Criminal Justice Final Response

Sociological systems are created to protect society by addressing the needs of people including justice, fairness, responsibility, and public safety. Criminal laws reflect the above needs by setting rules and providing appropriate punishments. These punishments are but not limited to fines, imprisonment in jail or prison, probation, and the death penalty.
Criminal laws are interpreted by the judiciary and prosecuted by the courts pursuant to the social contract. Citizens under indictment can only be held responsible for a crime if all five elements of criminal law are proven beyond a reasonable doubt. These elements are mens rea, actus reus, concurrence, proximate cause, and corpus delicti.
After two hours of deliberation jurors found Zach Williams guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of his ex girlfriend, Lindsay Hollister. Friday morning, Lindsay was found in her apartment; victim of six stab wounds. The Forensics team and other officers who arrived on scene collected evidence including a mirror with blood splatter and the knife suspected to be the murder weapon found under a chair. Phone records prove that late Thursday night Zach texted Lindsay’s best friend, Emily, saying that Lindsay would pay for breaking up with him. The murder weapon was proved to be the knife found under the chair by matching the shape and pattern to the wounds in Lindsay’s body. DNA Forensic Analyst, Dr. Mark S. Levin, tested the blood found at the scene. Lindsay’s DNA was a match to the blood splatter on the mirror and the knife contained two different DNAs. One was confirmed to be Lindsay’s and the other was a match to the DNA of Zach Williams. Upon Zach’s arrest it was discovered that he had a deep cut in his hand made by the same knife used to kill Lindsay.
Zach Williams was convicted using the five elements of criminal law.