Black American parents gave birth to Michael Anthony Green in Harris County, Texas. Before a DNA test could show otherwise, he would later be found guilty of rape that he had not committed and spend 27 years in prison. (Lynch, 2013). Just after midnight, a woman was on the phone with her spouse in the Greens Point neighborhood nearby a gas station just prior to his arrest. The woman was forced into a vehicle with two other men inside, and they drove it to a remote location where they assaulted the woman sexually without the involvement of the fourth man. The lady was left behind as the men sped off. Later in the night, police officers were searching the stolen car and where the assault had happened; they spotted the car and quickly pulled over to check if the assailants were still available. In the confusion, the police decide to stop all the black men who were passing by and in the process came Anthony Joshua and another black guy who was unidentified. The two were left in a police car that night irradiated by light as the assaulted woman was brought to the scene; she could not identify either of the men as her assaulters. Eventually about one week after that, Green was later arrested stealing a car in an incident different from the former and he pleaded guilty of the offense. Police then showed the assaulted woman photographs that also included the one for Green and she identified that he could have been one of the attackers that night. Later she identified him as one of the attackers in a group of other five men (Neck & Manz, 2010).
In the trial, Green was aged 18, and he was charged with intensified sexual assault and in an amusing move rejected a plea bargain-basement that only would have given him five years in prison for rape. It was clear that there was little or no physical evidence tying Green to the incidence of assault that night, in addition, there were no eye witnesses the victim excluded however in the courtroom again the victim clearly identified Green as one of her assaulters. On grounds of this misrepresentation, a bench of judges found Green guilty of sexually assaulting the woman and hence he was sentenced to 75 years in the prison. During the post-conviction appeal and exoneration, He would unveil a number of appeals in order to overrule the conviction; however, he was not successful together with his need for a post-conviction test of DNA that stayed without investigation for three years. When Patricia Lykos was appointed district attorney of Harris County, she formed a section committee of post-conviction review that started the examination of cases like Green's. Even though most of the evidence from the case had been demolished, investigators worked to unearth them and fruitfully came up with a piece of evidence from the case, which was a pair of trouser that the victim was wearing during the day of the assault. The DNA results did not match up to Green but instead two criminals who had already spent some time in jail due to committing other crimes. The two men during questioning later identified other men who were also in jail serving terms for other offenses. However, since the decrees had already gone beyond time limits the men were not charged with the offense and on 30 July 2010, 27 years later he was freed having served the jail term for a crime he did not commit (Neck & Manz, 2010).
In investigating this case involving assault and flee of the assaulters, the investigation would require sophisticated procedures to realize fruitful results. My investigation would be based on competencies of investigations that include risk effective decision making, criminology, crime scene management, interviewing of those who are involved. My investigations would also include photographic lineup and source handling. Authority search and warrant drafting would be other core issues to be dealt with in the investigation process. Finally, judicial administration and court testimonies would end the case (Neck & Manz, 2010). The decision-making process for the investigation would involve the timing of the investigation, the people to be involved in the investigation process and the institutions that would be considered during the process of investigation. Case management section would determine which factors I would consider during the investigations. The financial obligation in the cases differs depending on the magnitude of the case and its technicalities. The case involving Green would be a highly financially demanding case because of nature and circumstances surrounding the investigation. Since the assaulters had escaped after the assault, I would investigate through random assessment and identification of the assaulters. In the matching up of evidence through note taking and documentation, I would analyze the possibility of matching data from witnesses and authority assessments. During the assessment, I would first assess the crime scene using crime scene management techniques in order to completely engage evidence that would be present and useful in the engagement of the case. In a case of scene management, employment of techniques useful for evidence collection is very important since the crime scene is usually the first-hand source of evidence in most cases. Even though the assaulters of the woman had fled away, the car they used in abducting the woman would be useful for DNA collection and may be fingerprinting of the assaulters.
Crime scene management would be an important part of my investigation process. I would then start interviewing most importantly the victim of the assault, this is in order to accumulate information on the setting of the assault including the background and circumstances surrounding the day of the assault. This would be the most important pieces of information needed to launch the case of assault, as it would give a view of what transpired from the beginning of the assault to the end. Interviews would also involve witnesses if they were present during abduction to the assault (Stojkovic, 2012). The witnesses would be investigated in two stages to reaffirm their clarity and commitment on certain important issues of the case. Photography always forms important part of investigation processes and therefore my investigation would include the use of photography to be part of the evidence collection in my case handling. In this case, I would be very careful on who to be included in the handling of information sources because when the sources are poorly handled there is a possibility of disappearance of data and information that would have otherwise been used as evidence in the case. The case would also consider judicial administration of justice in order to limit cases of injustice on both sides of the case. I would then end my investigation by a court testimony.
References
Lynch, M. (2013). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 25(2), 109-112.
Neck, C. P., & Manz, C. C. (2010). Mastering self-leadership: Empowering yourself for personal excellence. Pearson.
Stojkovic, S., Kalinich, D., & Klofas, J. (2012). Criminal justice organizations: Administration and management. Cengage Learning.
