How Kristine Died: What You Need to Know

Introduction 

The case, “How Kristin Died” generally shows the most obvious challenges that emerge from neglect of the bureaucratic system and its consequences. In the year 1992, a young woman, Kristine was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Michael Cartier ( Lardner, 1996). Based on the case, it is clear that Cartier had a history of criminal activity and violence and charged with domestic violence. The case ultimately ended with the murder of Kristine and in the process changing the lives of several people who were involved. When the event is presented within a timeline, it becomes evident that if the existing bureaucratic system had taken the initiative and be cautious, this death would have been prevented. When he murdered Kristine, he was still on probation. Severally public agencies were in charge of ensuring that Cartier is kept away from Kristine but failed. The case primarily revolves around the concept of bureaucracy, the manner in which they are set up, what keeps them operational, incentives used to measure their efficacy in addition to factors that affect their capability to be responsive. The bureaucratic systems tend to be fraught with challenges that often originate from internal hierarchies such as lack of employee motivation, poor communication among agencies in addition to turf wars between various organizations. Going through the essay by Lardner, numerous red flags have been raised about Cartier’s behavior in addition to subsequent consequences or even lack thereof. 

Chronology of facts 

The following are the main facts as evident in the case study: 

1982-1990- Cartier had a history related to abuse of animals and that same cruelty escalated throughout his teens that saw him placed on mental hospitals, treatment center, and even prison. 

Summer 1990- Cartier met Ryan and established a strong relationship. Later, Cartier was reported to have abused Rose Ryan physically. He killed one kitten before Ryan and got arrested but was released. 

Fall-winter 1990- Cartier reportedly began stalking Ryan physically and in other instances through obscene letters that forced Ryan to obtain a restraining order for her safety. 

April 1991- Cartier is arrested for having violated probation. He later accosted Ryan and even became abusive 

Summer 1991- Cartier was reported to have served part of his sentence but then released when some of the serious charges against him were dropped. 

January 1992- Kristine and Cartier met at the Boston nightclub, and the two got attracted to each other. Kristine got attracted to Cartier since he reminded him of her previous friend and was charming 

Winter 1992- Cartier kept on harassing Rose and was sentenced to the violent class meeting at least once weekly. On February 12, Cartier missed a class, and instead of serving time, he was given a chance to restart the class 

March 1992- Cartier began being abusive with Kristine and apologized to her for getting her a kitten. He later tortured the kitten with the aim of destroying it. 

April 16, 1992- Cartier and Kristine went out for the last time. Kicks followed the attempt by Kristine to break up He later started to stalk her using his phone and tried to make up with her using cards and roses. 

May 7, 1992- Kristine reached the probation officer in charge of Cartier informing him of the legal issues and the beating, but nothing was done rather than merely a verbal warning 

May 11, 1992- Kristine approached the court for help, went to the police and then thought of pressing charges against him. She successfully got a restraining order in addition to a paperwork meant to charge Cartier with assault, larceny, and even intimidation. It was clear that nothing was taken into consideration since by the time she got killed; it was still on the Clerk’s desk. 

May 19, 1992- Kristine went to the court to have him charged, the hearing lasted for approximately five minutes, but the judge only gave Cartier a verbal warning. Cartier went on staking Kristine. 

May 30, 1992- Cartier approached and shot Kristine near one of the convenience stores. That evening Cartier also committed suicide. 

Analysis 

The cases apparently revolve around human tragedy and more than one person seems to be involved in the overall breakdown of the public service bureaucracy for a long time. Several individuals throughout the case were culpable in the continual freedom of Cartier including the clerks who failed to file the paperwork; the judges ignored most of the previous warnings in addition to the lack of urgency throughout the system. The critical question that is raised throughout the case is the overall viability of the public service bureaucracy in addition to incapability to allow those in charge to mitigate and address the situation once it emerged. Cartier has been brought out as an abuse, stalker and even probation violators and all these seem to be clear to anyone who took his or her tim e to go through Cartier’s file ( Lardner, 1996). Whenever an individual walks up to another person and causes him or her physical harm, it is expected that the law enforcers will arrest him and charge him with assault but in the case, Cartier was never charged at any instance even after having been reported to the concerned authorities. In a situation where the perpetrator is a parole violator, the most typical action would be to have him or her re-arrested and taken back to prisons. All these things failed to take place which indicated how the entire system failed Krist ine causing her premature death ( Lardner, 1996). 

Based on numerous critical cases that have been experienced at the macrostate, the government has learned that effective communication between relevant agencies is of greater significance for mitigation. Focusing on the microstate, it is evident that the issue of higher concern for the law enforcement and the entire judiciary system were not aware of the severe nature of Cartier ( Lardner, 1996). Going through the case the court system apparently seemed to have rushed through hearing the case , the social service system even after issuing numerous warnings to Cartier they failed to place him in custody for the safety of his victims. The bureaucracy was insulted where most employees had little to do with the political pressures hence are stuck in the mire of the system creating an aspect of incentives in which the public service staffs are not motivated to be highly responsive to the concerns of an individual. Arguably, it can be argued that the culture apparently seems to have placed a premium on strictly following the law and knowledge and at the same time limit thinking outside the box or even focusing specifically on a particular issue of concern. 

General conclusion and Recommendation 

General Conclusion - The primary area of concerns based on the case analysis is to protect the individuals from potential abuse. Evidently, Kristine made efforts to utilize the currently existing systems to defend herself, but this was not successful. It is clear in the case that even with the restraining order issued by the court; Cartier went ahead stalking and killing her. 

General Recommendation - Evidently, some agencies failed to take action as required by the law to take the concerns raised by Kristie even when the issue was reported to be serious. Therefore, it would be essential to have a clear chain where the documents and warrants by the courts are filed such that individuals such as Cartier would not be allowed to remain free and do as they wish to harm others. It would have been essential to ensure that the law enforcers are in a position to tap into the court’s document to understand the nature of offender that they might be handling in the event of constant harassment complaints. 

General Conclusion- Going through the case, it is clear that numerous warning flags were directed at Cartier. First, Cartier had a definite history of constant abuse, physically and even mentally tortured Ryan. Secondly, throughout his relationship with Kristine, he was engaged in numerous law-breaking actions before eventually killing her. 

General Recommendation -It is apparent that the bureaucracy considerably fails in undertaking their role with regards to Cartier for several occasions. It would be critical to have a system in place that would strictly inform the law enforcement and the judiciary concerning a particular offer such as Cartier in addition to a stricter guideline of sentencing in place such that rather than just warning severe criminal offenders a harsh punishment that equals to the crime committed would be issued. 

References 

Lardner, G. (1996) (How Kristin Died) ( Cases Study)