The word prose comes from the Latin "prosa", meaning straightforward, hence the term "prosaic". Prose writing is usually adopted for the description of facts or the discussion of whatever one's thoughts are, incorporated in free flowing speech. It may be used for newspapers, novels, magazines, encyclopedias, broadcast media, letters, stories, history, philosophy, biography, and many other forms of media.
Prose generally has no formal structure, like meter or rhyme, that is often found in poetry. Therefore, it is used to describe literature which is non-poetic, and non-theatrical. There is, however, a blend of the two forms of literature known as "prose poetry".
Caper story
The caper story is a special sort of crime story. In the typical caper story, one or more crimes happen (especially thefts, swindles, or occasionally kidnappings) in full view of the reader. The actions of the police or detectives may also be told, but are not that important for the story.
The typical elements of caper stories are humor, adventure, or unusual cleverness or audacity.
The "Dortmunder" stories of "Donald E. Westlake" are very funny tales where unusual thefts happen; in another story, Dortmunder's gang steals the same gem several times, steals an entire branch bank, and kidnaps someone from an asylum by driving a stolen train onto the property.
14 BC
Year 14 BC was either a common year starting on Thursday or Friday or a leap year starting on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Lentulus.
Death of Tina Watson
Christina Mae "Tina" Thomas Watson (13 February 1977 – 22 October 2003), was a 26-year-old American from Helena, Alabama. She died on her honeymoon on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia in 2003. She had only been married to her husband, David Gabriel "Gabe" Watson, for 11 days when she died. The doctor who performed the autopsy said she drowned in a scuba diving accident.
Six years later, Gabe Watson was charged for murder and manslaughter. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sent to prison for a year by an Australian court. Six months were added to the prison sentence after an appeal that took place just six weeks later. The appeal was held as soon after the trial as possible because of concerns raised by Tina's father with the trial itself. However, the appeal judges had agreed with the trial judge on most of the issues except the six month increase in the prison sentence.
Tina was a Southern Baptist and a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She worked as a departmental manager at the small Southern department store chain, Parisian. She was buried at the Southern Heritage Cemetery, in Pelham, Alabama, USA.
While scuba diving at the site of the SS "Yongala", a passenger ship that sank in 1911 in the main southern shipping channel to the Australian port of Townsville, Tina Watson either lost consciousness or died and then sank to the sea floor below. Tina's death of accidental drowning was not a criminal investigation in itself in Australia. It was a coronial enquiry. Mr Watson gave evidence to the Coronial Inquiry through his lawyers. He returned to Australia voluntarily and spoke to investigators on a number of occasions. Some of these interviews are available on the Internet. At trial, prosecutors said that Mr Watson had made a mistake in not trying to rescue his wife. They said that mistake was the same as manslaughter (see: Court of Appeal Judgement). Tina's father that, immediately before their wedding, Gabe had asked Tina to increase her life insurance policy to the maximum possible and make him the sole beneficiary.
After hearing that flowers and gifts left for Tina at her grave were being destroyed or were disappearing, even when held down by a chain, Sergeant Flynn investigated it. On a hidden videotape, he saw Gabe Watson taking them away with bolt cutters and then throwing them in the trash angrily. Gabe then married Kim Lewis on August 15, 2008.
Gabe Watson was tried for the murder of his wife, Christina, in the Queensland Supreme Court at Brisbane on 5 June 2009. He said he was "not guilty" of murdering his wife. To the charge of manslaughter, accidental killing, he said he was guilty. The trial judge said the murder charges made against him were not true and sentenced him to one year in prison, with a further three and a half years suspended. This sentence resulted into Tina's father calling the Australian justice system a "sham". He also said one of Australia's most senior government lawyers, Mr Tony Moynihan, had been misleading the public.
The reason Gabe received the one year in prison, was explained by the judge. He said that Gabe had been accused of things of which he had not been guilty, had suffered considerably since Tina's death, and had co-operated with the Court. He said the media reporting had been unfair. The judge said Gabe had come back to Australia of his own free will in May of 2009 and given himself up. The judge said Gabe loved his wife, deeply regretted her death and felt guilty because he had been unable to save her. He said that Gabe had not caused the accident, but had failed to save Tina when she ran into difficulty with her breathing while underwater.
Three judges heard an appeal started by the State of Queensland on 17 July, 2009. The state wanted Gabe to serve two and a half years in prison. Gabe's Australian lawyers said the extra time was unfair because of the history of the case. The judges published their decision on 18 September, 2009.
To understand the outcome of the appeal, it is necessary to understand a little of the legal process and thinking that lawyers put into an appeal. On one side we have the State of Queensland, Australia. In Australia, as in England and countries such as Canada and New Zealand, the State is usually called the "Crown" in court proceedings. In the US, the State is usually referred to as "The People" or simply the "State". The appeal was heard before three judges of the Queensland Court of Appeal, which is the State's highest court.
The Crown had said that Gabe's sentence should be increased because it believed the sentence was wrong. Gabe's lawyers replied this was not the case. They said that Gabe had never done anything wrong in the past and he was a good person. The death of Tina resulted from an error or mistake, and the short prison sentence was a fair in his lawyers' opinions.
The Court of Appeal judges also said that the murder claim was not true. The judges were in agreement about most of the trial. However they did not agree about the prison sentence. On one hand, Justice Muir said the appeal court should not change the decision of the trial judge. On the other, Chief Justice De Jersey said prison time should be increased to two and a half years. In the third opinion, Justice Chesterman said it ought to be increased from twelve months to eighteen months. To reach agreement, the Chief Justice went with Chesterman's opinion.
With the agreement of two of the three judges, the sentence was increased to eighteen months. Each judge carefully explained their view. Finally, Chesterman said of Gabe Watson, ""That the respondent himself promptly provided the information which proved the case against him and that for years he has borne the unjust charge, made very public, of murder are factors requiring substantial amelioration in sentence."" (Gabe Watson gave the information which showed he had killed his wife accidentally. Because he was for many years unfairly blamed and unfairly accused for her murder, he should have his prison sentence shortened.)