of his body parts. The former teacher confessed to the killing and was found innocent by reason of insanity. He lived for years in a non-secure psychiatric hospital until he admitted that he had sexually abused some young boys, at which point he was moved to a secured mental ward.

  3. Mary Kay Letourneau

    The name Mary Kay Letourneau has become synonymous with inappropriate teacher-student relationships. Letourneau, a married mother of four, was a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher who began an affair with one of her students in 1995. What started out as a mentor relationship with Vili Fualaau quickly became romantic. She described the 12-year-old boy as her “soul mate” to a close friend and eventually became pregnant with his child. Letourneau was charged and convicted of statutory rape, and was to receive probation after three months in prison if she never had any contact with her underage lover again. But when she was released, she was caught with Fualaau and sentenced to seven and half years in prison. She later gave birth to their second child. Now that Letourneau is out of prison and Fualaau is in his 20s, the two are married.

  4. Ronald Janssen

    Just last year, details were still emerging about the technical drawing teacher who confessed to murdering three people in Belgium. Ronald Janssen’s latest crime had been the shooting of his neighbor and her fiance, but he had been suspected in the death of another girl, a crime so perfect that authorities couldn’t pin it on him until he admitted his guilt in 2010. Many Europeans fear that he may have a much longer list of victims if he was able to carry out that murder without leaving any evidence behind. Janssen is still making his way through the Belgian legal system and authorities are re-opening many previously unsolved abductions and murders to see if Janssen might be the culprit.

  5. Charles Albright

    When three prostitutes in Dallas were found dead in the early ’90s, the connection between them wasn’t obvious until medical examiners looked at their eyes — or their lack of eyes. Each victim’s eyeballs had been surgically removed neatly without cutting the eyelids. This “Texas Eyeball Killer” turned out to be Charles Albright, a former high school science teacher with a background in taxidermy. He had a past filled with fraud, sexual assault, and theft, and an obsession with eyeballs. And though he’d only landed his teaching job with falsified documents, he was actually pretty good at it. In 1991, Albright was convicted of the three murders and received eight life sentences.

  6. Pamela Smart

    Exciting enough to be the subject of a made-for-TV movie (starring Helen Hunt, no less), Pamela Smart’s tale of forbidden love, murder, and passion centers around her role as a school aide in New Hampshire. She met 15-year-old Billy Flynn at her job and seduced him. She allegedly told Flynn that she would stop her sexual relationship with him unless he killed her husband, though she denies involvement in her husband’s death. Flynn and some of his friends went to her house and shot her husband in the head in 1990. Smart was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering and is now serving a life sentence.

  7. Carolyn Warmus

    Former sixth-grade teacher Carolyn Warmus is often compared to the obsessive character in the movie Fatal Attraction. While having an affair with married colleague Paul Solomon, Warmus became fixated with the man and his relationship with his wife. One night when Warmus and Solomon had arranged to meet, Warmus went to Solomon’s house where his wife was alone and shot her to death, then met up with Solomon for drinks and sex afterward. Solomon had no idea his wife had just been murdered. Warmus will be eligible for parole in 2017, but it’s doubtful that she’ll find another job as a teacher anywhere. Maybe she can find comfort in watching the two television movies that have been made about her case.

  8. William Sidney Bradfield Jr.

    The case known as the Main Line Murders made everyone take a step back and look at the teachers in their own community’s schools. A teacher named Susan Reinert (and presumably her two children, though they were never found) was murdered, and all clues pointed to her fellow teacher, lover, and beneficiary of her life insurance policy, Willam Bradfield. The school’s principal is also assumed to be involved by many, but after years on death row, his conviction was overturned because of misconduct by the prosecution. Bradfield, who was living with another woman at the time of his affair with Reinert, convinced Reinert to take out the life insurance policy and then teamed up with the principal to carry out the murders, after which Reinert was stuffed in her car trunk. Bradfield was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and died in prison.

  9. Mohammed Sarwar

    As an information technology teacher at Burnage Media Arts College in England, Mohammed Sarwar was respected by students and coworkers alike, but in the criminal world, the man known as “The Teacher” was earning a far less respectable living. Sarwar was discovered to be the head of a gang that sold cocaine to drug dealers throughout the city of Manchester. In 2009, police bugged Sarwar’s car and trailed him around the city, uncovering his drug-baron activities and seeing him take a student to a probable drug deal. One of his gang members also ratted him out. Earlier this year, Sarwar received a sentence of 21 years in prison for his large-scale cocaine operation.

  10. Melissa Petro

    Technically Melissa Petro’s crime happened before she became a teacher in the Bronx, but she definitely attained a level of infamy for it. Petro revealed on The Huffington Post in 2010 that while in graduate school, she was a prostitute offering her services through Craigslist. To the dismay of the New York City Department of Education, Petro was one of their own elementary school art teachers at the time of her confession. She says she only sold sex for a few months and that she had quit before becoming a teacher, but unsurprisingly, that wasn’t very comforting for parents and the administration. After pressure from the education department, Petro resigned her position. She still lives in New York.

* Today’s blog is courtesy of criminaljusticedegreesguide.com

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10 Things You Didn’t Know About Witness Protection

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Witness Protection

The witness protection program is frequently used as a plot device in movies and on TV shows, but many people don’t know much about the system in reality. In the U.S., witness security has protected 7,500 witnesses and 9,500 of their family members since it began, and the testimonies of these witnesses has led to an 89% conviction rate of those they testified against. Here are 10 other things you didn’t know about the program that helps take down organized crime, gang violence, and terrorism.

1. It started in the U.S.

It’s kind of surprising that the U.S. was the first to come up with the idea of creating a program to protect witnesses. Even stranger is that witness security is only about 40 years old. It began when the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Justice Department introduced the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 and started to actively protect witnesses in 1971. The law gave the Department of Justice freedom to arrange for the security of witnesses as they see fit, and though it was originally passed in order to curb mafia crimes, it now covers people who testify against drug cartels, gangs, and terrorist groups. The program was expanded by the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 to cover some relatives and associates of the witnesses. Though there are still some problems with the program, it has been incredibly effective in coercing witnesses to provide testimonies that have landed major criminals in prison.

2. Now the idea has spread around the world

Since many countries struggle with organized crime, the method for protecting and relocating essential witnesses has been picked up in many countries around the world. Australia, a country whose population famously started with criminals, began their own program in 1983, along with complementary regional programs. Germany has had one since the mid-’80s and Hong Kong started theirs in the ’90s. Colombia established a three-program system in their constitution, which provides information and monitoring for witnesses. The third and most intense program is for the witnesses of kidnappings, terrorism, and drug trafficking, and provides relocation assistance and support. Even the International Criminal Court has established a witness security organization.

3. It was inspired by a mafia member

Before the establishment of an official witness protection program in any country, no one could get mafia members to speak against their leaders to police or in court. Their code of silence meant that if you cooperated with police, they would kill you. In 1963, Joseph Valachi became the first person from the Italian-American Mafia to break the code of silence and he testified to a congressional committee about how the mafia works. While talking to the committee, he was guarded by 200 U.S. Marshals because there was rumored to be a $100,000 bounty on his head, and he was the first person to be offered protection for his testimony. He spent the rest of his life in protective custody in prison, afraid to even eat food prepared by anyone but himself. His testimony and protection led the U.S. to start a program for witnesses.

4. You have to qualify

If you think you can testify against a criminal and just waltz into a new life in the witness security program, you’re wrong. There are several qualifications you have to meet to be eligible to take part in witness protection. First, your testimony has to be essential to the case, usually a serious criminal one, and put your life or your family’s life in danger. If they can get testimony against a criminal from someone else that would be at less risk, they’ll use them instead of you. Your testimony also has to be seen as credible and they have to be sure that you’re going to show up at trial. Unreliable people don’t get new identities. Ultimately, the U.S. Attorney General’s office has the final say in who gets to enter the program, but all the requirements have to be met so that resources are only used on the most important and at-risk people.

5. There are some perks

It’s obviously really difficult to leave behind family and friends and cut all ties with the life you knew, but witness protection does offer some perks to help participants get back on their feet quickly. U.S. Marshals find a reasonable job opportunity or provide vocational training for the participants and help them find housing. The witnesses normally receive about $60,000 in subsistence payments, but if they don’t actively seek employment, those payments will stop. Obviously this assistance wouldn’t be spectacular for someone who used to make six figures in a previous life, but for many, this is more than they had before. You’ll also likely get to come up with your new name, so if your parents gave you a bad one, — you’re a boy named Sue or something equally horrible — this is your chance to turn things around. The payments, training, new name, and other help is all in addition to getting to stay alive, which is probably the biggest plus.

6. Marshals have tricks for getting witnesses to trial

Getting witnesses to the trial to testify is one of the most important tasks that faces a U.S. Marshal. This is the time when the person needs the most protection so that the criminal can be convicted and the witness can be taken to a safer place. Some of the tricks for transporting witnesses to trial safely include using nontraditional vehicles that potential assailants wouldn’t expect. The founder of the witness security program, Gerald Shur, says Marshals have used everything from mail trucks to helicopters to fishing boats to bring witnesses to trial. Sometimes decoy cars are sent to the courthouse to distract people while Marshals sneak the witness in through another entrance. Nothing is too crazy to keep the witnesses safe to testify.

7. No witnesses have been killed

According to the U.S. Marshals service, no witnesses who have entered their protection and followed the rules have ever been harmed. The rules basically say that you can’t have any contact with associates from your past or unprotected family members and that you can’t go back to the city where you lived before relocation. Lots of witnesses who break these guidelines have been killed. For example, a young man who had been relocated from San Francisco returned there in 2006 and was shot to death. Another girl, just 17 years old, testified against a notorious gang, got a new identity, and then contacted some of her old associates that were still tied to the gang to come try out her hotel’s hot tub. She was killed within days of the phone call.

8. There’s less chance of committing a crime

Many of the people who enter into witness security programs are criminals themselves who have given key testimony on their former bosses or associates. Before allowing a criminal to participate in witness protection, the U.S. Attorney General evaluates whether the risk the witness would pose to his new community is less than the value of his testimony. If they think the danger to the community isn’t high, they’ll relocate the witness and inform the local law enforcement of his location and criminal record. There’s obviously some chance that a criminal will go back to his old ways while in witness protection, but the percent of criminals that re-offend while in the program is between 17% and 23%. The rate of parolees who return to crime after prison is somewhere between 40% and 60%, significantly higher than those in witness protection.

9. People in jail can be protected

If someone in witness protection commits a crime or a criminal becomes a witness but is headed to prison, they can still be protected. They’ll be taken into protective custody and no longer be under the authority of the U.S. Marshals but by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. There are different layouts for protective custody in various prisons, but the main idea is that the witnesses are separated from the general prison population to avoid revenge for testifying. Other types of prisoners are often placed in protective custody, too, such as those whose crimes put them at high risk for attacks by other inmates or those trying to avoid getting in trouble as they near their parole date, so it becomes hard to tell who was a witness.

10. Victims of witnesses can be compensated

Because the government was responsible for placing a criminal witness in your community, and the law enforcement there was informed of their presence, if they commit a crime against you, you’re entitled to be compensated out of the Victims Compensation Fund. The money is given for certain crimes to cover expenses for medical or funeral costs, and lost wages if you had to take off work. You should be aware that the government’s not just going to hand you this money; you have to seek restitution or compensation under the law or through a lawsuit, and they won’t cover what’s been paid by your insurance. Of course, you won’t know if someone who assaults or robs you is under federal protection, so you should seek compensation whenever you’re a victim of a crime. You could get lucky and get to blame the government.

 *Today’s blog by bestonlinecolleges.com

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There’s a chance of rain during the Writers’ Police Academy.

Please come prepared.

Our outdoor events will take place rain or shine.

 

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10 Incredible Facts About the Criminal Brain

10 Incredible facts about the criminal brain

Whenever a crime happens, the community is left wondering how someone could do such a thing. For most of us, it’s hard to comprehend the urge to harm someone else or steal something, especially when we consider the consequences to the victim, their family, and ourselves. But many criminal brains work differently than the average human’s. Of course, there are people who turn to crime after a tough childhood, but some criminals, especially psychopaths and those with personality disorders, have minds that are wired for crime. Here are 10 unbelievable facts about the criminal brain.

1. Parts of the brain are deformed

All the parts of your brain work together to make you a complete, functioning human being. But for many criminals, some of these parts aren’t the same size as they are in the average person, causing them to act differently than the rest of us. Studies have found that two parts of the brain’s frontal lobe are significantly smaller in people with antisocial personality disorder, who have the tendency to act violently and become repeat offenders. One of those parts was 18% smaller in antisocial people compared to normal people; the other was 9% smaller. The frontal lobe controls our decision making, emotions, and purposeful behaviors, so criminals may have less authority over these functions. A study of psychopaths also found that a portion of the amygdala, a piece of the brain important for human emotion, had a volume of about 18% less than what you would find in a normal person.

2. A tumor could be to blame

While the large majority of criminals don’t have a brain tumor, some criminals have been found to have a cancer that probably contributed to their unthinkable acts. One of the most notable of these is Charles Whitman, who killed 16 people at the University of Texas in 1966 before being killed by police. He had been experiencing terrible headaches and wrote that he was having many irrational thoughts. In the suicide note he wrote before killing his wife and mother and then going on a rampage, he asked that an autopsy be performed on him to see if there was something in his brain causing him to act this way. And there was. Doctors found a glioblastoma tumor that could reasonably have affected his actions.

3. Chemical levels in the brain are off

Neurotransmitters are chemicals in our brains that deliver signals and cause reactions in us, such as arousal or triggering memory. Research has found that some criminal brains have different levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin or dopamine than normal brains. Serotonin at the proper levels keeps people from acting aggressively when they are frustrated, so when someone’s brain has lower amounts of the chemical, the person may react impulsively and violently. Dopamine levels affect whether a person feels rewarded for an action. If dopamine levels increase significantly when someone acts aggressively, he’ll feel good about it and likely do it again.

4. The brain doesn’t respond to facial expressions

Psychopaths, especially those who commit violent crimes, may not have brains that register fearful expressions on others’ faces. In experiments, researchers have found that people with antisocial personality disorder have trouble recognizing faces showing fear and sadness. Antisocial people who fall into the category of psychopath find it significantly more difficult to know when an expression is sad. Psychopaths also have almost no reaction to expressions of fear, while normal people’s brains will become very active when they see a scared expression. This difference may be what keeps psychopaths from feeling remorse since they don’t register that they are causing pain or sadness.

5. They’re fearless

The brain of a psychopath doesn’t react with fear as frequently as ours do. In tests of criminal psychopaths, researchers have found that they lack the fear conditioning that causes the rest of us to be afraid when we know something bad is coming. The average person can be conditioned, much like Pavlov’s dog, to expect a certain thing when they hear a certain sound. In the case of fear conditioning, many researchers play a certain tune before administering an electric shock. As the brain starts to associate the tune with the shock, the normal response to the tune is anxiety. Psychopaths’ brains, however, don’t show any change when the song plays. This lack of anxiety over the future and the consequences of their actions can make psychopaths very dangerous criminals.

6. There are warning signs as early as age three

When researchers tested the reactions of a large group of three-year-olds to certain sounds, they expected them to have a measurable reaction when they knew an unpleasant noise was coming up. About 8% of the children didn’t have any reaction even to the bad or frightening sounds. Twenty years after the experiment, researchers found that this 8% had criminal records for crimes ranging in severity from violent to serious driving infractions. This doesn’t mean that all children whose brains don’t register fear the same as others will be criminals, but it does indicate that they are more likely to act criminally and steps should be taken to raise them in a way that helps them stay out of trouble.

7. The rational side and irrational side communicate too much

The corpus callosum is the bridge in the brain that connects the rational left side with the irrational right side. In criminal psychopaths, this bundle of fibers is longer and thinner than in the average person. It also seems to have more activity, meaning more communication between the two hemispheres, than normal. This seems like it could be a good thing, but while a socially normal person’s mind is controlled by the rational side, the increased communication causes psychopaths to be divided between the rational and irrational. This often leads to more impulsive behavior since they have difficulty thinking through the consequences of their actions in a wholly rational way.

8. They’re genetically predisposed to crime

Nature versus nurture has always been a huge debate among criminologists, but there is research to support the idea that many criminal brains are genetically prone to aggressive or illegal behavior. Some criminals are a product of their environments, coming from abusive homes or bad neighborhoods, but a large number of murderers were raised in relatively conflict-free households. The deficits in their brains were a trait they were born with and gave them a higher likelihood of becoming violent criminals. That’s not to say they were forced to commit these crimes, but their brains were more inclined to them than the brains of average humans. It also explains why criminals from loving, wealthy upbringings can commit horrible, violent crimes.

9. Teens’ brains aren’t fully formed yet

Though many teenagers can be tried as adults in the majority of the U.S., their brains aren’t fully developed yet. Reasoning and judgment are now known to mature throughout the teen years and into a person’s 20s. When compared to adults, teenagers are more impulsive, more susceptible to peer pressure, less likely to look at the long-term consequences of their actions, and less able to think of ways out of bad situations. Aggression also peaks in the teenage years, which means that a violent teen may not be a violent adult; they can actually grow out of it. This is one argument many critics use to prove that the death penalty should never be used for teenagers, since it is likely that their brains will develop further.

10. Smoking while pregnant can lead to children with criminal tendencies

When a mother smokes while pregnant, she may be harming her baby’s brain in a way that will make him more likely to become a criminal. Research has shown that the average adult (meaning those who didn’t come from moms with mental illness or experience deprivation) is 31% more likely to have been arrested at some point if their mother smoked while pregnant. Those with heavy smoker moms were also more likely to be repeat offenders. It seems that the nicotine causes abnormalities in the development of attention and impulse control in the brain. The finding held up for both men and women with mothers who smoked, making it just another reason to add to your list of why smoking is bad for you.

*Today’s article is courtesy of the good folks at http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/

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Thank you all for the kind words yesterday. There were so many wonderful messages coming from all over that there was no way I could begin to answer them all. So I decided to do it here. Forgive me for not sending a personal message to each of you.

This was my first morning in the house, alone, without Pebbles around. So odd, and so empty.

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Forensics Hall of Fame: 10 Forensic Scientists Who Made History

Forensics Hall of Fame: 10 Forensic Scientists Who Made History

Forensics Hall of Fame: 10 Forensic Scientists Who Made History

If looking for an education as a forensic science technician, there can be many questions. Issues such as program rankings and average salary are all asked by the average student and can often be answered with a simple Google search. But what about the forensic scientists who came before you?

As part of our Forensics Hall of Fame, we have collected 10 forensic scientists who have made history and are organized by earliest to most recent. They include pioneers in the field and even a few who are still practicing and making contributions today. So set aside the Wikipedia entries and have a look at the inspiration for many true life, and even a few fictional, crime solvers, legal experts, and medical scientists.

Roman Quintilian – It’s okay if you’ve never heard of him. Living in the times of Ancient Rome, he was an attorney who was defending a blind man accused of murdering his mother. During the trial, Quintilian used a bloody palm print found at the scene to acquit his client, and therefore became one of the first forensic scientists in history.

Hsi Duan Yu – The author of this work made a significant contribution to forensic science when he or she showed how insects can be used to solve a murder. The title of the work translates to “the washing away of wrongs” and is still read by many forensic scientists today. Written in the 13th century in China, the country also takes credit for being one of the first to utilize fingerprints.

Mathieu Orfila – In 19th century France, he would compose works that would be the foundations for toxicology, an important part of forensic science. His first book “Traité des Poisons,” or “Treatise on Poisons,” propelled the worlds of medicine, chemistry, physiology, and even the legal arena. Like many of his successors, he would often testify during trials and even introduced new methods to detect arsenic.

John Evangelist Purkinje – He was a professor at the University of Breslau in Czechoslovakia and the first to publish a detailed thesis on the usage of fingerprints in forensic science. Purkinje is also credited with identifying nine specific fingerprint patterns that are still taught today. The Biometrics Task Force has much more on the history of fingerprints and other notable scientists who contributed to the field.

Joseph Bell – Those who haven’t heard of him may have heard of his student Arthur Conan Doyle. He is the famous author of the Sherlock Holmes books, and Dr. Bell was the inspiration for the character. A professor of clinical surgery at Edinburgh University, he was able to diagnose patients and guess their professions at first sight. There is even a video with more on the biography of Dr. Bell.

John Larson – Although not admissible in the United States court system, the polygraph machine has been an invaluable tool to forensic scientists since the early 20th century. In 1921, John Larson, a University of California medical student, improved upon an existing polygraph machine to create what is similar to what we use today. Larson invented the machine that uses several different body responses simultaneously when a witness is being questioned to measure truthfulness.

Bernard Spilsbury – He is Britain’s first forensic scientist, who studied the science for 50 years. Sir Spilsbury was known to chronicle every death from the mundane to the extraordinary including asphyxiation, poisoning, accident, and murder. Before his own mysterious death in 1947, he jotted down all the deaths on thousands of index cards, and his holdings were recently made available to the public in the Wellcome Library in London.

Alec Jeffreys – It may be difficult to believe now, but the use of DNA in forensic science is a fairly new practice. It was discovered in 1984 when Jeffreys, who was attempting to find the matching DNA in families, realized that DNA was individual specific and could be used to identify people, not just families. After publishing a paper, his techniques were first implemented in 1986 to prove, you guessed it, paternity. It would also later be used to help convict and overturn convictions when reliable DNA evidence was introduced.

Bill Bass – Ever heard of The Body Farm? Also known as the University of Tennessee’s Anthropology Research Facility, it has been the subject of both fictional and true forensic stories. Dr. Bill Bass is its founder and has written or co-written over 200 publications on the topic. His research has allowed law enforcement officials to better understand the stages of death.

Jan C. Garavaglia – Better known as Dr. G., she actually does have her own television show where the cutting edge in forensic science is shared. She is also the chief medical examiner for the District Nine Office in Florida and even testified in the Casey Anthony case. Check out her official site to learn more about how autopsies work, get videos, and even podcasts by Dr. G herself.

Bonus! Clea Koff – She is one of the pioneers of forensic anthropology, the practice of determining the details of an individual from their skeleton at the time of death such as gender, age, and even cause of death. Her expertise has been used for bringing justice to such heinous acts as the genocides in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Croatia.

– Today’s article by Tara Forten

http://www.forensicsciencetechnician.net/

– Opening photo – Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories

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11 Literary Friendships We Can Learn From

11 literary friendships

A friendship between two great creative minds can sometimes yield a bounty of great work, inspiration and mutual admiration for one other. Of course, it can just as easily spur on jealousy and hurt feelings. Both have been the case in real-life friendships between some of the biggest, most notable giants of the literary world. While we might hope these connections would always work out for the best, there are lessons to be learned from even the most tumultuous of relationships. Whether you’re a writer yourself, a college student or just love learning about literature, take a look at these great bookish bromances for some lessons on how to be a good friend to your nearest and dearest in life.

1. Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald

Already a successful writer when he met Ernest Hemingway in 1925, Fitzgerald was familiar with the greenhorn’s work and eager to help him move forward. Hemingway was not quite so charmed by his eager, self-appointed mentor — who was a bit of a sycophant and a drunk — but benefited greatly from the connections and help he offered. For a time, the two were close friends, working and socializing together in the literary heyday of pre-war Paris. Yet things were not meant to last between the two, as Hemingway could simply not abide Fitzgerald’s rocky marriage to Zelda, rampant alcoholism (a bit ironic, don’t you think?) and his lack of writing discipline. Hemingway became increasingly critical, and his public belittling of the man and his work, especially his unflattering portrait in A Moveable Feast, severed their friendship. Close friends say Fitzgerald was always hurt by Hemingway’s rebuff, but the other man’s opinions never softened — not even after the former’s death in 1940. The lesson? Choose your friends carefully — they may not always respect you as you do them.

2. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

It only makes sense that two writers, both famous for creating immersive fantasy worlds, would find common ground in real life and strike up a friendship. That’s just what happened between these two men, who met at an Oxford faculty meeting in 1926 and quickly discovered their mutual love for all things mythical. It was this friendship that helped spur both authors to write their now-famous trilogies. They bonded over their experiences in WWI, the loss of their parents and the desire to create make-believe places to escape from these deeply emotional pains. While always marked by differences in opinion, their friendship grew more distant as Lewis became more successful. Both personal and professional disagreements, including Tolkien’s hatred for the Narnia series, were to drive them apart. This unfortunately severed a close connection that had served the men well for many years. The lesson? Sometimes keeping your opinions to yourself can save a friendship.

3. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Two of the biggest names in 18th century poetry, Wordsworth and Coleridge often held very different ideas about what constituted great verses, but that didn’t stop the duo from forming a strong friendship. The two met in 1795 and would go on to publish a joint volume of poetry titled Lyrical Ballads, a turning point in their careers and the larger Romantic poetry movement. The two were to remain close friends for many years, working together, influencing and evolving each other’s work and helping push forward their philosophies about writing. The two idolized each other, with each dedicating a poem to the other. Yet there were disagreements between the two (largely about Wordsworth’s poetic ideals) and their relationship was further strained by Coleridge’s opium addiction and resulting unstable personality. Eventually, they would grow apart as Wordsworth’s fame grew and Coleridge sank further into addiction, ending with the latter’s death from a heart attack in 1834. The lesson? Don’t do opium– it will ruin your career and your friendships, even if it does inspire some crazy poetry.

4. Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis

While they might not be household names today, these poets and writers were some of the top British literary figures during their lifetimes. They were also friends from their days at Oxford, showing each other their poetry and prose and providing encouragement towards what would become successful literary careers. Larkin helped Amis write his work Lucky Jim (which is dedicated to him), and the two frequently wrote of and talked about the other in popular media. The two remained great friends throughout their lives, and with Larkin’s death Amis lamented that they would no longer be able to share, critique and promote each other’s work. The lesson? True friendships are born out of mutual respect and a desire to see the other succeed, even when you’re both competing in the same field.

5. Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus

Key figures in existentialism, Camus and Sartre met in June of 1943 at the opening of Sartre’s play The Flies. The two immediately hit it off, and when Camus moved to Paris they spent hours sharing their ideas, passions and even ridicule of other literary figures. Already having read each other’s writing before they met, their friendship was cemented within the first few months of their meeting, a relationship that would be filled with mutual admiration and respect. Yet a few years into their friendship, cracks began to show and the differences between the men came into stark focus. A battle over a seemingly innocuous political idea formed the downfall of their relationship. Sartre’s literary magazine published a negative review of Camus’s book The Rebel, and Camus felt it was a personal attack on him. Though the review was not written by his, he still responded with an open letter attacking him. Neither man willing to back down and neither willing to reflect on the qualities which had made them so eager to be friends from the beginning, everything dissolved. The lesson? Sometimes it’s better to forgive and forget than to try and win an argument– especially if it is pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things.

6. George Sand and Gustave Flaubert

The friendship between George Sand and Gustave Flaubert is an unexpected one. The two held fundamentally different views on just about everything under the sun. Yet they didn’t let this stand in the way of their friendship, and instead worked around their differences with a great deal of understanding. One striking example of this is that Flaubert sent a draft of A Sentimental Education to Sand to read, even though it mocked everything she stood for politically and religiously. Sand chastised him for being so harsh, and despite his desire to publish the politically charged novel as it was, he promised to remove anything she found spiteful — and he did. The two wrote numerous letters to one another which readers can peruse online — a great archive of their friendship. The lesson? A person is much more than their political and cultural beliefs. Your best friend might just be your exact opposite.

7. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau

Emerson was impressed with Thoreau from the their first meeting and saw the younger man as a worthy protege. Thoreau, likewise, saw Emerson as a potential guide, mentor and friend, and though the two didn’t always get along they would form a friendship that lasted for decades. In fact, if it were not for the influence of Emerson, Thoreau may not have pursued writing as a career at all. During their relationship, Emerson found Thoreau work, hiring him as a live-in handyman and gardener and eventually helping him obtain a teaching position. The famous Walden Pond, where Thoreau would write one of his most well-known works, was on land Emerson owned. It was Emerson who would push Thoreau to self-publish and help him get the recognition and success he deserved. Sadly, the two had a falling out in 1849, but they still remained on speaking terms. Emerson wrote the eulogy given at Thoreau’s funeral and would continue to refer to him as his best friend until his death 18 years later. The lesson? The love and admiration of friendship doesn’t end, even if participants have to part ways.

8. Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley

Introduced by a family friend, Byron and Shelley were instant friends, and even rearranged their summers so they could spend them together as much as possible. Their friendship proved beneficial to the creative work of both writers. Byron was influenced by Shelley’s intellectualism, and some of his best works might not have been completed without his influence. Shelley was inspired to create a flurry of work in the time he spent with Byron, even borrowing some of his poetic forms in the works he created. While the two had their differences, Shelley made light of them by using them as poetic fodder for his work “Julian and Maddalo.” Their friendship was only to last six years, however, but not because the men had a falling out. Shelley drowned in 1882 when his ship, ironically named Don Juan after Byron’s famous poem, capsized and sank. Byron died two years later. The lesson? The right friendships can inspire you to be better (whether creatively or personally) than you would have been on your own.

9. Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The friendship between Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa and Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez devolved into one of the most bitter and acrimonious literary feuds in 1976. At a movie premiere in Mexico City, Llosa punched Marquez in the face for reasons that are still a bit unclear today, giving the victim a black eye and severing their friendship. Previously, the two had been close friends, with Marquez even being the godfather to Llosa’s son Gabriel, who was also named after him. While they differed politically, most believe that is was more than likely a woman who split them up. Earlier that year, Marquez had advised Llosa’s wife to divorce him after he took off with a Swedish stewardess. While this advice alone might have been enough to set him off, there is some speculation that Marquez may have consoled her in other ways as well. The two were thought to have finally reconciled in 2007, 31 years later, after agreeing to work on a book project together. The lesson? No matter how long it’s been, it’s never too late to mend a broken friendship.

10. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

While Hawthorne’s most famous relationship may be his bitter feud with writer Herman Melville, his friendship with Longfellow is a much more inspirational story. The two men had a lot in common. They came from same area, had an early relationship with sea, found success and publication at an early age and even attended the same college and took classes together. Yet despite knowing of each other in school, it was not until much later when they became friends. In 1837, Hawthorne sent his novel Twice Told Tales to be reviewed by Longfellow, then the more successful of the two. Longfellow agreed, and wrote a glowing review of the work, sparking a lifelong friendship. It was not only Hawthorne who benefited from the literary advice and inspiration, however. It was from Hawthorne that Longfellow heard the story about which he composed one of his favorite poems, “Evangeline.” Ironically, Hawthorne’s praise of this same poem got him fired– a mark of the loyalty and love the friends had for one another. Hawthorne passed away in 1864, and Longfellow was not only a pallbearer at his funeral, but wrote him a farewell poem. The lesson? The best things in life are better when shared with a friend.

11. Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson

In 1862, Dickinson saw an open letter Higginson had printed in the Atlantic Monthly directed at young writers and wrote back to him directly, asking him to read and critique her poetry. The two developed a lifelong relationship, with Dickinson sending over 70 letters and 100 poems to her mentor. The two were an odd match: Dickinson was a reclusive, shy poet, while Higginson made a name for himself as a fiery abolitionist, minster, war hero and women’s right activist. Though Higginson did not press Dickinson to publish during her lifetime, after her death he helped bring her work into print, even co-editing a volume of her poems which was well-received by the public– a task Dickinson would most likely have been glad to leave to such a close adviser. The lesson? Sometimes inspiration, a confidant and a friend come in unexpected packages.

 

* Today’s article is courtesy of  accreditedonlinecolleges.com

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Bill Lanning: The Shallow Grave Crime Scene

Bill Lanning: The Shallow Grave Crime Scene

Your first call of the day shift is not supposed to be like this. Summers are hot, even in the morning and here you are, responding as CSI to a “suspicious smell” call to 911, before 10 AM. Maybe, it’s just an animal hit by a car. They can really stink up a large space this time of the year. As you pull off of Stanford onto Delivery, you pick up the smell, even with the windows up in the van and the A/C on “MAX.”

As you exit your vehicle, the acrid sour stench invades every part of your sinuses. The eyes begin to water, your mind races as to the source of the emanation. The yellow crime scene tape hangs limp, as if melting in the morning heat. The first officer on the scene meets you from the other side of the tape, her face a mask of disgust and indifference as she greets you.

“It’s a nice one… shallow grave,” Deputy Morales states, her hand held closely over her mouth. “Glad you’re here. I hope you are up to this. Why does my shift always get the nasty ones?”

A decomposing human body is a complex challenge to the crime scene investigator. It’s not just the smell; you get used to that. Usually, the body has been left in a small place that, minute by minute, is rapidly decaying or breaking down into component parts. No matter if the deceased is inside a structure or outside, you are racing against time to photograph and process the scene before the key evidence to help bring justice to those who are responsible for the heinous act is lost forever.

What does the crime scene photographer or evidence technician face when he or she reaches the scene of a grisly death? How does one get over the “complications” of smell, sight, feel… did I mention smell, of death in a found body event? Couple these concerns with the certain invasion of ants, flies, beetles, and wasps, whose sole function is to eat as much of the crime scene as possible before their own life cycle comes to an end, and you are facing a daunting task to bring justice to another victim of man’s cruelest inhumanity to man- cold-blooded murder.

In this September’s Writers’ Police Academy, a new interactive learning experience has been added to the already impressive line-up of classes, workshops and labs planned for the WPA participants. At least two sections of “The Shallow Grave Crime Scene” will be held during the event, to give the writers first hand contact with a buried body crime scene. The sessions will not be just another classroom examination of a topic, but will provide session attendees the opportunity to actually step into a simulated human remains burial site. Participants will have the opportunity to go inside “the tape” and photograph the scene, and potential evidence found there. Writers in attendance of the sessions will be exposed to the sights AND smells of a realistic shallow grave site.

In modern American crime fiction, as well as true crime works, thousands of characters have found themselves placed in a hole and covered with soil. Most writers have to envision the task of digging a space large enough to conceal a human corpse based on the literature, or films they have encountered. In these sessions, individuals will actually take part in the digging of a shallow grave. Participants will know the hard work and complexities that accompany the efforts to conceal violent behavior, as they will be exposed to the tools of the killer’s trade- the shovel, the pick, the bag of lime, and black plastic. Participants will learn the importance of each tool and will be able to add this realistic opportunity to their repertoire of life experiences.

The Writers’ Police Academy, scheduled for September 23-25, 2011 at Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, North Carolina is THE place for crime novelists to come and experience many of the things they write about. As an instructor, the WPA gives us the opportunity to share tips and techniques, theories and facts to help provide that “extra spark” of realism in a novel or true crime book. In this day of real trials, real crimes and real criminals, the WPA hopes to lift the writer above the rest, giving their work the gritty veteran level of knowledge that will separate them from just another book.

If you want to see and smell the crime scene as you have not experienced it before, and use the tools of the cold-blooded killer to create a “hiding” place for your prey, you may want to attend the “Shallow Grave Crime Scene” workshop. Come prepared with your digital point-n-shoot camera, or the trusty old 35mm film camera. Crime scene photographs will be limited to those registered for the workshop.

Sturdy footwear, like athletic shoes, will be the shoe of choice for this event. We are going to be in the woods, flip-flops, sandals, fuzzy bunny slippers or other thin forms of “scoots” may not suit you.

If you are going to dig, have a pair of gardening gloves or leather hand protection from Mr. Mattock or Mr. Shovel. Knit mittens won’t last long, especially with perspiration levels at high during the course.

If you have questions, contact me at Guilford Technical Community College at welanning@gtcc.edu or get with Lee. He knows how to find us.

See you in September,

Bill Lanning

Assistant Professor

Criminal Justice Department

Guilford Technical Community College

 

 

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