Outline

Outline

I. Intro

a. Setting the mood; Discuss Hyde Park

            1. New wealthy Elite Neighborhood

            2.  Large population of Jewish wealth

            3.  History of Hyde Park (1853…”)

b.  Date of the crime

c. People involved

(1, 2, 3, 9)

II. Thesis Statement

a.       The seemingly logical murder of a wealthy teenager by his privileged neighbors astonished the city as well as the country. It reformed and expanded the laws surrounding and pleas of insanity, and shook the judicial system. This trial altered the perspective of both the death penalty in the courtroom and views of wealth and society.

III.             Background Information

A.  Leopold

1.      Wealthy

2.      Son of a millionaire box manufacturer

3.      Studied law at the University of Chicago, planning on studying law at Harvard.

4.      I.Q. 220

     B. Loeb

            1. Handsome young man

            2. Privileged background

            3. Father:  Retired Sears Roebuck V.P.

            4. Very smart, youngest graduate from the University of Michigan

            5. I.Q. 160

                        a. interested in criminal activity

                        b. Read detective stories

                        c. Participated in actual crime

                        d. The case, was the first crime physically harming a person

                        e. Instigator

   C. Bobby Franks

            1. 14 years old

            2. from Hyde Park “The Lake Forest of the South Side”

            3.  Lived on 50^th and Ellis

            4. Described as a small thin boy active in sports

            5. Father; Jacob M. Franks was a retired industrialist, formally

President of the Rockford watch company

            (4, 5, 6, 7)

IV.             The Murder

a. Planning the “perfect crime” 

b. Kidnap/Chance

c. disposal

d. ransom

V.                The Discovery of “Bobby”

a.       How did they get caught?

1.      Glasses at scene of the crime

2.       Alibis did not connect

3.      Tony Minke, a Polish immigrant, discovered the body.

(5,…)

VI.             The Trail

a.       Clarence Darrow/ John R. Calvary

1.      Why did they choose?

b.      Trial for the century

1.      Everyone thought that they would plead not guilty, but Clarence Darrow

2.      Tactics, and reasoning for his approach to the case

c.       Verdict

1.      Leopold and Loeb received 2 sentences

a.       Life imprisonment

b.      99 years each for kidnapping

VII.          Effect on the Judicial system

a.        Illinois death penalty 20^th century

b.      Introduced new tactics and defense strategies for criminal law

1.      Judge vs. Jury

2.      Not Guilty = Jury & Guilty= Judge - Darrow quote from the trial- closing argument

“But, Your Honor, if these boys hang, you must do it. There can be no division of responsibility here. You can never explain that the rest overpowered you. It must be by your deliberate, cool, premeditated act, without a chance to shift responsibility. It was not a kindness to you. We placed this responsibility on your shoulders because we were mindful of the rights of our clients, and we were mindful of the unhappy families who have done no wrong. “

a.       Why was this important

                                                                                                                                      i.      Darrow specifically wanted a judge so the decision was only theirs, and the responsibility was not split between 12 people

     c. Introduction of Psych in the courtroom-quote from Leopold psychiatrist.

c.       Death Penalty

1.      After this case there was another option for criminal defense besides being put to death

2.       Decrease death sentences

(9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)

VIII.       Wealth in Society

a.       Stereotype of Wealth

1.      “That they are perfect, and do no wrong”

“Here were two boys with good intellect one eighteen and one nineteen. They had all the prospects that life could out for any of the young… [ they were] boys who never knew what it was to want a dollar; boys who could reach any position that was give to boys of that kind to reach; boys of distinguished and hinirable families, families of wealth and position, with all the world before them . “–Peter J. Spalding

a. well-off

b. educated

c. respectable

2.      In the end, Darrow succeeded. The judge sentenced Leopold and Loeb each to life imprisonment for the murder and 99 years each for the kidnapping. This was mainly on the grounds that, being under 21; Leopold and Loeb were legal minors.

b. Jewish community

            c. not common occurrence-elite vs. ghetto, desensitized to crime

            d. shocking that this type of murder came from wealthy families

1. Trial got a lot of attention and had spectacle qualities, i.e. angry mob outside courtroom