Guest Speaker Homework- Due Tuesday 2/7

2/3/2012

Today we had a wonderful presentation by Anne Minihan Shaw! She is a judge in Croton, a lawyer in White Plains, and a mom of a student in your grade!
For your homework, due Tuesday, please answer the following questions in detail using as much evidence as you can.

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” What do you think this means? Why would this be important when planning for a trial?

Why do you think “putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house”?

List 2-3 questions you still have, and one sentence on why you still wonder about them.

46 Comments

maddie link

2/3/2012 06:36:13 am

I think the first question means that when investigators are trying to figure out a case, they not only take time on the things that they already know, but they also take time on the questions that they don't know. This would be important in figuring out a trial because when they're getting ready to ask the suspect questions, they want to make sure that all of their questions are good and tricking.
Putting together a criminal prosecution is like building a house because first, like a house, you need the foundation, which is kind of like you starting evidence. Then you need your support, which is like the facts for your evidence. Lastly, you need the bricks, which is like the explanations for the facts and evidence.
My first question is: What happens if you've already put the suspect in jail, but then figure out that it was never that person in jail all along? My second question is: Who killed Felix Navidad? I still wonder about these questions because they were never answered, and also because they're questions (mostly the second one) that haven't happened yet (I don't think).

Charlotte

2/3/2012 09:52:45 am

I think that quote means that investigators and prosecutors want to find out everything, even if it isn't that important. It also means they are very curious and think that very piece of evidence helps. This would be important when planning a trial because the investigator can not just have some evidence, they can never have enough.

Putting together a criminal case is like building a house because in both they start with a foundation and they build up and up until they are finished with the house or the case.
Two questions I have are; How long does the average criminal case last? And; In a case like the Felix case, when the victim is dead, what happens in the court with no victim?
I want to know these because I'm just curious about the first one, and the second one I would like to know because we are learning about the Felix case and I was wondering that because it's probably pretty common.

Meaghan W

2/4/2012 08:24:37 am

Ms. Shaw said:

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” I this means that if the investigator is looking at the crime scene there not only looking for evidence, but how, why and when the person committed the crime. They are trying to 'fill in the gaps' and find out as much information on the suspects, the situation, and the victim as they can so they can draw a conclusion and (if they're the prosecutor) build a better case for their client.

This would be important in planning a trial. This is because if the investigators are looking at the evidence, and they are trying to find out what they don't know, they now to ask the suspects for answers. Once they 'fill in the gaps' they know who to send to trial.

Ms. Shaw also said:
“Putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house.”

This is true because you start off with the facts, you then make a basic layout of where you want to put/say everything (This is like the blueprint). Then you start putting everything together piece by piece with facts that holds the case together (This is like the building of the house and the facts are like the cement). Finally once you are done with the case the other side tries to destroy your house (This is like the demolition of the house).

Two questions I still have for Ms. Shaw are:

1) What is it like working in a court house? How does it feel when your side loses?

2) If you had to infer, who do you think committed the crime?

I wonder about these questions because of two reasons. One, I know I would feel really bad if I was a lawyer and my side lost (Especially if they went to jail). Two, in the beginning and the end of this unit I always wondered what a professional would think about this case. (I also would want to know if the professional agreed with me.)

Ivan

2/5/2012 02:37:08 am

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” What do you think this means? Why would this be important when planning for a trial?
“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as in knowing what they don't know.”I think that investigators and prosecutors don't want to hear the same thing over and over again. They want to hear new information that no one told them. This is important when planning a trail because the person being accused of a crime might tell the judge something different from what he told you. From that the case might turn a different direction then you have expected.
Why do you think “putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house”?
I think putting together a criminal prosecution is like building a house a house because for both you need a foundation (Basic info to the prosecutors, and investigators), on a house you built it brick by brick,( the crime is like a puzzle that you have to put together to get the picture.), the last part of a house is to build the roof, ( In a case, that is the part when the jury, prosecutors,police and judge deiced on if the criminal is found guilty or innocent.” List 2-3 questions you still have, and one sentence on why you still wonder about them.
I have two questions:
1. How long does a case usually take? I wonder that because most cases take longer than others. Some last days, some last months.
2. What in the most common punishment for committing a robbery? I wonder that because some robberies have very server punishments. What one is the most common?

Matt M. link

2/5/2012 09:42:51 am

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know" I think this means that a good investigator or a good prosecutor must think about not only what he/she is going to say but what the other side is going to say too.I think “putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house” because you start out with a foundation, the background knowledge then you have all of the bricks orthe extra info like where it happened or how many rooms there is in the house. One thing that I am wondering about is in the beggining of the power point she was talking About Felix and how he got killed and she never told us who killed him or if he even died. Another thing that I am wondering about is how many people does a lawyer or a judge work with?

ashley<3(:

2/6/2012 04:53:25 am

Putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house because you need every little piece you can get. If you don't have a roof or enough evidence, than it will collapse. When building a house and putting together a criminal prosecution you need to know what your doing.
2 questions I have are:
What was it like being a judge?
It is stressful?

Dante

2/6/2012 04:56:21 am

What the first question means is that investigators and prosecutors are always trying to find information even though they already love the information they have because more information will help them with the trial because then they can think ahead of time on how to use the information they get and how helpful the information will be, because if you have useless information it wont be helpful at all. The reason building a criminal prosecution is like building a house because each block represents each aspect of the criminal prosecution and the defendant is trying to knock the house down so he or she isn't proven guilty. Some questions I have are who did the crime of murdering Felix and why did they kill him? Another question is are there any techniques that are used during a trial? Finally for the judge, what is the weirdest case that you’ve encountered? I really would like to know these and I would be grateful if they were answered.

Ethan Lewis

2/6/2012 04:58:19 am

Good investigators and prosecutors as interesting and knowing what they don’t know . This means that a prosecutor does not just want to know what the witness know but also what the witness does not know because this could lead to the discovery of a flaw on the opponent story and if you can discover a flaw the chances are that you will win the case unless they can find a support as to why there is a flaw.
Putting together a criminal prosecution is like building a house . means that you have to put your case together piece by piece with evidence, support, witnesses and the court’s approval.
Two questions that I still have is:
1. Because there is no extremely solid evidence on the case of the missing millionaire, how would we know who did it?
2. All houses eventually fall apart over time , how would this work with cases?

Delia

2/6/2012 05:13:34 am

I really liked the presentation. It taught me a lot about courts and trials. Anne Shaw said, “Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know.” I think that this means that prosecutors and investigators need to know what hasn’t been figured out or learned. They need to find where they should learn more and what facts would be helpful to know in the case. A prosecutors and investigators should be interested in the unknown so that they can shape their story around the unknown while planning their trial. Building a house is a lot like making a criminal prosecution. The prosecution needs to know the facts so that they can make a foundation to hold up the rest of what they say. The prosecution has to build up on this and add more facts, just like as if you were adding walls to your house. The defendant, or criminal, tries to tear this house down, but hopefully the prosecution has built a strong “house” from the facts.

I still have two questions after the presentation. When I watch the news or a trial on TV, I always see the suspects in handcuffs and a jail suit, do suspects on trial go to jail until they are found innocent? This fact confuses me because I had been told that suspects were innocent until proven guilty. Also, how long does a trial last? I think that Hosni Mubarak’s trial started in December, but the last hearing, not even the end of the trial, is in February. Isn’t that a little long to wait? I thought that the presentation by Anne Shaw was interesting.

hanna s.

2/6/2012 05:14:49 am

Good investigators are as interested in what they don’t know as what they do know. I think this means that there is always information that they don’t know about the investigation. For example, during the Crime Scene Project, we knew lots of evidence, but we definitely didn’t know all of it. We had to use the knowledge that we already had to try to figure out what we didn’t know. Also, when preparing for a trial, the judge might be told that a certain person was around the scene of the crime at the time, but they have no way to prove it. If they don’t know all of the story, they usually can’t make a decision too quickly. Information that the court doesn’t know about the crime can help one of the suspects, because the court can’t prove that they are guilty.
Putting together a criminal prosecution is like building a house because there are always things to keep adding to the house or prosecution. For a house, you keep finding materials to add to the house to make it stronger. In a criminal prosecution, you keep finding evidence that makes the case stronger, or it could make it weaker. Then, for a house, a hurricane (or big bad wolf) might blow it down. When you are presenting a case to court, you can have all your evidence, but not be prepared for what is to come. The other lawyer could totally ruin all your evidence and point, because they found some other evidence that works in their favor.
I wonder if there are ever cases where someone in the jury knows one of the people in the trial, but doesn’t tell anyone. That could really affect their decision on who they say is guilty and who is innocent. Could they go to jail for that? Another question I have is, if there is too much evidence pointing to all the suspects and the jury can’t decide who’s guilty, what happens? Is the trail rescheduled, or is the case taken to another court? I was wondering this because in my crime scene report, I made the trail be rescheduled, and I wasn’t quite sure if that is what happens or not when I was writing it.

Jessie <3

2/6/2012 05:26:14 am

I think that it means is if you don't know something it is bad becuase you usually want to know everything just in case. It would be important to have this for a trial becuase if the defendant or accuser asks you a question you don't know then you loose. I think it is li,e building a house because you need to get a lot of clues to bulid the crime or who did and why. I only have 1 question and I was wondering why do they take such a short time looking or doing stuff to the crime scene?

Jessie

2/6/2012 05:27:46 am

Please don't post this but what was the china thing vs us? I didn't get it

Sean S

2/6/2012 05:35:12 am

I think that this means that they of course always want to know what they don’t. They always need what they don’t have and don’t know. The way it’s like building a house is because the foundation would be the prosecution. The main house would be the trial, and the roof would be the sentencing. At this point I really don’t have any question it seemed like we’ve learned everything.

Meagan

2/6/2012 05:41:16 am

I think that good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in what they don’t know and what they do means a lot. I think the sentence says that you want to realize what you don’t know so you know what is missing in your story. You would also want to know what you don’t know so you can see what other information you might want to find out. One last reason is that so you know what is not positive info so you don’t make assumptions on something that could possibly be wrong.
I think putting together a criminal prosecution is like building a house in many ways. One way is that you have to put it together piece by piece or brick by brick. Also another reason is that if you miss one fact or if you miss one brick, the case or house will come crumbling down. One last reason is that when you reach the end of the trial it is like putting the final touch on a house.
My first question is what do the court rooms look like, how big are they. My second question is, how long do the trials usually last. And my last question is, how many people are on the jury. I think these questions are important to know because, if you ever for some reason have to go to court or are on jury duty, it would be nice to know these things.

Alyssa

2/6/2012 05:47:11 am

putting together a criminal prosecution is like building a house because you have to figure out the crime step by step. Building a house takes several steps, and so does putting together a crime. When you try to figure out the crime, you have to find clue by clue before you claim you know the criminal. When you are almost done figuring it out, you can picked what the finished pice will look like just like a house. But you have to finish all the way or your house (or crime) will not be stable.

Erin :)

2/6/2012 06:12:35 am

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” What do you think this means? Why would this be important when planning for a trial?.

What I think it means is that the prosecutor and the investigator want more facts for that case, to make their sides stronger. They what more facts, to make them look better. This is important for planning a trial because if you do not have all of the facts, you could find someone guilty when they are really not. They need every thing can get, both sides.

Why do you think “putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house”?

It is like building a house in many ways. The base is the case at hand. The things they found at the crime scene are the walls and the windows. Last, the roof is if the person did of not do other crime. In ways it is like a cake. The case and the facts are the cake. And the frosting is if the person did or did not do the crime. That is how a case is like building a case.

List 2-3 questions you still have, and one sentence on why you still wonder about them.

The first question I have is for Mrs. Shaw. What was the most intrusting for you? My second question is who killed Felix? My last question is who was the first judge in the U.S.A.

Darren $

2/6/2012 06:21:36 am

It is important for good prosecutors and good investigators to know what they don't know because, they can take what they don't know and what they do and put it together. But not the main ones.

An example is with our crime scene, we need to know who's cologne or is on the towel, we may not know that but we do know something else that ties in with that.

Putting together a criminal prosecution is like putting together a house because it is step by step process. The main things like the strong parts of the house go on the bottom like in the prosecution. Also the other details go on top and build up the house.

The 2 questions that I have are what happens if its over a long period of time and how it effects the trial. The other is what if the criminal is dies before the trial?

Max

2/6/2012 06:39:22 am

My questions are first, why do people have to pay money for injuries that are commonly the case in civil trials? I ask this because I don’t get to sue a playground if I trip, fall, and break my leg. My other question is why people have to swear by the bible. I ask this because what if someone is not Christian. What do they swear by?

Vincent

2/6/2012 06:48:35 am

Good investigators and prosecutors like my uncle Al are interested in knowing what they don’t know so they can understand what happened during a crime. It is important for them to have all the details or as many details as they can obtain in order to plan a trial. My uncle is a prosecutor in Brooklyn and he must interview many people when investigating a crime so that he can get as many facts as he can. Knowing all the facts allows investigators and prosecutors to make fair judgments. I know my uncle would never want to let a guilty person get away with a crime and he would never want to have an innocent person go to jail for something they did not do.

Putting together a criminal prosecution is like building a house because you must start from the ground and work your way up. You must piece together your evidence to bring to trial like you would piece together the materials to build a house. Hopefully once you have pieced together your information your trial will stand strong much like when you piece together the building materials for a home it too will stand strong and not fall down like a house of cards.

Questions:
I still wonder how long it takes to piece together information for a trial. I know some crimes have a time period. I don’t know if that is fair. I also wonder why some trials are decided by a jury and some by a judge. I would think that all trials should be tried the same way.

Maia

2/6/2012 07:02:24 am

I think that the first one means investigators and prosecutors can take what they don't know and infer for that. It would be important when preparing for a trial because then they are prepared to make the inferences. Reasons why a criminal prosecution is like building a house are that you need to put all of your evidence together. You also need to make sure all of your evidence fits in, or else you will seem wishy-washy. One of my questions is, do lawyers examine the evidence too? Another one of my questions is how long is between when the crime was committed to when the trial is?

Austin

2/6/2012 07:04:33 am

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” I think that this this would be important for planning a trial because this could help investigators and prosecutors to find information or facts to help solve the trial. I think that putting together a prosecution is like building a house is because you have facts to strengthen or build your case. Adding more information helps build your case also. One question that I have is “How many times can you say you’re Fifth Amendment?” Another question that I have is “What can also strengthen an prosecutors case?” I have thought of the second question because I thought that there are also other ways to strengthen a case. Why I thought of my first question was because in a real trial you are allowed to say your fifth amendment.

Austin

2/6/2012 07:07:57 am

When we have started to read “when you reach me” in class today, I have made a couple predictions based on looking at the cover of the book. One prediction that I have used to think was “I think that this book was about people shrinking down into a microscopic world.” One prediction that I now think is “I think that this book is about Amanda’s mother trying to go back to law school instead of working as a secretary at her job. What I think will be most interesting about this book will be Miranda’s mom playing in the game show. What I think that will be most challenging in this book will be that Miranda’s mom trying to attend or graduate from law school if she goes there.

<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3Hannah<3<3<3<3<3 <3<3

2/6/2012 07:22:54 am

Putting together a criminal case is just like building a house because in order to build the house you need all the pieces and in order to solve a case you have to put together all your evidence, kind of like a puzzle. It can be tricky but you have to know what you are doing! Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know. That means that you don't know everything when you go into a case but you know some stuff and you WANT to know more. This would be important when you plan for a trial because you want to know and still learn more about the case so that you can make and educated guess on who did the murder. Some things I am wondering about are What happens if they accuse the wrong person? Would the murder get away because they accused the wrong person and still murder people? Who makes the accusations? I think that the people who put together a trail are like putting together and solving a puzzle. It can be tricky but stay tight and you solved you case and built your home!

andrew

2/6/2012 07:27:28 am

This would be important when planning a trail because if they did not know what they did not know like for example if they don’t know what is coming they won’t be able to go on the case. It’s just like building a house because each step leads to the case getting more put together like a house.

alexa!♥(:

2/6/2012 07:38:18 am

For the saying “Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” what in think this means is investigators and prosecutors aren’t there for nothing! They are there because they want to know what happened, who did it, all the information and they just want to get down to who did it and be done!

Why I think “putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house” I think that because putting together a criminal prosecution takes a long time to do. It takes as long as building a house! There is no time for goofing off during the process. You have to be focused and ready for the process of a criminal prosecution. It’s not just like “ok this person killed that person.” You have to know every detail for this situation and any situation.

I think Ann Shaw did a really great job explaining to us her job and everyday life! You can tell she was really happy to be explaining her job to us! She did a great job!

Damien

2/6/2012 07:49:30 am

That might mean what the jury and judge don't tell the jurors they might be interested in knowing the things they do not want to tell you.I do not think this would be so important but it could be useful information to know when going to court.I think it is just like building a house because it has multiple steps and ''layers''. One question I still have is if it is a criminal case do the criminals always go to jail or can they pay a fee.My second question is In a civil trial why do they have to pay such a high fee for somthing so small. I still have these questions because they were never anwsered.

Cassidy<3

2/6/2012 07:51:51 am

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know”
I think this means that the investigators want to know what they don't know. For example, if they know where the crime happened, and when it happened, they know that they don't know who did it or how, and that's what they want to figure out.

“Putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house”
I think this is true because you have to set the basics first, just like you would when you are building a house. First, you have to figure out what you do know. That would be the bricks or wood. Then, as you get more information, you have more evidence, and more data to prove the criminal guilty. You would be building your house step by step.
I only have one question. That question is, if the suspect did commit the crime, but they have no evidence, what do they do?

$ierra ;p

2/6/2012 08:14:26 am

“Good prosecutors and good investigators are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know.” Last Friday Ned Shaw’s mom came in to talk to us about the crime scene. I think that it was really cool that the judge of croton could be there to talk to us about our crime scene unit. Why do prosecutors and investigators want to know what they don’t know? Why is it so important? It’s important because that information could very well solve that case; you need to know what the criminal doesn’t want you to know. Why would it be important to plan out you question’s before your trials? I think that planning out your questions before your trial would be helpful to you, instead of jotting down notes during the trial you would be able to listen to what’s happening in the court room. I think that putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house. You have to start with a foundation which is the crime that was committed and when you’re done I think the verdict would be the roof because it’s the final step in a case. One question I have is why the judge isn’t the only person who get’s to decide the verdict? My last question is if a man attempts to shot someone but unintentionally hits someone else would that be considered “man slaughter”?

Claire XD

2/6/2012 09:04:27 am

Question 1:
I think “Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” mean that everything is not what it seems nor obvious. Creativity really comes to play. This is really important because they might learn things in the trial that is important and could put them on the hot spot during the questioning.
Question 2:
You need to figure out some basic information which is like building the house. Then, really digging deep and finding not so obvious information is like putting stuff inside the house and keeping the house together. Then, the opposing side wants to destroy your house.
Question 3:
How do they come up with the really important parts that are extremely hard to find? How does it feel when you lose a case? I'm still wondering about my first question because they find out certain things out of nowhere or something I could definitely not find. I'm still wondering abut my second question because if I was in the courtroom, would be really nervous and anxious.

Maccray R.

2/6/2012 09:04:28 am

I think, “good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know”, means when you don’t know something about a crime scene, and you’re trying to find a clue, what you don’t know can help you find the bad guy. I think this could be important to a trial because from the suspect’s point of view, they shouldn’t just spit out facts because maybe the judge or prosecutor won’t know them already and they could blow their case. It is important to a judge because maybe if they questioned the suspect in just a certain way where s/he accidently let a fact loose they need to convict him/her.
I think that it is like building a house because in the beginning you just have the space where the house will go, which is like just learning about what the crime was. Next you get the structure and you can nearly make out what the house might look like, this is like learning the first few pieces of evidence. Then comes the roof and you can clearly see where everything will go, it just needs to be built on top. This is when you have made strong inferences and done some tests with the evidence. Finally the walls, insulation and all of the interior parts are built. This is like when you have tested all of the evidence and you feel very strong about all of the suspects and you have an idea of who did it. The last step is when someone moves, this is equivalent to when you pinpoint who did the crime and s/he moves to jail.
0ne question I have is, does Mrs. Shaw ever actually get to go to the crime scene and take her analysis, or is it only the police/detectives? Another question I have is do the prosecutor and the other people trying to figure out the crime actually use the metaphor, “is solving a crime like building a house”?

Emily

2/6/2012 09:17:26 am

Investigators are mostly focused in knowing what they don’t know because basically they want to make sure to gather the evidence and make sure their statements are initially correct. This also makes them focus more on the case to make sure that they can catch the delinquent or multiple people who have committed the crime.

The Prosecutors wants to fundamentally make sure they close the case and find the delinquent. They want the respect of a high prosecutor and be sure to have the job done and have it done correctly in order to their job they must be good at gathering evidence so that they can make sure justice has been served. The prosecutors desperately are trying to have the person they are against set into jail or fined a certain amount of money.

Constructing a criminal prosecution is just like building a house. You first have to build the foundation, which will help to create and structure your hypothesis. Then you build around it gathering your evidence and such and making sure it is structured securely and satisfactory. You then will build up and this is when you know you almost have it right and then nearly you are about to prove your point and serve justice. No matter what the outcome though the house will still turn out to be a bottomless pit of facts that make sense to the case you are know involved within. Then you add the roof, which would be your closing statement and then see what the verdict is then the judge will verify for you the outcome.

Meredith :P

2/6/2012 09:24:19 am

Question #1—"Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don't know." I think that this means someone who is really involved in the case and who wants to find out who did the crime and how is going to use ALL of the information and facts that they can to solve the crime. This is important for planning a trial because when questions are asked and facts are questioned you will have LOTS of information to back it up.

Question #2—Why do you think; “putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house?” I think putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house because there are steps to building a house. The foundation, the layout, the materials (bricks; wood), putting together a case is just like that. There are steps to putting together a good, full and interesting case. You can’t just create an amazing case in 5 minutes it takes time, just like it takes time to build a house.

Question #3—List 2-3 questions that you still have, and in one sentence why you still wonder about them. One question that I have is: If you don’t have enough facts to prove who did the crime, what is a way you can try and convince the jury that that person did it? I have this question because in a lot of crimes there are one or two people that are targeted that have done the crime. Sometimes there are only a few facts pointing to who did it but it makes sense. The jury may be hard to convince, so how do you do it.

My second and final question is a question for Anne Minihan Shaw personally. Did you always want to be a judge or did something happen to her that made her change her mind? I have this question because I was wondering if she wanted to do something else for a little bit in her life but something happened that had changed her mind.

In the end I thought that Anne Minihan Shaw’s presentation was phenomenal and it was full of important facts.

@lex

2/6/2012 09:37:09 am

I think this means that they want to know everything they can so they know everything that could be critical to the case. For example, say a criminal shoots a citizen but the police can’t find a gun. The citizen was a war hero that is wounded and has bullet holes of where he/she got shot in the war. If the police did not know he was a war hero, they might believe that the bullet used in the crime was from the wrong gun. Getting all of the information would be important when planning for a trial because if they miss even one tiny piece of evidence, the whole trial can be not right.
I think putting together a criminal prosecution is like building a house because you need to see if you have everything you need to solve the crime. When you build a house, you use a blueprint plan. When doing a trial, you need a plan to prove the criminal is guilty or not guilty. When you build a house you use different elements like wood or bricks. When you put together a prosecution, you use different elements too, like witnesses and evidence. When building a house, once it comes all together, it can either look nice or it can end up bad. When building a case, it can turn out good for the prosecution or bad, depending on how carefully they put all of the pieces together.
Some questions I still have are: Who came up with the name prosecution? I wonder this because I have been hearing that word a lot and wonder where it originated. Another question I have is how is the punishment decided? Does it always depend on what the crime is? I wonder this because if someone gets caught smoking in a national park, would he go to jail or would he serve community service?

jaocb

2/6/2012 09:59:05 am

is this a sound off (optional) blog?

Katie<333

2/6/2012 10:14:49 am

I think what this means is that a lot of the time a crime scene has mystery to it. You need to find out more than just what the crime scene tells you. You have to go beyond that and figure out the events that led up to the crime and why the crime happened. A lot of times investigators and prosecutors can not figure that out by just observing the crime scene.

chris

2/6/2012 10:35:38 am

I think they want to know that is because the crime is like a puzzle; you have to figure out all the missing pieces that no one gave them and they must know the missing pieces to finish the puzzle. This would be very crucial because without those missing pieces, they won’t get the bad guy. I think it is like building a house because first you need the foundation or the basic facts. Then you need your walls or fingerprints and more advanced facts. Then you need the roof and supports or the missing parts of the puzzle that you must figure out. And that is your house.
One question I have is how you figure out if a person did the crime or not if they don’t speak? Another one I have is how do you determine how long the person goes to jail? I know that it depends on what they did but if they kill someone, would the judge sentence them, to 10 years or 12?

Ellie

2/6/2012 11:07:30 am

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” means that investigators want to know all of the evidence and other things presented to them, so they have knowledge to protect the person they're trying to help win. This is important when planning for a trial because they have to figure out evidence and facts to prove someone guilty or innocent.
I think “Putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house” is true because in a criminal case you need to build up the facts, evidence, and inferences like a house until the house is done and someone has to live in it to go along with charges.
A question I have is, does everyone need to be represented? I'm curious about this typically everyone gets a lawyer, but maybe they're lawyers themselves. Another thin I'm wondering about is how do you prevent the jury from being made up of friends, colleagues, or family of one of the people the trial is about? We were explained to that the jury can't be anyone the person knows but not how it's prevented.

Taylor C.

2/6/2012 08:15:10 pm

Today we had a wonderful presentation by Anne Minihan Shaw! She is a judge in Croton, a lawyer in White Plains, and a mom of a student in your grade!
For your homework, due Tuesday, please answer the following questions in detail using as much evidence as you can.

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” What do you think this means? Why would this be important when planning for a trial?
This means that when planning a trial the prosecutors want to every single detail in order to incriminate the defendant. The detectives have to search for every missing piece of the puzzle so the story makes sense to the jury. If there is a hole in the story then the jury will not incriminate the defendant.

Why do you think “Putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house”?
“Putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house.” This means that when you make a criminal prosecution you must have a sturdy base, such as a motive and having an eyewitness place the defendant at the crime, some metaphoric walls such as, the defendant’s gun was he same on found at the scene and their shoe was found at the scene, and finally a metaphoric roof like a strand of is hair was found on the body.

List 2-3 questions you still have, and one sentence on why you still wonder about them.
One question I have is, why are there two juries (jury and the grand jury) instead of just one. I wonder this because it seems like a long process to organize the prosecution, go to the grand jury, and finally, go to trail.
The second question I have is why doesn’t the judge decide on the case instead of the jury? They would seem a lot more trustworthy than a bunch of people.

Nicholas s

2/6/2012 08:55:21 pm

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” What do you think this means? I think this means that investigators and prosecutors get sick of just doing things like observing and inferring all the time and they want to try something new.
I think putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house suspects because first you have to get all the suspects which would be the foundation then you have to evidence that one of the suspects committed the crime and last you have to find the criminal which is he roof.

Matt H :D

2/7/2012 12:04:28 am

I really liked the presentation. It taught me a lot about courts and trials. It was a great help. I learned a lot about crime and trails and courts. The one thing that surprised me the most was the fact that one of my friends mom is a Croton Judge. But I also learned a lot from what she taught us. One of my favorite facts were that , They need to find where they should learn more , and what facts would be helpful to know in the case. Overall I enjoyed the presentation.  :D

leon

2/7/2012 12:21:16 am

I’ll be answering these questions. “Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” What do you think this means? Why would this be important when planning for a trial? If they know what they don’t know this could mean asking the witnesses what happened a little more often. This could give them an upper hand because the criminal could be proved guilty with that info.

jacob]

2/7/2012 12:28:14 am

I think that this means that they don;t want to look liike a fool when someone asks a question and they don't want to look like an idiot. so that if anyone asks you a question than you don't look like an idiot infront of everyone.

because you need the foundation ( the facts), the walls (prosocuter, defendent and an atourny) and the roof over the house, (the judge.)

who killed Felix? I did this entire crime scene unit and I just want to finally know!

why did they kill Felix? they could have butterd him up, get ALL OF HIS WILL and then kill him.

Sophia

2/7/2012 07:26:35 am

“Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” What do you think this means? Why would this be important when planning for a trial?
I think this means that if, let’s say, investigator knew that for a fact Felix Navidad was killed. They would want, and be interested, to find out when and how he died. Wouldn’t you? If you were accusing Kendra of the crime you would need to show the facts, right? So if you knew that her fingerprints were on Felix’s cup you would want to know why otherwise it wouldn’t really help your case.
Why do you think “putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house”?
Well first you need you foundation for a prosecution and a house. For a house it’s usually cement. For a prosecution it’s the crime scene. From then on it’s the evidence and the debate. In a house if you don’t have even one of those it loses its purpose. In a prosecution if you don’t have one of those then it’s not that convincing.
List 2-3 questions you still have, and one sentence on why you still wonder about them.
1) The first question that I have is how long do the cases usually last? I wonder this because I read a book about a case and it lasted 2 weeks but then when we did the homework that we had to interview a person who was in the jury some said that it only lasted 16 hours.
2) My second question is what does the court room look like? I would like to know this because it would help me get a better picture of everything.

Yesenia

2/8/2012 03:07:17 am

gilly

2/8/2012 06:28:25 am

The reason why good investigators and good prosecutors are interested in knowing what they do not know is that what you do not know will solve the case. What you do know only helps you find the truth; I think this because it is as if you are trying to find an answer to an algebra problem. If you are trying to find x you use what you know to help you, you use what you do not know to solve the problem. This will help when you are planning for a trial because you use what you know to try to support yourself with what you know. You use what other people you know to help you win. That is the way I think it will help when planning a trial.
I think that putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house because you start with the cement, which is the beginning like were the place the crime happened. Then the bricks are the clues. Then the roof is where the finger is pointed. One of my unanswered questions is how does evidence get in to court. I want to know this because I am not sure how things go to court. Another unanswered question I have is why some trials go on TV. For regular cases but some trials do not. I want to know this because it is strange that some trials do but some do not.

ava

2/8/2012 09:26:49 am

What Judge Shaw said was very important. Good investigators and good prosecutors are just as interested in knowing what they don’t know” really means it’s never enough evidence and that they will always want to know more. I also think the saying she used putting together a criminal prosecution is just like building a house because we build up a court case with all the evidence. After they accomplished or found something they would knock down a wall. By the end of the court case we found the suspect (s) they would knock down the whole house. I have a few more questions I wish to ask. Does she do any murder cases? How do they find evidence from every life objects?

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Guest Speaker Homework- Due Tuesday 2/7

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