The Difference between Law and Justice

The Difference between Law and Justice
- Shannon Murrin’s case

Shannon Murrin, a suspected of an eight-year-old girl’s slaying, was arrested, but finally acquitted after five years in custody. From this case, people can sense the differences between law and justice; the former is based on facts and the later is on opinions.

Shannon Murrin was accused as a murder of the child with following facts. First, the child was seen last at Murrin’s house playing with Murrin’s daughter. Second, Murrin can not explain that he is not of alibi for 30 minutes that evening. Thrid, Murrin was testiflied by a jailhouse informant that Murrin confessed killing the girl within hours of meeting his in a cell they shared at a prison in Mission. The other disadvantage to Murrin is that he has a criminal record, The last fact is showed by Mitochondrial DNA test.

However, the court did not simply look at the facts and match them into the code of law. Justice always takes the circumstance into consideration.  Though police still believe that they did not get a wrong person, the judge and jury will not give Murrin a sentence because all of the facts do not beyond a reasonable doubt.

Among all those facts, people can easily ignore jailhouse informant, who has a record of perjury. For 30 minitus of alibi, no one can sure that Murrin can go through a murder procedures suggested by Crown in such short time. Only one fact - NDA test, is disadvantage. Nevertheless, Mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA) is not at all like nuclear DNA. Nuclear DNA is inherited from both parents and is found in the nucleus of the cell. MtDNA is extracted from the mitochondria in a cell and it is thought that MtDNA is inherited from the mother. Even the Crown's scientific experts admitted that MtDNA could not be used as an identifier; it could only be used to eliminate a suspect.

People who are responsible for Murrin’s case, can not reach a final agreement, which represent that justice is subjective. From analyzing above facts, it is not surprise about the outcome for Murrin’s case.