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Why Is Steve Harmon Not Guilty

494 Words2 Pages

Steve Harmon, a fifteen year old , was charged with robbery and murder but did not do it. As a member of the film club, Steve Harmon is charged with these offenses in the novel Monster. The owner of a drug store was shot and killed, and Harmon is being investigated. However, he is innocent because the state's witnesses are untrustworthy, there is no evidence he was present, and he never finished his claimed assignment. All of this demonstrates that Steve Harmon is not guilty.

The main reason that I believe Steve Harmon was found not guilty is because there was a lack of evidence showing that Steve actually did something. The jury is told that Steve was supposed to be the lookout and give a signal, but even Evans confirms that Steve gave no such signal. The fact that Steve received no portion of the robbery money is also solid evidence that even the criminals did not think that Steve played any part in the robbery. …show more content…

The witnesses are motivated by fear, as seen in Brigg’s, King’s lawyer, question to them, saying, “You were afraid and you would have said anything” (Meyers, 37). The witnesses themselves would admit to this. Bolden stated that “I knew that the people got killed, and was thinking of trading what I knew for some slack” (Meyers, 48). When someone is afraid, they are willing to say anything to get out of trouble. Both witnesses were afraid of going to or staying in jail. Therefore, they could be lying in order to not be in more trouble. The witnesses, then, cannot be trusted. The witnesses are not trustworthy because they are in fear. They could be lying to get out of

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