Case Study
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Case Study
Golden State serial killer is one of the most famous crimes involving murders and rape. The case was also named the original night stalker/ east area rapist (Shaw 2021). Research reveals that this case was reported in California, United States, and is associated with several cases. After 42 years of hunting a man responsible for this case, in 2018, police confirmed to have used DNA analysis and evidence to capture him (Shaw 2021). After the arrest, several publications were made to transfer the good news to the public to confirm safety in the affected areas. One of the publications that helped bring the good news to the public eye was “I will be gone in the Dark,” published the same way the golden state killer was arrested. The book contained several crimes authorities believed to have been committed by Golden State serial killers. The name of the suspect was identified as Joseph James DeAngelo. His accusations included more than 120 residential burglaries, 45 rapes, and about 12 homicides between 1976 to 1986 (Shaw 2021). The crime united several police departments that worked together to arrest the suspect successfully. Law enforcement nicknamed James DeAngelo several names. These included “Eastside Rapist, he’s been called the Visalia Ransacker, the Original Night Stalker, and the Golden State Killer” (Shaw 2021). After a court hearing, James DeAngelo was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. This was in 2020 after the police presented his victims and their loved ones in court (Shaw 2021). Therefore, this assessment will seek to discuss how sources like case laws, criminalization or constitutional issues, actus reus, and/or men’s rea elements relate to the Golden State serial killer case study.
How Case Laws, Criminalization or Constitutional Issues Related to Case Study
The Golden State, serial killer case is closely related to case laws and constitutional issues. Anything termed a crime goes contrary to a particular country’s laws. The constitution of the United States does and the don’ts. These laws are central to bringing order and justice to the United States. After years of search and investigation, Joseph James DeAngelo was guilty of several criminal cases. One of the acts of the suspect was termed unconstitutional is homicide. Homicide can be defined as the act of killing people. According to the United States Constitution, homicides can be categorified as criminal and non-criminal acts of murder. The United States constitution justifies the non-criminal acts because they are believed to have been conducted to prevent the commission of a critical felony. Non-criminal acts are also believed to help represent the country’s law as put by the constitution (Samaha 2016). Non-criminal acts, such as when an individual takes the life of another for self-defense, are also authorized by the constitution. However, the case of James DeAngelo was different as his cases lay under the category of criminal acts that played a central role in promoting fear and unrest in the community. The police have to ensure safety in a community, and anyone acting contrary to this is arrested, investigated, and taken to court.
A sense of criminalization can be noted in the acts of homicide by James DeAngelo. This is because of all cases of homicide he conducted; none seemed genuine as far as the country’s laws are concerned. After a comprehensive and concise evaluation of his homicide acts, police claimed to use all mechanisms to stop him by having him arrested and taken to court. One of the methods police used to arrest James DeAngelo was working with the community. This is evident from a report: “local law enforcement announced a national publicity campaign today and a significant reward in the hopes of locating the suspect and finally bringing him to justice” (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2016).
The case of the Golden State serial killer is closely related to constitutional issues, as the study shows. The constitution is against violent acts that lead to injuring citizens. James DeAngelo is known to be a rapist and a residential burglar. According to the United States Constitution, residential burglary is a crime, as the Fourth Amendment indicates that every home of an individual is their castle. This limits people’s access in the united states, and any attempt at crime regarding this constitutional issue is known to be unlawful. This crime promoted fear and unrest in California, leading all departments of police to join hands to end this by arresting the person behind it. Although most rape cases are associated with mental health disabilities, the case of James DeAngelo was different as he was a criminal known to break the law. This is because he had done it several times, and the police filed the cases. Research confirms the fact that sexual assault violates several laws in the constitution of the United States. A good example is the right to bodily integrity. The right to bodily integrity entails an individual excluding others from his or her body. This right plays a vital role in enabling an individual to have their whole body free from physical interference from anyone without their consent. This confirms that the rape cases committed by the rape crimes of James DeAngelo relate to constitutional issues.
How Actus Reus And/or Mens Rea Elements Related to Case Study
The actus Reus and men’s rea elements are closely related to the case of James DeAngelo. “Actus Reus is a Latin phrase that means guilty act whereas men’s rea means guilty mind” (The Law Offices of Steven R. Adams 2023). The two Latin phrases are vital in criminal law because they reveal key elements that the government uses to provide enough evidence or prove that justifies the conviction of a person for committing a certain crime. By guilty mind, it means that an individual intended to commit a crime and was not in by accident. This related to all accusations of James DeAngelo that he had already planned to commit the crimes. The evidence of planning for crime comes from the statistics of his crimes. People say that numbers do not lie; if it were by mistake, James DeAngelo would not have committed a certain for more than one time. Residential burglary is something that needs a well-grafted sequence for it to be successful. This is because its victims might be armed or call the police and have the suspect arrested. In all the years James DeAngelo has committed all his residential burglary crimes, he was never caught on the scene. This means that he had all planned, thus qualifying it to be a crime punishable by the department of police. Most rape cases are planned mentally before they happen. This confirms that the suspect had fallen on the wrong side of the law by raping several victims. It is this element that helped Joseph James DeAngelo commit a crime for a long time without the police get him. It is fair to say that he was smart enough to know how the police operate and how he should run his business to avoid meeting the police or getting caught red-handed. Actus Reus is an element used to establish the suspect’s crime. The police used this element to determine whether it was legal to investigate and arrest the Golden State Killer. Upon being taken to court, the police provided solid evidence of why they thought the act was guilty and the suspect deserved a punishment. This is why lawyers in the court found it right to imprison James DeAngelo for life. This played a vital role in eliminating in from the community and doing away with the fear he had caused among the people in California.
All the chapters studied in class opened the readers’ eyes to whether Joseph DeAngelo was guilty. This was the same knowledge used by the police to investigate and claim that the suspect’s actions were contrary to the laws in the United States constitution. One of the interesting things learned in the case study was the fact that the police involved the community in arresting the suspect after many years of attempts that did not yield fruit. The police are advised to deal with individuals who cause fear and unrest in society as soon as possible to avoid more damage done by these people.
most mediocre high school quality shit ive ever read. he pretty much just repeated the instructions.the case he chose is fine but he needs to actually analyze the essay with terms like specicif intent, general intent, mens rea, actus reus, mala prohibita, model penal code levels, and more.
Here are the instructions once again:
Perform a search for a crime case or situation.
Cases may be found in a variety of places, such as:
• Regular news reports
• Our textbook’s bibliography case list (then searching online for that case in more detail)
• ASU library tools (e.g., https://libguides.asu.edu/az.php?a=n and then select Nexis-Uni or HeinOnline), and
• Targeted websites about criminal cases, such as:
– https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases;
– https://www.justice.gov/usao;
– https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/famous-murders/:
– https://www.insider.com/true-crime-us-2018-4
Select a case or situation that interests you, which is based on a real event and concerns a crime accusation or
prosecution.
Note: The case may be prior even to an arrest, if there is enough information about the case. But most cases will
be after arrest and/or prosecution, so that information is available for your analysis. The case may be something
from years ago, or it may be relatively new or ongoing. Select a crime from a crime type that interests you, e.g.,
white collar, sex, drug, public order – this assignment provides an opportunity to focus on a crime type/category
for students’ own individualized interests.
Complete a case study report on your selected case. Be sure to consider the following in your report:
1. Use our Unit 1 textbook chapters’ concepts and key terms to analyze your crime case and demonstrate your
comprehension of our first course unit (Chapters 1-4). To do this, focus on three significant ways in which the
chapters we’ve studied connect to your crime case. For example, you could discuss how sources like statutes
or case law, noncriminal wrongs/criminalization, or constitutional issues relate to your case study, from
chapters 1 and 2. You could discuss how the actus reus and/or mens rea elements, or other elements, relate
to your case study, from chapters 3 and 4.
2. Do not move ahead and use chapters that we haven’t yet covered.
3. Avoid having all of your connections relate to one chapter. Likewise, there is also not room in this report to
bring in every topic we’ve covered. Your choices for discussion, and their associated chapters and concepts,
should be selected to best demonstrate your level of comprehension. You want to show both breadth and depth of learning.
4. You must be able to make clear connections to our chapters, demonstrating that you’re meeting the learning
objectives for the course. Therefore, make sure that you choose a case with topics that allow you to make
these connections. This is part of the assignment, to demonstrate that you can find and select such a case
and develop these chapter connections.
Format: Your report must be in the following modified APA format:
Policies
re
• APA title page
• [no abstract – please skip thisl
ourse
• Body of report – 3-4 pages following APA style on spacing, margins, etc. Don’t use any subheadings.
1. Introduction paragraph – an introductory paragraph, which (1) notes your selected case, (2) lists your 3
connections/topics concerning Unit 1 and what chapters they relate to, and (3) summarizes your main
conclusions or learning from the report project.
2. Discuss each of vour 3 connections in turn, using appropriate paragraph structure and including details from
your case to help develop and explain your connections.
3. [Do not include a conclusion paragraph. This is a simplified report; use your Introduction to note your main
points.]
• APA References page
o Include your case’s sourcing/citation and the citation for our textbook.
Therefore, your report will be approximately 3-4 pages (APA style double-spaced, etc.), plus a title page before and a
references page after, for a total of roughly 5-6 pages.
Policies
re
ourse
Additional suggestions and submission details:
You should cite any quotations and specific information appropriately for a college paper, using APA style.
This is not truly a research paperyhowever. It is an analysis paper over one case study. You probably won’t
have many sources, and that is fine. Just two sources, in fact, is perfectly acceptable – the key sources are our
textbook and your source of case information. It is alright to use an additional source or two if you wish, but it
should not eclipse the focused nature of the assignment. You won’t get extra points simply for finding and
using extra sources.
Be sure to use in-text citations correctly. I know that APA style only requires page numbers when citing
quotes, but I think it’s wise to cite page numbers for specific information too, even if it’s not quoted:
“quote from the textbook” (Samaha, p. 15).
specific information from the textbook (Samaha, p. 15).
Note that the reports are run through Turnitin.com, so avoid plagiarism – do not copy/paste online content as
your own writing, for example. Plagiarism or cheating (academic integrity) violations will result in an academic
integrity report submitted to the university, as well as no credit for the assignment and thus failure in the course.
