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Criminology Unit 3 WJEC AC3
Criminology Unit 3 WJEC AC3 Including answers for AC3.1 and AC3.2
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AC3.1 - Examine information for validity.OJ Simpson was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicola Brown and her boyfriend Ron Goldman, in
this case, there is questionable validity in numerous ways. The evidence the prosecution used in the
trial consisted of solid and substantial physical evidence, a glove left at the scene covered in blood
which Simpson had purchased, his hair had also been found at the crime scene and on Goldman’s
shirt, blood matching Simpson’s blood type was found at the scene, and Simpson had fresh cuts on
his hands the day after the murder, blood was found throughout Simpson’s home, along with socks at
his home which had traces of Brown's blood on them. There was also testimonial evidence in the form
of OJs strange reaction to being notified of the deaths recorded on a phone call. The evidence was
valid in inferring that Simpson was the perpetrator as there was a sufficient amount and even with the
dispute of OJs hair by the defence's opinions being there at the crime scene because of police
investigators placing blankets over Brown's body it doesn't explain how his hairs got onto Goldman’s
shirt. Other circumstantial evidence contributing to Simpson's suspicion was also valid as Simpson
had a clear past of violence against Nicola Brown. Since there were no issues with its gathering or
storage, the evidence was reliable for the case. The fact that Simpson was found not guilty on every
charge, despite the overwhelming evidence against him, shows that the verdicts in this case and trial
were clearly not valid. The judgments within the trial were subject to bias due to the recent case of
Rodney King who was brutally beaten by police the defence used in their argument that Simpson was
a victim of racial discrimination within the system and was therefore innocent, which impacted the
judgments of a predominantly black jury. The judgement's currency is not valid because new
information came to light after the judgements were rendered that may have affected them; in fact, a
civil jury later convicted Simpson guilty after the trial. The verdicts are also not valid since Simpson
made no attempt to identify the "true killer" and because there is no more proof that the killer was
anybody other than himself, proving that the guilty conviction was obviously incorrect.
The Hillsborough disaster occurred on the 15th of April 1889 at a football stadium in Sheffield and
resulted in 96 football fans losing their lives to a deadly crowd crush. The crush was brought on by
extreme crowds outside the stadium and wrong police decisions to open a stadium gate. The victims,
in this case, were described as football hooligans on the front page of The Sun, which also claimed
that other spectators were pickpocketing corpses and acting unruly toward the police, who were called
heros. The article also claimed that the fans' rowdy behaviour and drunkenness were to blame for the
deaths and that the police were not to blame. The public formed ideas about who was to blame based
on these biased media reports towards the victims. Over time, it became clear from the inquiry that
the police had made serious mistakes, including opening the stadium entrance when it was already
crowded and attempting to keep people contained in the pens when they needed to flee the crowd. As
a result, the police-hailing coverage was not correct. legal reports on this case revealed the actual
reasons for the fatalities and made suggestions to ensure that deaths similar to these don't occur
again. The views expressed by Lord Justice Taylor in the findings are accurate since they are backed
up by eyewitness accounts of the events and their immediate surroundings. His recommendations for
fully seating football stadiums in the UK have stopped calamities like this from happening again,
proving the validity of the reports.
In 2007, Amanda Knox along with her boyfriend Raffelo Sollecito was suspected and found guilty of
murdering a fellow exchange student Meredith Kercher, due to invalid physical evidence. This
included a bloody footprint, a bra clasp, and a knife. The supposed footprint of Sollecitos was later
determined to be inaccurately measured. The bra clasp was improperly stored and eventually became
unusable. Knox was handed the knife, meaning her DNA was undoubtedly transferred to it. Other
evidence included Amanda's confession that she had been in the room during the murder, which she
later claimed the police had forced from her. The evidence here was completely inaccurate and
consequently invalid. The trial transcript holds good currency as it depicts what was said in the trial
and this was referred to during further trials of Knox and Sollecito. It also outlines the circumstances
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