On the San Antonio Express-News associate professor of criminal justice at St. Mary’s University Milo Colton talks about why some people smile for their mugshots. Aside from showing disdain for the criminal justice system, he says that, “Some of them may actually be proud of what they’ve done.” Duarte, for instance — a Dallas women accused of setting fire to a yoga studio — plainly admitted as much, saying, “I suspect I thought it was going to make me happy … to burn the place that had brought me so much pain and suffering … Just to set it on fire, just destroy it, get rid of the devil’s temple.” Seaford, Delaware Police Chief Rob Kracyla on Delaware Online says the same, agreeing that some people smile because they’re proud of what they’ve done, or even of having done something worthy of attention. Others deliberately want to look intimidating or “control the narrative.”
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On the other hand, Ray Leal — also an associate professor of criminal justice at St. Mary’s University — says on the San Antonio Express-News that a smile might contain no malice whatsoever. Some people, he said, smile “out of sheer nervousness” like a child caught lying, or even laugh uncontrollably. Others, Leal said, might smile because they think it makes them look innocent. Yet others, like Juliana Strobel on Delaware Online, state having no recollection at all of why they smiled.
