dan white “twinkie defense” criminal profile by: maddie kriberney “society can’t exist...

DAN WHITE “TWINKIE DEFENSE”

Criminal Profile

By: Maddie Kriberney

“Society can’t exist without family.”

BASIC RESEARCH

Born on September 2, 1946 Second of nine children Described as an all-American boy Served in Vietnam war as a paratrooper Once home from war, he worked as a policeman

first then as a fireman In 1977, he was elected into the Board of

Supervisors in San Francisco On joining the Board, Dan White was forced to

resign his job as a fireman due to a provision in the city charter that barred anyone from holding two city jobs.

BASIC RESEARCH

He started a restaurant business, but it failed due to the pressures of his work for the city.

Conservative He abruptly resigned his seat after Milk's gay rights bill got

passed. White had opposed it. His marriage fell apart and he became increasingly depressed

after jail time Committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning at age 39 He represented a district of predominantly poor white working

class people and became part of a loosely formed coalition to oppose Mayor George Moscone and his liberal ideas, having frequent disagreements on policy with fellow Supervisor Harvey Milk.

BASIC RESEARCH

CRIME DATE VICTIMS PUNISMENT

VoluntaryManslaughter

January 1980

George Moscone,Harvey Milk

Maximun 7 years and 8 months in prison

Manslaughter: The unjustifiable, inexcusable, and intentional killing of a human being without deliberation

EVIDENCE On November 27, 1978, Dan White went to City Hall with a

loaded .38 revolver In order to avoid the metal detectors, he entered through a

basement window that had been negligently left open for ventilation.

He proceeded to the Mayor's office, where the two men began arguing until Moscone suggested going to a more private room so that they could not be heard.

Once there, Moscone refused to re-appoint him, and White shot the Mayor twice in the chest and twice in the head.

He then went down the corridor and shot Milk, twice in the chest, once in the back, and twice again in the head. Soon after, he turned himself in at the police station where he used to work.

At his trial in 1979 it was revealed that White also planned to assassinate Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and fellow supervisor and attorney Carol Ruth Silver, but was unable to find them.

EVIDENCE

He made a plea of "diminished capacity", due to extreme stress in White's home life and depression

Abandoned his usual healthy diet and indulged in a diet of sugary junk food like Coke, doughnuts, and Twinkies instead.

Today the term "Twinkie defense" is a derogatory label implying that a criminal defense is artificial or absurd.

SENTENCE

White served five years at Soledad State Prison and was released on parole on 6th January 1984

CULTURAL REFERENCES

Movie: MILK – mostly about Harvey Milk, but Dan appeared in it

Play: Execution of Justice, a play by Emily Mann, chronicles the events leading to the assassinations

Song: The Dead Kennedys sang about White and the assassinations to Sonny Curtis' "I Fought the Law" on their album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death

ANOMIE THEORY - REBELLION

Rebellion would best explain White’s criminal behavior. He acted against society by killing George Moscone and Harvey Milk. White has very strong views between what he thought was right and wrong. He had very strong beliefs against gay rights. White thought it was wrong and society should not openly allow it. After Harvey Milk’s gay rights bill got passed, White was furious. He abruptly resigned his seat on the Board of Supervisors.

It wasn’t until the Gay Rights bill got passed that White went crazy. He highly disbelieved in gay rights so he decided to take a stand. He went into City Hall with a .38 revolver. He planned on shooting Milk, but since things didn’t go his way, he shot Moscone. When he finally found Milk, White shot him 5 times. After White did this criminal act, he turned himself into the police.