Overview

For this paper, refer to the Charles Manson death penalty case and write a summary of the information available on the defendant’s background, the crime, the trial, appeal, and final disposition of the case.  

Sources: 

Please use and reference the sources that I have provided in the P3 sources document to complete the paper. You may also use any other sources needed but make sure to cite them.

The paper

You will write a brief “criminal biography” of the defendant, describing what is known about his/her family, childhood, education, and criminal career. 

You will describe the crimes of which the defendant was accused and the court and appellate proceedings related to those crimes.  If the case has been resolved, what happened?  If the case is still pending, what is its current status?

At the end of the paper, you should discuss your opinion of the case.  Did the criminal justice system respond properly?  Was the sentence supported by the law and the facts? Are there ways the criminal justice system could have responded differently? Did the victims, the defendant, and society receive justice?   

Length and style:  It is difficult to specify the length, as the amount of material available will vary so much. 

You should aim to write at least five double-spaced pages.  This is a formal writing assignment and your final paper should be free of all grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors.