Reading Blog due Monday 4/23 @ midnight

For my choice assignment, I read the chapter called, Patricia Hearst: Uncommon Victim or Common Criminal. Patricia Hearst was the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in America. One day, 3 armed people broke into her apartment, and kidnapped her. The kidnappers contacted the Hearst family and told them that they were members of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). They threatened to kill her if she resisted or if anyone tried to interfere.

Later, Patricia was tape-recorded saying that she had chosen to join the SLA, and she had changed her name to Tania. She was seen on a video tape taking part in a bank robbery. She also shot into a sporting goods store where two SLA members were being arrested, allowing them to get away. Patricia took part in another bank robbery as a get-away driver. Additionally, she helped plant four bombs in the Bay area. The SLA hideout was stormed, and Patricia was arrested.

Patricia was placed on trial for her participation in the crimes. It was to be determined if she had been coerced or brainwashed, or if she had willingly taken part. In the initial evaluation, she was found to be “emotionally impaired to a significant degree.” Patricia had said that she had been blindfolded and kept in a closet. She also said that she was raped, gagged, and not given enough sleep or food. She was allowed to receive psychotherapy while her trial was pending. In the trial, three expert witnesses spoke for Hearst, and two against. A lot of the testimony presented was flawed. Ultimately, she was sentenced to seven years in prison. Within 22 months, her sentenced was commuted by President Jimmy Carter. In 2001, President Clinton gave Hearst a full pardon.

Upon additional research, I learned that Patricia attended many Catholic schools as a child, and fell in love with her high school math tutor, Steven Weed. After shooting into the sporting goods store, the SLA members ditched the van, but left behind a parking ticket that led to their hideout. When questioned about her actions after the bank robbery, Patricia pleaded the Fifth Amendment 42 times. I also learned that her attorney used the brainwashing theory for her defense because that is what her parents had wanted him to do. Jurors listened to expert testimony for over 200 hours.

In 2001, Patricia was expected to be a prosecution witness in a trial against a former SLA member. She also later became an actress in movies such as “Cry-Baby,” “Serial Mom,” and Cecil B. Demented.” In the case in which Patricia was to be witness in, the defendant was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for her role in two attempted bombings. Patricia married her body guard after being released from prison and has two daughters.

There are many of the topics that we have discussed in class present in this case. For example, we know that it can be difficult for jurors to comprehend expert testimony. They may speak in terms that are not understood, and the contradictory information they present may be complicated to understand. Having to sit through such a long time of testimony could be very exhausting for the jury to understand, interpret, and use in their deliberations. An additional comparison that I made is that in interrogations suspects may be placed in a setting which may be uncomfortable, such as being placed in a small, windowless room. They may also be deprived of food or water, or sleep. This can be used for confessions. Patricia Hearst described that she was placed a similar situation during her captivity. She was kept in a dark closet, deprived of nutritional food and sleep. This may have played role in her agreeing to take part in the SLA.

Psychology is also present in the fact that before Patricia was placed on trial, she was assessed for competency. While she was found competent, she was also found emotionally impaired and recommended for psychotherapy. In addition, experts were called on to examine Patricia and testify their professional opinions as well as provide information based on their experience in psychology and psychiatry. This shows the link between psychology and the legal system.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/hearst/hearstdolaccount.html
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/people/shows/hearst/profile.html
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/terrorists/hearst/6.html

I decided to read Chapter 7 of the MOT book. This chapter is entitled, Cameron Hooker: Judging the Experts. This chapter discusses the case of Cameron Hooker who kidnapped, raped, and coerced a young woman by the name of Colleen Stan. In 1977, Colleen Stan had left her hometown to visit a friend in California. She was taken halfway to her destination by some friends but then resorted to hitchhiking the rest of the way. Stan accepted a ride from a young couple who seemed “safe”. This couple also had a young daughter with them who was sitting on the mother’s lap. This couple of course was Cameron Hooker and his wife Janice Hooker. They pulled off onto a dirt road, Cameron Hooker held a knife to Colleen’s throat and force her to place her head in a “headbox” in the back seat of the car. It was evident at this time that the wife was uncertain about her husband’s actions; however, she did not make an effort to stop him.

Upon the arrival at the Hooker’s home, Colleen was stripped naked, put into a tiny box, and forced to continue wearing the “headbox” where she could neither hear nor see anything. For two years she remained in this state and was submitted to cruel forms of punishment such as whipping and being raped. After two years, Cameron presented Colleen with a contract which he called “This Indenture”. Janice helped her husband type this contract and make it look official. Cameron then presented the contract to Colleen and told her that if she did not sign it and abide by its rules she would be sold to “The Company” an underground gang that kidnapped, enslaved, and sold women for profit. Due to the official appearance of the document, and the fact that she was scared to be found by “The Company”, Colleen signed the document. She was then given the name “K” and was to refer to Cameron as Master at all times. After I read this part of the story, I was reminded of interrogations, and how police have extracted false confessions from a suspect. Police have been known to tell the suspect incorrect information such as the acquisition of incriminating evidence. They have also been known to submit suspects to lie detector tests, which are known to be unreliable, only to tell the suspect that they lied scaring them even more. These tactics and the psychological effects of them are very similar to what happened to Colleen. Cameron had lied to her about the existence of “The Company” in order for her to, out of fear, consent to her enslavement by him.

After another year, Colleen was given increased freedoms as long as she asked permission. She was even allowed to go and visit her family unsupervised. Surprisingly, she did not reveal to them that she had been kidnapped. She vaguely answered any questions they had and then returned to the Hooker’s after a two-day visit. This phenomenon in itself demonstrated the control Cameron Hooker had over Colleen. It raises a lot of questions too and seems really absurd. In fact, if it wasn’t for Janice Hooker, Colleen would probably still be under the control of Cameron till this day. Janice had grown increasingly uneasy about the whole situation for some time. She had started reading the bible and going to church. Eventually she confided in her minister and he told her to leave town with Colleen. Of course, he didn’t know all of the gruesome details. Janice ended up telling Colleen that “The Company” was not real and that Cameron had made everything up. This devastated Colleen and the next day she left the Hooker’s home, called Cameron from a bus stop, and told him she was not coming back. Colleen returned to her family, and told them everything that had happened but did not go to the police. Furthermore, Janice stayed with her husband. This is also weird because instead of Colleen acting like a victim who just escaped a horrible situation, she was acting as if it was just a regular breakup from a boyfriend. She did not go to police; she just went on trying to forget the whole things ever happened. It is evident that he still had some control over her because she was unmotivated to turn him in to police. It was not until a family friend had contacted law enforcement that Cameron was taken into custody.

Of course the main issue that proceeded over the trial was the questions as to why Colleen was so submissive to Cameron, and why she did not even put up a fight. Both attorneys’ used expert testimony to either prove or disprove the fact that Colleen had been severely coerced by Cameron. The prosecutor’s expert witness testified that the condition of Colleen’s captivity could cause her to become dependent on Cameron. She had lost all sense of privacy, and relied on him for information. He was the only form of human contact she had. She had begun to believe that this was the way of life. The defense’s expert witnesses testified that that the prosecutor’s definition of coerced was incorrect. However, this testimony was revoked by the judge for being inaccurate. The judge went on to questioning this expert witness, mainly asking him to clarify what he had previously said. The whole case questions the use of expert testimony and whether or not they are testifying on the facts of a case, or manipulating information to favor the attorney that is paying them. The judge in this case definitely questions the use of expert testimony and even thanks the jury for not being persuaded by an incorrect expert witness.

http://www.documentingreality.com/forum/f181/colleen-stan-girl-box-2008-a-79986/

The main defense the defense attorney took was that the sex between Colleen and Cameron was consensual. Colleen did not struggle and she did not try to run away. The defense even produced a series of love letters that were written by Colleen and were supposedly meant for Cameron. The main task of the court was to determine the real meaning of consent. Coercion and control. Does coercion really mean that she was consenting to sex? The jury decided no and I agree with them. It is scary to think that Cameron could have had so much control over her despite all of the horrible things he did to her. Coercion can obviously be a dangerous tool.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-5279162-504083.html

This website reveals some more shocking stories about Colleen’s enslavement. Cameron had asked colleen to prove her loyalty to him by handing her a gun and telling her to put the gun in her mouth and

I choose to read the chapter on Lee Harvey Oswald. I knew that Oswald was the man accused of assassinating president John F. Kennedy but I didn’t know much more than that. This chapter analyzes Oswald’s childhood and discusses how psychiatrists and psychologists diagnosed him.

Lyndon B. Johnson took office after Kennedy was assassinated and established the warren commission that concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald killed the president. There has been much conspiracy as to what actually happened and it is believed that Oswald did not act alone. The conspiracy theories could never be put to rest as a result of a man named Jack Ruby who shot and killed Oswald two days after the assassination of the president as Oswald was being transported to county jail.

An investigation into Oswald’s past revealed him as an unstable man. Oswald was the youngest of three children and raised by his mother, his father died before he was born. When his mother divorced from her third husband Oswald became withdrawn. By the time he was 10 he had gone to six different schools and was isolated from his peers. He became increasingly defiant so his mother moved them to New York City to live with his older step brother. Upon arriving in NYC he got into an argument with his sister in law and pulled a knife on her leading to Oswald and his mother being kicked out of that home. They moved often and in 1953 the court sent him to a youth house for psychiatric evaluation at the age of 13. The evaluation determined that he had a personality disorder with schizoid and passive-aggressive behaviors. He told the psychologist and psychiatrist that he didn’t like people and would hit his mother when angry. Oswald was assigned a probation officer and care was given to him by a psychiatrist. His intelligence was average to above average judging by his IQ tests which rids any theories that he was unable to formulate a plan to assassinate Kennedy. A human figure drawing was a technique used to assess the personality of Oswald. The drawing the Oswald produced suggested that he was withdrawn and socially impoverished, but he may have lacked motivation to draw the human figure. However, many of the findings from the drawings correlated with observations of his behaviors that others had viewed.

Oswald’s adolescent years were very strange. He tried to join the Marines at age 16 and had his mother make false statements saying he was older. At first he was unable to join the Marines but eventually got in. While enlisted he proclaimed himself as a communist, moved to the Soviet Union and was denied citizenship there. He lived in the Soviet Union for a period of time but became delusional and moved back to the US. Clinical Psychology is the main concept of psychology that relates to Lee Harvey Oswald. If he would have received proper treatment for his apparent mental illness’ President John F. Kennedy’s life could have been saved. Mental health treatment has vastly improved from what Oswald received in the 1950’s.

This article goes through Oswald’s childhood each year at a time and has very similar information to the book. Oswald kept a diary and tried to have it published at the age of 15. One can only imagine what that diary consisted of. Lee was also an avid reader of topics such as politics and in particular socialism. He also claimed to be more knowledgeable than those around him.
http://www.school-for-champions.com/biographies/lee_harvey_oswald.htm

I chose to read chapter 7 which was titled Cameron Hooker: Judging the Experts. I had never heard of the Cameron Hooker case before reading this. Cameron Hooker and his wife Janice kidnapped Colleen Stan. Colleen had gotten into their car while looking for a ride. Once she got in, she started having an uneasy feeling about them. They had stopped at a gas station and Colleen went to the restroom and she had thought about jumping out the window and running away from them, but she ended up getting back in the car. Shortly after, they had stopped to look at caves and Cameron took out a knife. He had ordered to do as he said. Colleen's head was put in a head box, which blocks out all light and sound. She was taken back to the Hooker's house where she was chained up, and left naked. She was kept for 5 months where she endured sadistic things from Hooker. All of the things Colleen went through are absolutely horrible. It takes a really disgusting person to do those things to another human being. One day, Hooker had presented Colleen with "This Indenture." In this paper, "The Company" was a group of slave traders who sold women for monetary gain. This was a contract for Colleen to sign. She was told that if she didn't, "The Company" would sell her. There was no such thing as this document or the company, but Colleen did not know that. She was afraid for her life and signed.

Colleen was kept for 7 years with "master". This is what she was to call Hooker: Master or Sir. This whole time, she was put through hell. The sadistic practices continued. After a couple years in, Colleen started asking for Hooker's permission to do certain things. He became much more lenient and even let her see her family for 2 days while being unsupervised. This seems very unusual. Before Hooker dropped her off, he told her that she was not to tell her family what was happening and if she did, Hooker would kill them. 2 key issues were raised in this chapter dealing with the case. The first is that Janice Hooker became fearful. She knew exactly what was happening to Colleen, but did nothing about it because she was afraid of her husband. The second issue is that the Hooker's had a child, and even through she was only 3, she started noticing that Colleen always had a chain around her neck and started asking questions.

Eventually, Colleen had told Hooker that she was leaving. This seems weird. She told him she was leaving but he didn't do anything about it. Janice had told a family friend about what happened and that friend finally went to the police and Hooker was arrested. His trial was very interested. The defense was saying that everything was consensual. According to them, Colleen could not have been brainwashed or coerced to stay because she never tried to leave. The way the chapter describes the defenses case seems to be weak. There didn't seem to be any evidence in support of Hooker. They were presenting that if Colleen wanted to be free, she would not have been so submissive to Hooker and would tried to have escaped. He had a great deal of control over her because she was afraid for not only herself but also for her family.

When the defense had their expert witness testify that the things that Hooker had done to Colleen were in a way similar to military boot camp. It was at this point that the judge starts questioning the expert. This is something that you don't hear much about. I don't think I have ever heard of a time when the judge interjects and seeks to clarify things and questions the expert on his testimony. Once the jury came back with their verdict, guilty on 7 out of 8 counts, the judge addressed the jury and thanked them for "having the intelligence to reject the testimony of Dr. Lunde." I was shocked when I read that. My first thought was that Hooker was going to appeal the verdict that the judge was prejudicial for the prosecution. After I kept reading however, I realized that the judge said this after the verdict was read and would not have had any impact on the jury. The defense said that the judge should not have questioned the expert like he did, but the appellate court denied Hooker's request for an appeal. It was clarified that attorneys, both the prosecution and defense can object when the judge starts asking questions. The defense never objected to that line of questioning. It may have been a strategy or that Hooker had an incompetent defense attorney.

One website I found talked about Hooker when he was younger, before his time with Colleen. Hooker was an introverted kid with very little friends. He got really into porn and enjoyed the ones with bondage in them. Once he met his wife Janice, he used those things he saw in the porn videos on her. According to this site, he had killed an 18 year old previous to the kidnap of Colleen. In the end, there was not enough evidence to convict Hooker of this murder. It was one year later that Colleen was kidnapped.

http://usersites.horrorfind.com/home/horror/bedlambound/library/hooker1.html

I read chapter 6 in Minds on Trial. Chapter 6 was called Dan White: The Myth of the Twinkie Defense. This chapter was about the life of Dan White before and after being found guilty of two counts of the much less serious crime of voluntary manslaughter. Dan White, who was a 32 year old Vietnam veteran, was elected to the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco. He was appointed by San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. Prior to being elected Dan White was a police officer and firefighter. He stated that after a year of taking on his elected position he could not support himself, his wife, and their newborn son on the salary he earned as a supervisor, which was $9,600 a year. His wife Mary Ann had to work long hours at a fast-food stand that White leased when he learned that he could not be paid as both a supervisor and a firefighter. White decided that he needed to give up his position as a supervisor because of the stress he was receiving from the low income he was making. He resigned on November 13 on 1978 after his letter was formally filed with the board. However a day later he had a change of heart and asked the Mayor to reappoint him to the board. Due to the fact that White’s letter was received by the board, he could not legally rescind it. Mayor Moscone then receive pressures from police, firefighters and other members of the community, he then initially agreed to restore White to his original position. However, Moscone receive tremendous political pressure not to reappoint White. One of the Supervisor’s named Harvey Milk was also pressuring Moscone not to reappoint White. These two would then be killed by White himself with a .38 caliber revolver. After shooting them dead in their offices he stole Apcar’s car and fled the scene. He later called his wife and told her to meet him at St. Mary’s Cathedral. He then told her what he had done, after they walked to the police station and White surrendered and gave a lengthy statement. After the murders White was charged with two accounts of premeditated and deliberate murder. During the trial five doctors evaluated him. One was a psychologist and the others were psychiatrists. One of the defense experts who testified was Dr. Martin Blinder, he who which gave the most controversial speech. Blinder reported that when White experienced of major depression he stopped his normal healthy diet, ceased his normal exercise, and binged on junk food: mainly candy bars, soft drinks, cupcakes, chocolate, and potato chips. Media gave him the label the Twinkie defense because he stated that an increase in sugar and lack exercise could have an impact on his mood. Dr. Ronald Levy, a psychiatrist who was an important part of the prosecution’s case stated after he evaluated White just eight hours after the killings that White was moderately depressed and not clinically depressed. It came out later that Levy did not give White a full evaluation because he was not asked to do a complete assessment. When this information came out the jury decided that the prosecution’s case was weak and they supported the defense more. They were not persuaded by Blinder’s speech aka the Twinkie defense. I feel a lot of different aspects of psychology are shown in this case. I feel social and behavioral psychology were the main ones in this case. The way White acted prior to his depression due to his financial situation was normal. People supported him as a leader and supervisor. He was a police man and firefighter and it was said that he showed great courage. I feel that what he did was wrong but I feel that Moscone was taking away the only thing he had left. Moscone and Milk were both trying to keep him out of the board for political reasons and reasons that were not fair to White. Politics played a big role in preventing White from getting his job back. Behavioral psychology comes in when not only the murder was committed but also when riots broke out because the popular open Homosexual supervisor Milk was one of the people murdered. Also that White after being released from jail then committed suicide in his car by taking a garden hose and pulling it from his tailpipe to the interior of his car. The media also had a big impact on the case. There was a lot of negative publicity and the Twinkie defense myth made the case seem like a scandal.

Here is an article by the New York Times. The article includes information about White's post jail life. Also about information about the case and facts including how Milk was the first open Homosexuals elected to major public office.

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/22/us/dan-white-killer-of-san-francisco-mayor-a-suicide.html

This article is about what caused White to commit these murders. Also information on both Milk and the Moscone. I thought it was interesting to have two articles about the case that were written in two different cities. One being where it happened in San Fran and the other in New York where media is very popular. I felt it was interesting to do since Media played such a big role in this case.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/23/INGRE343501.DTL&ao=all

I decided to read story titled Recovered Memories or False Analogies. This story is about Gary and Holly Ramona. Gary was a wealthy man earning $500,000 a year. He was married and had three beautiful daughters. His oldest daughter Holly was in her senior year of high school and began having problems with an eating disorder. She entered into her freshman year of college and her disorder continued. She bounced between bulimia and anorexia. She had finally confessed to her mother about her problem the summer after her freshman year and was then sent to a psychiatrist. Her psychiatrist, Isabella, was new to eating disorders and hadn't dealt with many students who had this disorder. Holly began to have memories of sexual abuse. At first she claimed it was not Gary but than she began to say it was. The more she saw her psychiatrist the more memories she had, the more vivid they were, and the more sure she was that Gary did it. Holly even did a sodium amytal interview. Sodium amytal is a sort of "truth serum" that doesnt allow people to lie unless you have undergone strict training.
Gary soon lost his job and many other things in his life. Holly sued Gary for psychological harm and Gary fought the case in court. The court came to determiner that Holly was not "lying" about her recollections because she legitimately thought they were true, but there were all a figment of her imagination. It was shown how Isabella could have help Holly come up with these scenarios and believe they were true. There were also many other issues between Holly and the psychologists like how nothing was recorded when holly was under the truth serum. The jury concluded that Gary was innocent and awarded him $500,000, but that was nothing compared to the millions Gary spent. Garys case has ended up helping many other people across America though.

This is all about psychology and making people think what it false is fact. it goes along with false convictions and wrong eyewitness accounts. These are hard things to prove false. The people who claim to have experienced these things really think they did. A liedector test or a truth test could not prove these people were lying because the truly dont believe they are. Any defendant or witness can fall victim to this phenomenon. All it takes is one idea to start the flame and the right people to throw fuel on the fire to get it going. Their accusations can be hard to not believe from the view of the jury. How could you tell a young woman who claims to have been raped and battered that it didnt happen and its all made up? How can a prosecution attorney prove that what they believe to be true is not. What tests can be done or what evidence can be taken to show a jury that its false? Like we learned in class, cops, friends, strangers, even psychologists can start these ideas in your head and there isnt much you can do to stop them.

First I wanted to look into the truth serum a little more.
Sodium amytal is a drug used mostly on people who refuse to provide information. It is seen as a form of torture. The drug is properly used in the field of psychiatry and its first documented in 1930. It has been concluded that this test can be unreliable. Subject can mix up fantasy and facts. This drug has also been used in the CIA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_drug

Holly was 23 when the case concluded. The jury had a 10-2 vote that concluded Isabella, Rose, and the hospital were negligent in their treatment of Holly. This was the first time a therapist had been sued for implanting false memories. Gary had asked for 8 million in lost wages and damages but who only awarded the $500,000. Stephanie, Garys no ex-wife, stood by her daughter the entire time and disagrees with the verdict that came from a trial that lasted almost two months.
http://articles.latimes.com/1994-05-14/news/mn-57614_1_false-memories

I chose to read chapter 8 from the book Minds On Trial and this chapter was about John W. Hinckley, Jr. John was the man who deliberately tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981. The chapter described Johns life as a child, he was apparently going to be a chip of the old block coming from well to do family that were successful in many things. As he got older however he began to change and many people noticed it, especially actress Jodie Foster. After giving the description of his past and the offense he committed the chapter then discusses his trial.

John Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in federal a federal courtroom after being examined by at least 8 forensic mental health experts. He was examined for hundreds of hours for by many experts both from the prosecution and the defense. In the end all of the the experts except the ones working for the prosecution found John to be insane. Even after evidence was presented during the trial that clearly shows that this man knew what he was doing before he actually did and made all the necessary preperations in order to carry out his plan.

After reading this chapter I was astonished to learn that the Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. I mean I have heard about this case before and seen the recordings of it happening and I just always figured that the man who did that was going to rot in prison for the rest of his life. I know that some people really do have problems and those problems could make them do things that they don't usually do but this case was ridiculous. He was found insane and I completely agree with that I mean normal people don't make a plan to kill a president to win love from someone and actually go through with it. This man wanted to kill someone, he made a plan to do it, and he tried to execute the plan to the best of his abilities.

The thing I in this case that I wanted to learn more about is what kind of evidence did the prosecution present to the jury. I think that they probably used everything they could but why wasn't enough to put this guy away. During my search I found a website that gives some accounts of the trial; in on instance Jodie Foster actually testified against Hinckley and after she was done he threw a ball-point pen at her and yelled "I will get you Foster!" before he was hauled out of the court room. I think that if I were a Juror I would of made up my mind right there if I already hadn't. All in all Hinckley is insane, maybe is should say was but I'm going to stick with is and I think that he should have gotten a punishment far more severe then what he received.

I decided to read Chapter one in Minds on Trial because it is about George Metesky, the "Mad Bomber", and my previous role in this trial of ours was the profiler. Although I am no longer playing profiler I still thought this chapter would be interesting and this way I could still include my former role in our class.

In 2002, Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia were all threatened with the serial sniper running loose and unknown to everyone living there. There wasn't much evidence, but a profile was put together based on educated guesses to determine the sniper's race, age, gender, education, motives, life experiences, and psychological makeup. He was dubbed the "DC sniper". To everyone's surprise, it turned out two men were behind the killings. A forty-one year old and his accomplice, who was only seventeen. Although the profile made up wasn't exactly on target, it sparked a recognition for the practice of profiling for our nation that has been used for over half a century.

We are able to date profiling back to as far as 1956. In 1956, George Metesky, also known as the "Mad Bomber", planted homemade bombs in New York for sixteen years before he was finally caught. His first bomb, planted on November 16th, 1940, was left outside the city's electric power company, called Consolidated Edison, with a note that read "Con Edison crooks-this is for you." The bomb didn't go off however. Ten months later, another unexploded bomb was found a few blocks away from the main offices of Consolidated Edison. Leaving investigators to wonder whether this was intentional or had he failed a second time to set off a bomb? After looking over the second bomb the conclusion was reached that the same person had in fact left the second bomb. A few months later, a note was sent to the police station saying no more bombs would be made until after the war. Over the course of five years more than a dozen notes would be sent to the police, all threatening bombs and demanding justice. They were all signed F.P. And yet all the sudden, for four years, the letters stopped, and no one heard from the F.P. person sending them.

In 1950 the silence was broken when a third unexploded bomb was discovered in New York's Grand Central Station. Although the bomb hadn't gone off, signs of bigger and better sophistication showed and it was feared he was getting closer to succeeding in blowing up something. Then, on April 24, 1950, less than a month later, a bomb exploded in a telephone booth at the New York City Public Library. This bomb caused damage to some property, but fortunately no one was injured. Four months after that yet another bomb went off in Grand Central Station, this one also in a telephone booth. Thankfully no one was hurt again. Two weeks later, a bomb was mailed to Consolidated Edison, and shortly after that, a seat in a movie theater was cut open and a bomb was place inside. Neither of these devices went off, to everyone's relief.

Around Christmas time that same year, F.P. sent a letter to the Herald Tribune. In it, he talked about how Consolidation Edison would be sorry for their dastardly deeds and justice needed to be served for what they did to him. He said he wasn't well. He apologized for anyone who was worried about the bombs and if anyone had been injured, however he said it couldn't be helped and warned more were on the way. A week after he sent the letter, which was hand-written, he called another city newspaper, the Journal-American, and complained that the newspapers wouldn't print any of his letters. The police had decided that the letters should not be printed for fear of a copy-cat or a hoax. Over the next two years however F.P. stayed determined, and planted another four bombs, all even more sophisticated and powerful than before. Two of them went off in movie theaters, one in a subway locker, and the fourth in another telephone booth. He was dubbed the "Mad Bomber", for at this point it had become clear that it was one person who was very "mad" indeed.

Another four bombs went off in the years of 1953 and 1954. One of which injured four people when it went off in Radio City Music Hall. Then, in 1955, his bombs became a bi-monthly act, and even though two of the bombs didn't detonate, four did, and one nearly killed a porter at Grand Central Station. F.P.'s letter writing increased as well, in March of 1956, he wrote to the New York Herald Tribune and made his frustrations clear at the lack of media attention he was receiving. Finally, in December 1956, after more bombs had been placed and gone off, injuring more people,the New York Police Department got serious about catching the Mad Bomber. Not that they weren't before, they just decided to make things more difficult for him and hired some more help. Fifty detectives were assigned to the case, a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest was offered, and Greenwich Village psychiatrist Dr. James Brussel was hired. Although he was at first skeptical of his abilities to provide them with much help, he soon came up with not only a profile of the Mad Bomber but a plan to capture him.

Brussel's profile said the bomber was probably a stocky man, in his forties or fifties, paranoid, unmarried, probably an immigrant from central of eastern Europe, and lived in Connecticut either alone or with an older female relative. Being that the bomber was paranoid, and knowing the paranoids are usually fastidious about appearance, Brussel also said that the bomber would most likely be wearing a double-breasted suit when he was caught. This was an outfit that was then thought to be the most proper and sophisticated dress for men. Given his obsessive traits, the psychiatrist also rationalized that the suit would be buttoned. After giving them this detailed profile he provided them with a plan on how to go about catching the man. He told them they should publicly offer up the profile of the bomber to try and make him communicate with them. Brussel was convinced that once it was made public, the bomber wouldn't be able to resist getting into contact with them. On December 25th, 1956 the profile was published in the papers of New York.

Shortly after the publication, the mad bomber did indeed contact Brussel, and demanded he leave the case or he would be sorry. A series of letters was also written, complaining about the mistreatment he received at Consolidation Edison. He also stated that the incident that left him ill and in need of compensation from had occured on September 5th, 1931. Suddenly, they had a date, and started searching the records at Con Ed to narrow their search. On January 18th, 1957, a secretary discovered letters from a man named George Metesky, who lived in Connecticut. Metesky had worked at Con Ed and claimed to have tuberculosis after being struck by hot gasses from a boiler. His letters to the company threatened retaliation for "dastardly deeds". Two days after the letters and records of George Metesky were found, police went to his home in Connecticut, where, as Brussel predicted, they found a stocky, unmarried, fifty-four year old man, son of Lithuanian immigrants, living with his two older sisters. He was a former member of the Marine Corps who had learned how to make bombs when he served as an ordnance mechanic. In the basement the police discovered an amateur bomb-making lab. He admitted to being F.P., which stood for "fair-play", and changed from his bathrobe to street clothes before they took him in. He chose to wear a double-breasted suit, and he buttoned the coat.

Although the profile of the mad bomber was scarily accurate, it is important to note that not all profiles are as spot on. And even this one created problems, when a few other leads were reported by people who suspected men who turned out to be innocent, but fit the profile to the T. And because they were all important leads, they all had to be followed up and investigated, however they ended up being a waste of time and resources when they were wrong. This can be frustrating, but comes with getting leads, and you never know which one will be the one that ends it all, as was the case with George Metesky.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/terrorists/metesky/3.html
This link comes from Tru TV and talks more in depth about James Brussel and his life as a profiler. He became a huge name in the profiling field after his accurate profile of the Mad Bomber.

http://www.helium.com/items/804273-the-effectiveness-of-criminal-profiling
This next link talks more about profiling and how effective it is. Or isn't, sometimes.

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/13/136287845/a-16-year-hunt-for-new-yorks-mad-bomber
My last link comes from npr, and includes the written story, an audio and even a picture of the Mad Bomber hiimself.

The chapter I chose to read was chapter 9, the Judas Priest trial. I wanted to read about this trial because I had studied a little about it in my social psychology class when we were studying subliminal messaging.
The chapter begins by describing two young suicidal men. Both were drug addicts and had decided to shoot themselves. The night of their decision to commit suicide, they were reportedly drunk, high, and listening to the heavy rock metal band, Judas Priest. The men went to the playground to commit a double suicide. Only one, Raymond Belknap, was successful. He put the sawed off shot gun in his mouth, pulled the trigger, and died instantly. The other man, James Vance, was not successful. Instead of in his mouth, he put the gun under his chin. When he pulled the trigger,the gun moved and he ended up surviving. This face was completely destroyed. He had several reconstructive surgeries which ended up costing over $400,000 in medical expenses. Even after the surgeries, his face was horribly deformed and he passed away 3 years after his attempted suicide. The families of the two men decided to file a law suit against the Rock Band, Judas Priest, claiming that it was the subliminal messaging hidden in their song that caused the men to shoot themselves.
One thing that really struck me about the case was how the survivor of the suicide attempt, James Vance, changed his story during the trial. When he spoke with police, he said he attempted suicide because "life sucks" and didn't even mention Judas Priest or music in general. However, later he wrote a letter saying that "We were mesmerized. There was no doubt, no second thought in my mind that I was going to pull that trigger, even though I didn't want to die." I don't really understand why this guy changed his story. Why did he suddenly want to blame music for what he chose to do? Most likely, it was for money.
The prosecutors claimed that the song "Better by You, Better Than Me" by Judas Priest intentionally included the subliminal phrase "do it." Honestly, I think this story is complete bull. Even if the phrase was a subliminal message, the message "do it" is a pretty vague command. That message could have been telling them to do anything, and as most subliminal messaging is said to try and make you believe, it could have been a reference to sex. However, I don't think the band actually intentionally made it so that their song said "do it" when listened to backwards. Who puts that kind of energy into something that doesn't work?
The trial was interesting because it brought up the question about whether or not subliminal messaging was protected by the First Amendment. The judge ruled that this was not the case, however, found that the "subliminal message" was not put in the record intentionally and therefore, Judas Priest was not responsible for the deaths of the two men. Overall, with several expert testimonies, the court came to the conclusion that the young men's suicide and attempted suicide were due to depression brought about by alcohol and marijuana consumption, instead of subliminal messaging. Even today, there is a clear lack of evidence that subliminal messaging has any effect at all.
The book talked about how subliminal messaging became popular. They spoke about Vicary and his subliminal messages that allegedly drove Coca Cola and popcorn sales to increase vastly. However, no other experiments were able to produce the same results. In social psychology, we talked about Vicary. The truth is, years later, Vicary admitted that he fabricated his research. Overall, subliminal persuasion does have some effect, but it is not strong. Persuasion is actually more effective when the consumers can perceive and understand the message that is being presented to them. Subliminal messages (when people are aware of their presence) seem to have more of a placebo effect. This is the case when people use "self help" tapes. This idea of persuasion and subliminal messaging has everything to do with social psychology. The case also deals with drugs and individual behavior, because it was ruled that the suicide and suicide attempt were due to alcohol and marijuana induced depression.
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/scientific_consensus_and_expert_testimony
This article was actually written by Thomas Moore, one of the expert witnesses that testified during the Judas Priest trial. In it, he describes the trial and the dangers of introducing pseudoscience as evidence in court cases.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hub967uvg-c
This video is an interview with James Vance before his death. In it, he talks about his suicide attempt, talking about how he supposedly had not control over it. (please ignore the stupid banner at the bottom, also his face is severely deformed so people who are more squeamish may not want to watch)

I read Chapter 9: Judas Priest (A Message in the Music). This chapter concerned two young men, Raymond Belknap, 18, and James Vance, 20. These two young men committed suicide on December 23, 1985, after several hours of drinking beer, smoking marijuana, and listening to Judas Priest music. The two men took a sawed-off shotgun to a playground in an empty churchyard to commit suicide. Raymond Belknap shot the gun through his through and died instantly as James Vance was not so fortunate in the matter. The gun moved as Vance shot through his chin and it blew off the lower portion of his face making him live the attempt as well as having to undergo 13 reconstructive surgeries. On January 12, 1986, a case developed where the father of a teenager in California sued Ozzy Osbourne and CBS records, claiming his music made his son commit suicide. That February, Roberson, Belknap's mother, decided to pursue a case against Judas Priest, saying their music caused Belknap's suicide. Vance's family also filed a lawsuit for the same reason. The two families claimed the song "Better by You, Better Than Me" intentionally had a subliminal message saying "do it" in it. They wanted the band to reimburse the families for the medical expenses of Vance's injuries as well as compensations for the deaths of both young men and to support the child Vance had before he died from a methadone overdose. In case was mainly a battle between the expert witnesses on subliminal messages. The court did NOT find Judas Priest guilty due to the lack of evidence proving subliminal messages could affect the behavior of someone and make them commit suicide.

What I found interesting right off of the get go was the fact the young men were drinking alcohol as well as smoking marijuana before they decided to commit suicide. This immediately made me think of biopsychology as well as abnormal psychology. This relates to biopsychology because according to Psychology Today, drinking alcohol reduces the amount of gray matter (brain cells) and white matter (the links between cells) particularly in the frontal lobe which is the key part of the brain for planning, withholding responses, making decisions, and regulating emotions. All of these actions in which the frontal lobe is in charge of are inhibited when alcohol is in use and may have prevented the young men from rationally thinking through their suicide. When people are on marijuana, they may experience hallucinations or feel as if they are going to die because of the effects on the respiratory changes as well as cardiovascular changes. This I feel may have had a large effect on their decision and may have brought out their feelings of wanting to commit suicide, especially when Vance was interviewed by police officers the day after he attempted suicide, he stated it was because "life sucks." I feel the drugs may have heightened those feelings. This affects abnormal psychology because drugs cause abnormal feelings in the brain.

What was a large part of the case was the question of whether subliminal messages fall under the first amendment of freedom of speech. This was a debate but after a while the judge determined subliminal messages are not a part of the first amendment. The plaintiffs as well as the defendants waived a jury trial and agreed to have Jerry Whitehead judge the case and make the decisions. Whitehead ruled subliminal speech is not protected by the First Amendment because it does not communicate any information and other people have the right to be free of unwanted speech. Now the issue was whether the subliminal issues caused the deaths of the two young men. Many expert witnesses came in for the defense and one for the prosecution stood out, Dr. Shervin. He was representing the prosecuting side and had a lot of respect from the judge because of his academic credentials and his research in the field was more extensive than any of the other witnesses. Dr. Shervin said subliminal information is received at a supraliminal level meaning a person is unaware the information has been received. What contradicted this finding was there was credible evidence that Vance and Belknap perceived the subliminal message of "do it." Rusk, Vance's guidance counselor, said Vance was aware of the message given in the song. If they perceived this phrase, how could it be subliminal? The defense's experts said Shervin's cites from which he stated were several tests to prove subliminal messages affects a person's behavior, emotions, and behavior, had nothing to do with proving the messages induced behavior. Vicary's experiment of flashing "hungry? eat popcorn" and "Drink Coca-Cola" was brought into the picture. What was wrong with using this was this has been tested multiple times after and no other researchers have received statistics close to Vicary's experiments. There are questions on whether he fabricated his results or not which makes using this as an example less credible. What I found interesting was the young men's past records. Vance had a learning disability and dropped out of school his sophomore year, had been expelled for defying authority as well as violent behavior, he choked his mother on one occasion, had extensive substance abuse (alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana). Belknap dropped out of school his junior year, was expelled for deying authority and a history of violent behavior, expelled for a sexual assault, had used alcohol, marijuana and cocaine, and listened to heavy metal with an aggressive nature. This plays a large part in with psychology because of the fact both of the men had histories of psychological issues. They had family issues where they didn't get along with their parents over music as well as defying authority in school. They were having troubles with their behavior and dealing with their emotions in a rational matter. I feel as if these issues with dealing with their emotions caused them to make rash decisions and commit suicide because they were dealing with a lot psychologically which they felt they could no longer deal with.

I looked up this case online and found these sites:

http://www.csicop.org/si/show/scientific_consensus_and_expert_testimony

This website broke the case down into different categories into different directions the court took which helped me realize what some differences were in the court. This website described liability 'science', and also went into the plaintiff's experts said along with what the defense experts said. While I was reading, pseudoscience was mentioned and this website cleared up what was meant by it which was really nice.

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-10-04/entertainment/ca-2501_1_subliminal-message

This article showed the aftermath of the case. There were other people trying to pin other artists like Ozzy Osbourne for having subliminal messages in their music which had an affect on people to commit suicide. This happened when the judge ruled subliminal messages were not protected by the First Amendment which I felt gave a lot of open doors to many hopefuls. Many of these children more than likely suffered from depression before and the parents are looking elsewhere to point fingers. Ozzy talks about how he is bored with it and suggest the parents don't allow their children to listen to rock music if it relays that sort of information.

For this blog assignment, I chose to read the chapter on Mike Tyson: Predicting the Violence of a Professional Fighter.

I was extremely intrigued while reading this chapter. I never really follow the media or news stories period for that matter, so when Mike Tyson did bit the ear of Evander Holyfield I only really knew about it according to the comedic taunts made about the incident on movies and talk shows and such. I never really knew the entire story behind it or his reasons for it. I just figured it was another celebrity gone bad or some kind of over-the-top publicity episode. I never stopped to think that there could actually be something psychologically wrong with Mike Tyson.

Mike Tyson had numerous behavioral problems as a child. This resulted in his placement into a residential facility in upstate New York. At the age of twelve he was taken into the home of Cus D’Amato and Camille Ewald. Here they became a family and provided the troubled Tyson with a pair of mentors in place of his deceased parents. D’Amato became his trainer as well. After the tenth grade Tyson dropped out and initiated his boxing career which in turn started out very successfully; to the point where most people believe he was maybe unbeatable. His behavioral turn for the worst began at the death of Cus D’Amato. He took this death as if he was losing a blood relative or parent. Later on his boxing career and life were ripped apart by his rape conviction and sentencing to 6 years imprisonment in Indiana. He was eventually let go early on good behavior, only serving three years.

After his jail troubles and escalation of personal problems, Tyson attempted to “regain his title” and start up his boxing career once more. We fast forward to the aftermath of the ear-biting dilemma: Tyson ends up having to pay the Nevada State Athletic Commission $3 million in fines along with the revocation of his boxing license. He could once again apply for his license once a year had passed. After the one year had passed he attempted to regain his license. Instead of going back to Nevada though, he thought his best option would to go elsewhere to avoid the future prosecution, question asking, and checking up on by the Nevada Athletic Commission. He proceeded to apply for a boxing license in New Jersey.

The New Jersey commission was under major scrutiny because of the fact they would possibly make a grand deal of money of the publicity coming from Mike Tyson’s acts of violence by allowing him to be granted a boxing license. This was a matter of the state but turned into a Federal case pertaining “to the regulation of boxing requiring that states recognize the rulings of other state commissions when they suspend a license to box”. Eventually Tyson received his license to box in Jersey but didn’t renew it in the long run. In order to renew this license he would have to participate in a trial hearing to prove that he had been dethroned from his reign of excessive violence while boxing and in society.

In preparation for the hearing, Tyson underwent psychological analysis from all aspects of psychology. In total there were five specialists on hand to help build a case for Tyson and decide whether he was mentally fit to return to boxing: two neurologist, two psychiatrists, and a neuropsychologist. There were five questions that the athletic commission requested be answered in order for Tyson to come back: What was Tyson’s psychiatric diagnosis? What treatment, if any was needed or proposed? What was Tyson’s ability to handle stress in unpredictable situations? What was the potential for Tyson to commit another major foul in the boxing ring? And Did the team of experts believe Tyson was mentally fit to comply with the rules and regulations of boxing? Their findings concluded with the fact that Tyson’s executive functioning was off according to the neurological and neuropsychological findings. There was no evidence of Tyson having mental illness, only possible brain function trauma from the expected over and over beating of the skull from boxing. They decided it was safe for Mike Tyson to return to the boxing world.

I chose to read Chapter 2 which is the chapter on Lee Harvey Oswald. I knew that Lee Harvey Oswald was the man accused of assassinating President John F. Kennedy but I didn't really know much else about him as a person. I also didn't realize that this event is one of the most analyzed and scrutinized events in history.

After the assassination, the Warren commission was created by Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy's successor, to investigate the assassination and it came to the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald had no accomplices in the assassination. The Warren commission has been questioned by some researchers because they believe that forensic evidence supports the theory that there was an extensive conspiracy behind the Kennedy assassination. In a response to this a Select Committee of Assassinations was made and they found the same findings that the Warren commission had.

Looking back on the history of Oswald, it seems as if he had a troubling past. As a child, Oswald was said to be very active and also very bossing of other children. His father died before he was even born, leaving him to be raised by his mother. He had a half-brother from his mother's first marriage and also an older brother from the same father. Since his mother had to work she tried to put her kids into an orphanage. Oswald couldn't be placed until he was of 3 years old and when he turned 3 he stayed in an orphanage for thirteen months and went back to live with his mother and her new husband. He became very close to his new stepfather and began to see him as a father figure and when his mother and him divorced, it was very hard on Oswald. Him and his mother moved around a lot having no real sense of stability. At the age of sixteen, he attempted to join the Marine Corps and began to exhibit very unusual tendencies such as being enamored with communism and became a self proclaimed communist. He later moved to the Soviet Union and tried to renounce his U.S. citizenship. As an adolescent, Oswald was evaluated by mental health professionals and after a report was submitted to the court, Oswald was placed on probation and the court attempted to secure the recommended treatment for him. His mother made many attempts to avoid not to bring him back to court and the judge ended up ordering that Oswald be placed in a residential facility to receive psychiatric care.

After doing some research I found the biography of Lee Harvey Oswald on the internet. It had many of the same things to say about Oswald that the book did. Clinical psychology relates to the case of Lee Harvey Oswald because as an adolescent Oswald was under review of mental health professionals and had he been properly treated things could have turned out very differently than they had.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKoswald.htm

I chose chapter 7 which is about a woman named Colleen Stan that was abducted and raped. On May 19, 1977, Colleen set out to hitchhike from Oregon to California to visit a friend. She accepted two rides but turned down the next two because one was a car full of guys and the other couple was only going a short distance. Colleen finally accepted a ride from a couple that seemed to appear very safe. Cameron and Janice Hooker and their baby picked up Colleen. After a half hour of driving Stan felt uneasy about riding with them but ignored her instincts and got back in the car anyways. The Hookers later turned down a gravel road claiming they were going to the "caves." Cameron Hooker threatened her with a knife and bound, gagged, and blindfolded her. He also put a box over her head so she could see and hear nothing. They took her to their house where they shoved her into a tiny box and tied her up with sadistic straps that made it difficult for her to breathe. For five months, he tortured her using sadistic methods. Stan says she was hung and whipped between 90 to 100 times in the first six months. Hooker convinced Stan that she had to sign a contract stating that she had to obey his every command otherwise there would be brutal consequences.

There were two major problems with Colleen Stan's case. This first was that Janice Hooker was facilitatintg the crime by allowing her husband to abuse Stan. The Hookers were also allowing their son to grow up in the house knowing that their was a women kept captive.

The second major problem was how Stan obeyed Mr. Hooker's every command. She had to ask permission to do everything including going to the bathroom and eating. After awhile, Stan was allowed to take unsupervised runs as long as she asked permission. Hooker also allowed her to visit her family after being held captive for four years. He stated that if she said anything about her ordeal he would kill anyone she told. Hooker had so much control over her that she never said a word.

Stan returned to Hooker's after she left her parents and stayed there for three more years. The last year she was there she was put back in the box and was barely seen by anyone except Hooker. Janice finally had the last straw when Hooker talked about abducting another woman and making a group of slaves. Janice started attending church and talked to her pastor about the situation. Her pastor advised her that her and Stan needed to leave the house. Janice told Stan that the contract was a fake, and Colleen started plotting her plan to escape. The next day when Hooker was at work Stan called him from the bus station saying she was leaving. She went to her family and told them why she disappeared for seven years. Hooker was later arrested and convicted of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and multiple sex offenses.

This story is extremely messed up! The defense tried to argue that the sexual acts were consensual because Stan never tried to escape. The prosecution had to use an expert witness that explained why she never left because she was coerced and brainwashed.