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1 John M. Dawson & Barbara Boland, Murder in Large Urban Counties, 1988 1 (1988)

handle is hein.death/mrdluc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
SBureau of Justice Statistics

Murder in Large Urban
Counties, 1988

By John M. Dawson,
BJS Statistician,
and Barbara Boland
About 8 in 10 murder victims were killed
by relatives or acquaintances in murder
cases disposed in the Nation's 75 most
populous counties during 1988. Strangers
killed about 2 in 10 of the victims. These
findings are drawn from a representative

sample survey of State and county prose-
cutors' records. The survey covered
disposed charges against nearly 10,000
murder defendants, whose murder cases
accounted for over 8,000 victims.
Other findings from the survey include:
e Among those arrested for murder and
presented for prosecution, 63% were

convicted of murder; overall, 73% were
convicted of some charge.
* Among those convicted of murder, 95%
received a sentence of incarceration or
death: 74% were sentenced to a prison
term, 18% to a life sentence, 2% to a
death sentence, and 2% to probation.

1 diverted
or
referred

100 murder
arrests brought
by the police for
prosecution

8
rejected
at
screening

3
other

8
trials
81
carried
forward
>

acquitted
34 found
guilty

73 convicted
of some
crime

disposed
by guilty
plea

dismissed
in
court

3 sentenced to
->  Incarceration of
1 year or less
65 sentenced to
incarceration of
more than 1 year
5 sentenced
to probation or
other conditions

May 1993

This special report provides a detailed
analysis of murderers, their victims, the
circumstances in which they come in
contact with one another, and the justice
system's handling of those arrested for
this most serious crime. It is an impor-
tant contribution to our understanding
of murder. The study sample of cases
was drawn to represent nearly 10,000
murder defendants and more than 8,000
murder victims in 1988 in the 75 most

populous counties in the United States
- about half of those arrested for
murder and just under half of those
murdered throughout the Nation that
year.
The study provides statistics to portray
the victim-offender relationship, the
demographic characteristics of both
victim and offender, the type of weapon
used, the circumstances surrounding
the murders, and the outcome of the

case - all elements necessary for a
thorough analysis of prosecution and
sentencing.
This study was possible as a result
of the cooperation extended by the
prosecutors and their staffs in the
Nation's largest counties. On behalf
of BJS, I want to express my sincere
appreciation.
Lawrence A. Greenfeld
Acting Director

\I N

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