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You Are a Defense Attorney Defending a Client Against a Murder

question 13

Multiple Choice

You are a defense attorney defending a client against a murder charge. Your client is the former boyfriend of the victim, and it has been established by several witnesses that the breakup was not a pleasant one. Your client was identified as a suspect from the very beginning. During the trial, the prosecution presented a witness who claimed to overhear your client praying for forgiveness in his holding cell. The prosecution also presented the murder weapon, which was a softball bat with your client's fingerprint on the handle. Your client was convicted. You attempted to convince the jury that the presence of the fingerprints did not mean anything-it was his bat, after all, and he had used it in a softball game recently. You argued that the detectives investigating the murder suspected your client right away because he was the victim's ex-boyfriend, and accordingly, they automatically interpreted any evidence in a way that agreed with their suspicion. This is an example of:

Definitions:

Social Atomization

A social situation that emphasizes individualism over collective or group identities.

Demographic Transition

A model describing the progression from high birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates as a country develops from a pre-industrial to an industrialized economic system.

Bystander Effect

The Bystander Effect is a social psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present, often due to the diffusion of responsibility.

Law Enforcement

Agencies and officers tasked with maintaining public order and enforcing laws, including the prevention, detection, and investigation of crime.