Final answer:
The mentioned cases are historical instances of crimes and subsequent legal proceedings, involving issues of eyewitness reliability, unjust treatment based on weak evidence, and psychological assessment in a court of law, signaling the complexity of the justice system and reflecting societal attitudes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The cases you've mentioned involve serious crimes and their subsequent legal processes. First, the Jeffrey Dahmer case occurred from 1978 to 1991, where Dahmer, a notorious serial killer, committed his gruesome crimes.
Turning to the case of Jennifer Thompson, this infamous misidentification happened in 1984, a tragedy in which Ronald Cotton was wrongly accused due to mistaken eyewitness testimony—an issue still pertinent when discussing the reliability of eyewitnesses in the justice system.
In the second scenario, the horrific lynching of Fred Alexander, who may have had a mental disability, reflects the brutal and unjust treatment of suspects, in this case, back in Leavenworth, Kansas, with no substantial evidence tying him to the crime.
Lastly, the 1914 case of Jean Gianini showcases how physical evidence and psychological analysis were utilized in court, featuring Dr. Henry Herbert Goddard as an expert witness to assess Gianini's mental state during the crime.
These episodes not only illustrate the various facets of the criminal justice system but also underscore the historical context in which these events took place and the long-lasting impact they have had on legal proceedings and societal attitudes towards guilt and innocence.