Reporting Murders By Stage
Lastly these cases can be divided into stages of the legal process. Due to the reporting and updating done in local cases, the data available paints a rather smooth curve in terms of articles spent in each phase of the legal process. Excluding outliers, namely the court martialing in Europe, the figures are as follows. 7 cases can be found prior to entry into the courts, such as periods of investigation, or the discovery of a body. 3 articles concern arrests of the accused. 2 concern arraignments, and 3 the formation of grand juries to facilitate those arraignments. 12 concern the holding of a trial or the issuing of judgement and sentencing. This figure, and the figure of prearrest activity, is elevated by the inclusion of out of state cases which must be selected for causing excitement rather than for informing the public. It is more interesting to hear that someone out of state was tried and convicted than it is to hear that they eventually will be. A good mystery or satisfying conclusion is easier to report and sell. Readers already don’t need to know that someone out of state is convicted, this out of state news won’t impact their life, which means they really don’t need to know if someone out of state has only been arrested. The remaining four cases concern themselves with the aftermath of a trial provided it was not covered in the same article as the trial itself. It reflects updates on convicted persons, such as one who killed in a drunken rage who, after his sentencing, swore off drinking entirely, or executions.