Belle Starr, who was born in Missouri in 1848, earned a reputation of the outlaw from the Wild West due to her association with criminals. However, as Rascoe (2004) suggests, Belle's renegade reputation was blown out of proportion because her acts, despite consorting with notorious criminals, did not meet the legendary status that her name is accorded. Belle Starr grew up in Carthage, with her step-siblings, since her father was polygamous. Her greatest influence was her elder brother, Jason Addison, who was also nicknamed as Bud. Bud taught her how to ride horses and master the art of using guns. That greatly influenced Belle in her future life of crime alongside the fact that she lived in the Civil War era where her place of residence, Missouri, was a hotly contested territory. Bud, however, died in 1864, after which the whole family moved to Texas. Belle Starrs criminal activities began in 1866 when she married Jim Reed. Rascoe (2004) states that Jim Reed was a fugitive who fled from the law on several occasions and that Belle became part of the crime mafia. However, the claims of her involvement in the crime at that point are unsubstantiated because a while before Belle's husband was killed in 1874, she had already left him and gone back to her parents' farm. Nevertheless, Belle met Sam Starr, who was a member of the Starr gang and married him in 1880. The two lived in Cherokee land, where they were involved in criminal activity such as harboring criminals and bootleggers like Jesse James and Frank in their house. Additionally, she took part in organizing raids as well as fencing for rustlers who stole domesticated animals. Belle's business was so lucrative that he offered bonds to free cohorts who, at times, found themselves arrested. At that point, each of them did not have a record, but all that changed in 1883 when they were arrested by officer Bass Reeves and charged with stealing horses. Shortly after that, Belle and Sam were tried before Judge Isaac Parker, where they were both found guilty in the trial that took four days. Belle was sentenced to two-six-month jail terms in Detroit's House of Correction after being found guilty on both counts while her husband, who was found guilty on one count, was sentenced to twelve months in the same institution. The defendant has no criminal history, and this is the first time that she is being arraigned in court. Despite the family history of misdemeanors, particularly in the families, the defendant married into, the defendant's record shows no history or any past involvement in a crime. The defense concludes that it was the defendant's first crime, but based on her reputation, the defendant should be rendered a fair verdict that demands jail time for such an act. Contrary to the defense’s claim, the defendant has a reputation of harboring criminals and outlaws, which is a dangerous act for the society in general as it contributes to the prevalence of such vices. Additionally, the defendant runs a criminal organization, which she profits from. Although it was her first recorded crime, her reputation has earned her a nickname, the Bandit Queen, which means that she is involved in various criminal activities that could disrupt the peaceful and harmonious existence of the community around her. Therefore, the prosecution concludes that the defendant is a threat to society and her reputation should be considered alongside the crime and deliver the only verdict that is fair to the society, a minimum of five years in prison for the defendant’s crimes. The defendant is a threat to society and thus she should get the sentencing that befits her, considering that she is at the center of the said crime. Rita Gluzman was born in 1948 in Soviet Ukraine, which was then a part of the Soviet Union. She met and married her husband Yakov Gluzman in 1969, after which they had one son. She first gained prominence in 1971 when she launched a campaign to pressure the Soviet Union government to grant her husband a permit to leave for the US. The government was, however, adamant about granting the permit, which forced Rita into activism, where she conducted several interviews after her 18-day hunger strike generated interest. The couple finally moved to New York in 1995, where Yakov was an established cancer researcher while Rita owned ECI Technologies. In 1996, Yakov filed for divorce, citing Rita's abusive nature as well as her overspending. The divorce process was messy in that Rita, on the other hand, claimed that Yakov was cheating on her with a woman in Israel. She went ahead and acquired pictures of her husband with the alleged lover, which she used to blackmail him. While this is the case, she stated that she feared a messy divorce, but the real reason was that she did not want to give up control of the computer company since she co-owned it with Yakov. The divorce negotiation was dragged, in that, they ended after one and a half years. On April 6, 1996, Yakov was murdered in their New York apartment, whereby his body had been chopped into 65 pieces, according to the New York Times (Bovsun, 2019). Vladimir Zelenin, who was Rita's cousin, was caught by police throwing garbage bags into the Passaic River, which upon checking, contained the pieces that were later identified as Yakov's body. Rita had disappeared for six days when the police finally found her in Long Island, breaking into a guest cabin (Goad, 2016). Some of the possessions she had during the arrest included a stolen car license plate, a passport, as well as Australian travel book. During the trial, Vladimir confessed that Rita had helped him migrate to the US and secure a job at ECI technologies and that the divorce would leave him without a job. For this reason, he conspired with Rita, where he bought the ax and garbage bags used in the murder, after which he and Rita attacked Yakov, killed him, and chopped the body. After that, Rita cleaned the scene as Vladimir went to dump the body. Nevertheless, Rita's attorney claimed that Vladimir acted alone. Vladimir was then charged with conspiracy to commit murder while Rita was found guilty of murder by Judge Barrington D. Parker Jr., who sentenced her to life imprisonment without parole (Goad, 2016). After the conviction, Rita Gluzman made an appeal citing the unconstitutional nature of her conviction, but her appeal was denied. At the time of his death, Yakov Gluzman and the defendant were in the middle of a divorce and based on Vladimir Zelenin's testimony; the defendant was against it. This is because she was afraid of losing her share of the joint business, ECI Technologies. The prosecution concludes that the defendant caused the death of Yakov Gluzman, acted with the intent to cause death and interfere with divorce and avoid loss of the company as well as everything she worked for. Therefore, the court should consider the defendant’s history alongside the crime in its verdict. The history of the defendant’s fight for justice for her husband was a matter of public record considering her 18- day hunger strike got her the attention she needed to pressure the Soviet Union to give Yakov a permit to relocate to the US. The defendant was relentless in making sure that they relocated to a safer place and start over. Additionally, the defendant had established a successful business with her husband, ECI technologies, and she was going to lose that venture in the divorce. For this reason, her actions were justified in that all that she had worked for, including the joint company would all go to waste and be enjoyed by the other woman whom her husband was seeing, as she suspected. The defense, therefore, concludes by asking that such justification be considered and a favor verdict be delivered, which is a pardon for the defendant because she had worked hard to get her family to the United States for a better life. The Defendant, Rita Gluzman should be pardoned her crime considering the amount of time, money, effort, and other sacrifices she made to make the relationship work.
References
Bovsun, M. (2019, September 27). Justice Story: When Loves Turns to Hate and Dismemberment . Nydailynews.Com . https://www.Nydailynews.Com/News/Crime/Ny-Yakov-Gluzman-Murder-20190927-Zu7pp55fgbc7lj2mcksybsnkoi-Story.Html
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Goad, J. (2016, April 7). The kiss of the ‘black widow’: 17 women who murdered their husbands (And others) for cash. Thought Catalog . https://thoughtcatalog.com/jim-goad/2016/01/kiss-of-the-black-widow-17-women-who-murdered-their-husbands-and-others-for-cash/
Rascoe, B. (2004). Belle Starr:" The Bandit Queen" . U Of Nebraska Press.
