Solve the Mystery, Essay Example

Howard Stivers was found innocent in two trials, one in Los Angeles and one in New York, both on the same day, for accusations that he embezzled funds from the businesses for whom he worked. The “Double Trial,” as presented by Positively Puzzling Mysteries, sets up a timeline that makes it impossible to get incriminating evidence from the Los Angeles trial back to New York in time. The action begins with the Los Angeles trial with its start time of 11:00 am. By 12:30 pm (“after one and a half hours of testimony”), Sergeant Gerritts, who was covering the trial, had enough information on Stivers to convict him in the New York trial. She went to the airport (a 30 minute trip), flew to New York (four hours), and rode to the New York courtroom (30 minutes).

Following this frame for time, five hours elapsed from the time Gerritts left the Los Angeles courtroom and entered the one in New York. This means that it was 5:30 pm, Los Angeles time, when Gerritts got there. This means that it was 8:30 pm, New York time when she ran into the chamber. What she found was that the trial was over and Stivers had been acquitted of the charges, just as he had been in Los Angeles earlier in the day. She was not able to get to the trial in New York in time to present the evidence that was crucial for the State to convict. Effectively, the trials were set only three hours apart. In order for this to have worked out as the prosecution had wished, the trial in New York would, out of necessity, have to have started at or before 11:00 am, New York time, or the Los Angeles trial would have had to begin at or before, Los Angeles time 8:00 am (312 words).