The Jinx: The Societys Accepted Norms That Govern A Persons Behavior - Essay Example

The Jinx: The Society’s Accepted Norms That Govern A Person’s Behavior Definition of a Situation refers to the society’s accepted norms that govern a person’s behavior. The concept dictates the legally accepted procedures that an individual can use to realize his or her wishes. In most cases, the concept is against an individual’s proposed way of meeting their targets. For example, a person may want to steal to get rich. The law inhibits stealing and, consequently, prosecutes any violator who undertakes the task of stealing. In that case, the law has prohibited the individual from realizing his or her wish of becoming rich. The concept is applied in the HBO documentary, The Jinx, where the main character Robert Durst escapes conviction of numerous murder charges against him. Q1. The concept manifests in the documentary in many aspects. First, Robert Durst applies the concept to his advantage, and secondly the other role players in the documentary implement the concept to Durst’s advantage. Robert Durst applied the concept of The Definition of the Situation to his advantage when he appealed not guilty to the murder charges and his consequent acquittal from the Court. He was sure of pleading not guilty because the Court had no substantial evidence. Durst killed his close associates who had information about his ill characters that the Court required for his conviction. He killed the associates such as Ms. Berman to prevent the information from reaching the investigation team. He also shot and dismembered Mr. Black before proving not guilty in Court. He claimed he acted in self-defense. The Definition of Situation, in this case, is Robert Durst’s proof of not guilty as a result of lack of evidence and self-defense. The media also applied the concept to seal evidence from reaching the investigation team. The filmmakers had an objective of filming Durst’s encounters in life. The media discovered a letter that shared similar characteristics as one the investigators had previously found to have possibly led to the murder of Ms. Berman (Bagli & Yee, 2015). Ms. Berman died in an executive-style shooting in her house a day before the investigation team planned to interview her about the mysterious disappearance of Durst’s wife. The media director, Jerecky handed to Durst the two letters, one the police previously received from an anonymous sender and the other found at Durst’s apartment. Durst could not differentiate the two. The media also recorded Durst lamenting about his actions while in the bathroom. The media hesitated from providing the evidence in Court to preserve the journalistic advantage of not disclosing sources or testifying in Court. The law protects the journalists from serving as witnesses in court and, therefore, the concept works to Durst’s advantage. Before her death, Ms. Berman defended Durst to preserve the longstanding friendship between the two. Ms. Berman might have known Durst’s criminal activities but sealed the evidence in favor of their friendship ties. The concept hence works to Durst’s advantage. Lastly, timeframe worked to the advantage of Durst, he believed that the time that elapsed would require the investigators to undertake an expensive investigation task that he could not see happening (Bagli & Yee, 2015). The incidence of murder cases had lasted thirty years in court. The budget considerations in carrying out fresh prosecution after such a long time of silence worked to prevent his arrest and consequent trial. Q2. The murder theory that is prominent in Mr. Black’s murder is the serial murder. The serial murder theory deals with planned crimes. Serial murderers suffer from some form of neglect or mental stress during their childhood lives. Mr. Durst’s father selected a younger sibling to run the family business in favor of Durst. His father’s decision inflicted hatred for his brother and the family members. He, therefore, disowned his family members and fled to live independently (Bagli & Yee, 2015). The stressing encounters that ensued afterward inflicted the killer character in Durst. Critics may argue that Mr. Durst had planned to kill Mr. Black to steal his identity, a condition that compelled him to rent in the same neighborhood with Mr. Black while posing as a mute woman. Mr. Durst acted in the murder as a passive killer. He states that a fight ensued between them and the gun accidently shot when they fell, consequently, shooting Mr. Black. He admitted Mr. Black had run into his room unannounced. A fight ensued between the duo which automatically triggered the gun to shoot Mr. Black. Mr. Black died as a result of the gun shooting automatically without Mr. Durst pulling the trigger. Mr. Durst further admits that he panicked after Mr. Black’s death and had to cut up Black’s body and throw it away. Validating Mr. Durst’s intentions to kill Mr. Black becomes challenging. I, therefore, argue that Mr. Black died in Mr. Durst’s hands while he was rescuing him. Mr. Durst, therefore, let Mr. Black die as a consequence of the gunshot. The court declared Durst not guilty while stating that the death was either accidental or as a result of Durst’s reaction for self-defense. The court could not associate Durst’s intention to kill Mr. Black with the murder. However, Durst admitted to shooting and dismembering Mr. Black but was not acquitted of murder. Q3. The Central Park 5 documentary showed the conviction process of the five Black and Latino youths convicted of assaulting a White 28-year-old jogger at the central park. The teenage boys claimed they all pleaded not guilty, but the police had concocted their videotaped confessions to get them convicted of the crime. The boys included Kevin Richardson, Anton McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Kharey Wise. They all served jail terms ranging between seven to thirteen years. The single judge ruling took five minutes to declare the teenagers guilty. The reality of wrongful conviction ensued when Matias Reyes, a serial rapist, and murderer confessed and said he had acted alone in the crime. He admitted he had raped and beaten the 28-year-old and assumed she could die. The hair evidence used in the teenagers’ case did not match their DNA. The Court, however, ruled the boys were guilty of the act. The American legal system at that time ruled individuals according to their races and justified why an incident happened instead of what took place. The legal system was considerate when determining cases against Whites and could be the reason Durst’s case took such a long time. The records of his conversations with his wife and friends on the phone showed Durst made many admissions. The State could not use that piece of evidence against him. The critics of the documentary emphasize the Black and Latino races of the teenagers to stress racism as the primary factor during the ruling. The investigative team portrayed a racially driven motive while undertaking the investigative measures. The case even blamed the region from where the five teenagers hailed from as an area rampant with crime. At the time of their conviction, Harlem, a region in New York where the teenage boys lived, acquired a new buzz name, underclass. The name signified the intractable poverty that spawned the urban area. The white public also coerced the five youths with uproar and incriminating statements to admit to the crime. Their aim was to stain the public image of the Blacks and Latinos present in New York at that time as people of criminal minds. The racial culture present at the time of the incident manifests in the current America as the reporters note that the producers of the documentary added nothing to the film. The producers believe in racism and would like to make the public believe that the teenagers were justifiably prosecuted. The Corporate Counsel Zachary Carter warned the public not to construe that the $41 million settlement that the state approved for the teenagers is as a result of the law enforcement misconduct. His claims build on the fact that the justice system in America is still ineffective to the extent that they do not want to admit to their weaknesses. Unless the American government addresses the racial indifferences at the National levels, the legal system will continue to experience the shortcomings during the prosecution processes. Reference Bagli, C., & Yee, V. (2015). Robert Durst of HBO’s ‘The Jinx’ Says He ‘Killed Them All’. New York Times. 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