Innocent Until Proven Guilty
Steve Harmon, the young teen and narrator in Monster was on trial for felony murder. This innocent sixteen year old was accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and death of Mr. Nesbitt. His supposed job was to be a look out for the criminals Bobo and King. Prior to them entering Mr. Nesbitts drugstore robbing and killing him in cold blood. Although there are some that doubt his innocence the verdict of Steve’s future was rightfully not guilty. Although Steve may have known about the robbery he did not go through with it. He felt remorse after he heard of the death of the innocent storeowner. Furthermore, while there is reason to believe Harmon knew ahead of time the plan of the robbery, there is no evidence that he did his job. When Bobo took the stand in the trial he told the jury that he did not see a signal from Steve. The only reason Bobo believed Harmon was in on the robbery was because King said he was. According to Steve’s journal he was only in the drugstore at the time to look for mints. When he left the store he didn’t give a visible signal to the robbers, Bobo and King. Because of this small detail it disproves the alleged fact that he gave a signal.
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Nesbitt’s death. When he overheard the two women talk of the robbery Steve’s reaction showed his remorse. He walked home in a daze thinking of the death of the innocent man. His actions showed his guilt even though he wasn’t involved. Also during the trial Steve was shown the pictures of the crime scene. King’s reaction showed his carelessness, he stared at the dead body as if he was bored. Steve however tried to not look at the pictures but when he did he was overflowed with emotion. The jury most likely didn’t see this remorse because he tried not to show too much emotion in fear of people mistaking that as him trying to get out of