Argumentative

Writing Piece
DAINE DOWNS PAROL BOARD HEARNG AGRUEMNT

Michael Smith
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & SOFTWARE ENGINEERING | FAIRCHILD WHEELER INTERDISTRICT
MAGNET
 On June 17, 1984, Diane Downs was to sentenced life in prison, plus fifty years. On the

evening of May 19, 1983, while supposedly on her way home with her three children, Diane

pulled the care over, got out, went to the trunk, got her gun, and shot her three children. Cheryl

Downs, one of the three, was killed. The nature of her crimes resulted in not being eligible for

parole until 2008 – she applied, but the parole board denied her application. She applied again

in 2010, but the parole board denied her application a second time. Under a new law, she now

has to wait until 2020 until she can apply for parole again. Parole should not be granted to

Diane Downs. She has be diagnosed as a sociopath, which means that she is unable to feel

empathy and understand the impact of certain objects or situations. If she cannot understand

what she did wrong the first, who says she is not going to do it again.

Psychologist Barbara Ziv (2010) classifies Diane as a sociopath. One of the main

characteristics of a psychopath is not having any empathy – the ability to share and understand

the feelings of another. Upon arriving at the hospital, Diane did not show any empathy towards

her dying children. She constantly talked about how she hoped the doctors would be able to

save them, but always ended the statement of concern worrying about herself and her brand

new car. While she did not say it, Diane could not understand how much more important the

lives of her children were over he stained car seats – another characteristic of a sociopath.

Diane’s recollection of events does not align with the evidence that law enforcement

teams investigating the case collected. She claimed that while driving, she saw a man who

looked like he needed help. Therefore, she pulled over in order to help him. Her story continues

to tell how the man wanted her car and when she said no, he shot her and her children. When

asked who this man was or what he looked like, Diane has constantly changed her description
of the alleged perpetrator. She has described to “him” as a bushy haired stranger, two masked

gunmen, and a drug crazy cop. However, the bullets used came from a gun in which Diane had

possession of at the time. In addition, in her recollection of events, when “he” wanted to steal

her car, she threw the keys so he could not take it. However, Diane said that music was playing

the whole time and that was not possible without the keys in the ignition. Also, how would

have gotten away without taking the time to find her keys? Sociopaths also fell no stress,

meaning that they can lie with no regrets. Diane’s story is an example of this. Her story does

not tell the truth about what happened – there was never any “him” and her keys never left the

ignition.

At the beginning of Diane’s trail, the prosecutor had music playing in the courtroom. The

song playing, Hungry like a Wolf, was the only song on the tape playing in her car on the night

she shot her children. The prosecutor wanted to see her reaction. Most people would be

horrified to hear the same song that was playing when their children were shot – Diane was

not. She was humming along with the beat and drumming her hands on the desk. She failed to

see the importance as to why she was there and to that particular song that was playing. She

failed to see that her appearance in court was extremely important to the prosecutor’s case

against her. She acted like a sociopath.

Diane Downs should not be granted parole in 2020. She is a sociopath who shot her own

children. Whom else could she hurt if she were to be released from jail? Would she kill

somebody else? Nobody can answer these questions because of her frame of mind. Nobody

knows what she actually do. However, it is clear that it is not worth the risk and that she

belongs in prison.