The West Memphis 3: Trials and Triumph
How often do people get wrongly accused in the United States for serious crimes, leaving villainous criminals free? According to Tom Spring, at the Ohio State University, about 10,000 people in the United States are wrongly convicted of serious crimes each year. In a trial, there is a 0.027 percent chance that a person is wrongly convicted. Meaning that there is a 99.09292 percent chance that the court system is correct (Hughes). With a strong court system one would think that the chances of getting wrongly accused for a huge crime such as a murder are slim. For Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols, and Jessie Misskelley, they were a part of the 0.027 percent that had their lives taken from them. What causes someone to be wrongly accused? Is it the lack of DNA, the
…show more content…
lying witnesses, or is it the faulty polygraph tests? After 18 years in prison the West Memphis Three, a title the three men have taken on after being accused, are free. On May 5, 1993, three eight-year-old boys went out for an evening bike ride. It was a nice day in West Memphis, Arkansas. Chris Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch wanted to take advantage of that. A few hours later, John Mark Byers, the father of Chris Byers, called the local police station reporting that his son was missing (Linder). After two more calls from parents the police went searching. According to Douglas O. Linder, the police found a shoe similar to one of the boys’ floating in a ditch in the local woods where the boys would sometimes play. Moments later in Robin Hood Hills, the naked, bruised, mutilated, and hog tied bodies of the three boys were pulled out of a stream (Linder). This was the beginning to a long investigation. It was rumored that the killings were done by devil worshippers for some form of cult activity, and the number three was a powerful number in satanic belief (Linder). On May 7, an officer interviewed a young, troubled teen named Damien Echols. Damien was 17-years-old and had a history of psychiatric problems including major depression. He was also placed under suicide watch in 1992 (Linder). Echols wore all black, had long hair, and described himself as a Wiccan. Pam Echols, the mother of Damien, stated that her son was at home with her on the night of the murders. Echols’ polygraph results came back negative. His odd behavior was the main reason he was interviewed, for he had previously told a social worker that he might become another “Charles Manson or Ted Bundy”. Jason Baldwin was a friend of Echols, and was guilty by association to Damien’s witch activities. 17-year-old Jessie Misskelley was another friend of Echols, he was mentally disabled, and was the third questioned teenager (Linder). Misskelley babysat for a woman named Vicki Hutcheson, who told police about an experience she had at a witch meeting or esbat with Echols and Misskelley. When Misskelley was taken in for questioning, he kept denying the murder, but because of his disability he eventually told the officers what they wanted to hear. The police felt like they had their final suspects and the trials began. All teens were charged with 3 counts of capital murder (Linder). The first trial, for Jessie Misskelley, was on January 18, 1994. In the courtroom, the prosecutors displayed Jessie’s tape of his questioning, and dismissed errors he recalled about the murders. Jessie was under pressure at the time, and would just repeat back to the police what he had heard other people saying about the murder, not actually knowing what happened to the boys. Vicki Hutcheson was brought up to testify what she knew about Misskelley and Echols. It was concluded that there was no physical evidence connecting Misskelley to the crime, but his polygraph results and confession made him a culprit. The second trial was for Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin. Jason Baldwin was not known as a “trouble maker” like Echols was. Baldwin took pride in taking care of his little brothers and mother. During the prosecution, there wasn’t a lot of clear evidence. The prosecutors were mostly feeding off of information told by witnesses. Prosecution witness, Michael Carson, said Baldwin admitted to dismembering the kids. Also, two girls claimed to have heard Echols talk about killing the boys. The only physical evidence was a polyester fiber found on a cub scout hat belonging to one of the boys that was microscopically similar to one of Echols’ shirts (Linder). Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were sentenced to life in prison, and Damien Echols was given a death sentence. In 2007, all DNA on the site was reexamined and did not match the DNA of Misskelley, Echols, or Baldwin.
A new trial was held to discuss this DNA. Because of this new discovery, there were many efforts to free the West Memphis Three. Another reason people were standing up for the West Memphis Three was because Vicki Hutcheson had stated earlier in 2003 that what she had testified during the trials was a lie out of fear. Well known people like Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder, and Natalie Maines advocated for the West Memphis Three (CNN Wire Staff). On August 19, 2011, the three men took an Alford Plea as their step to freedom. They maintained their innocence but the prosecutors still had evidence against them to convict them (CNN Wire Staff). Jason Baldwin came out of prison as a sweet, optimistic, and goofy man who wanted to get a law degree, and to help the wrongly accused (Severson). Jessie Misskelley moved back to Arkansas to be near his dad. He has two kids and is studying auto mechanics (Severson). Damien Echols has taken an interest in art and filmmaking. He got married on death row to Lorris Davis, a filmmaker who made a documentary about the West Memphis Three
(Linder). After 18 years in prison, the West Memphis Three finally had their freedom back. Although being wrongly accused for crimes is a rare occurrence, it can happen. In this case, the lack of DNA at the crime scene, the lying witnesses, and the faulty polygraph tests were the reasons behind these false accusations.
The case of Tennessee vs Reeves talks about two youngsters named Tracie Reeves and Molly Coffman who were students at the West Carrol Middle School who were planning to kill their teacher, Janice Geiger (Hall 2014; Schmalleger, 2014). They had planned to poison the teacher with rat poison by putting it in the teacher’s drink (Hall 2014; Schmalleger, 2014). There were other students who had found out, and the plot had been reported to the teacher and principal of the school (Hall 2014; Schmalleger, 2014). The students were convicted of attempt to commit secondary degree murder based on the fact that the poison was brought to the school and if it wasn’t because the plot to killed Miss. Geiger was interrupted the crime would have taken place.
Arizona V. Hicks discusses the legal requirements law enforcement needs to meet to justify the search and seizure of a person’s property under the plain view doctrine. The United States Supreme Court delivered their opinion of this case in 1987, the decision is found in the United States reports, beginning on page 321, of volume 480. This basis of this case involves Hicks being indicted for robbery, after police found stolen property in Hick’s home during a non-related search of the apartment. Hicks had accidentally discharged a firearm into the apartment below him, injuring the resident of that apartment. Police responded and searched Hicks apartment to determine the identity of the shooter, recover the weapon, and to locate other victims.
Paradise Lost is the first of three documentaries chronicling the story of the West Memphis Three (Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelly) and the allegations made against them regarding the mutilations and murders of Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Steven Branch. The film gives an insight into the investigation of the case with a great deal of detail using crime scene footage, court hearings and interviews.
In America we believe in the saying “you are innocent until proven guilty” but we the people are remarkably swift to point our fingers at someone we believe that committed the crime. This habit is frequently displayed within our criminal justice system when a crime is committed we quickly assume it has something to do with the first person we can link the crime to. We tend to naturally feel sympathy for the victim therefore; if the individual accuses one for a crime the jury has no reason not to believe the victim. Society does not bother to care if the individual did not do the crime because as long as someone was caught and accused of the wrongdoing, then we the people can proceed on with our lives knowing we punished someone for the crime
Memphis is considered to be a dangerous city by many around the country with not many attractions besides Martin Luther king, jr. What they do not know is that Memphis is full of rich music and history. Various genres have made an impact on people’s daily lives such as gospel, soul, funk, blues, jazz, R&B, pop, country, and rap. Stax records were found in in 1957 which was known as satellite radio at the time. Stax has made a major impact on helping the lives of people in Memphis. Stax has overlooked the obstacles of color and racism by giving many artists of different races the opportunity they dreamed of. Stax has made a major impact by helping the lives of people in Memphis, breaking color and racism barriers, and most importantly by making music. (Stax Museaum)
Wrongful conviction is an issue that has plagued the Canadian Justice System since it came to be. It is an issue that is hard to sort out between horrific crimes and society’s desire to find truth and justice. Incidences of wrongful conviction hit close to home right here in Saskatchewan as well as across the entire nation. Experts claim “each miscarriage of justice, however, deals a blow to society’s confidence in the legal justice system” (Schmalleger, Volk, 2014, 131). Professionals in the criminal justice field such as police, forensic analyst, and prosecutors must all be held accountable for their implications in wrongful convictions. There are several reasons for wrongful convictions such as racial bias, false confessions, jailhouse informants, eyewitness error, erroneous forensic science, inappropriate, professional and institutional misconduct and scientific limitations that society possessed prior to the technological revolution (Roberts, Grossman, 2012, 253 – 259). The introduction of more advanced DNA analysis has been able to clear names and prevent these incidences from occurring as often. As well as the formation of foundations such as The Association of Defense for the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC). Unfortunately, mistakes made in the Canadian Justice System have serious life altering repercussions for everyone that is involved. Both systematic and personal issues arise that require deeper and more intense analysis.
Garrett, Brandon. Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2011. 86. Print.
Even those who should have a clear sense of the an interrogation, fail to see the coercion brought upon the suspect that might lead to a false confession, and once a confession has been made, false or true, detectives or police terminates their investigation that could have found potential evidence to exonerate them. Once a confession is obtained, police tend to ‘‘close’’ cases as solved and refuse to investigate other sources of evidence (Leo and Liu) which is why such a high number of innocent people still remain behind bars. Across samples, police-induced false confessions were evident in between 15 and 25% in cases, making it one of the likely leading causes of wrongful conviction (Leo and Liu), but still juries disregard this evidence! Unfortunately, more cases like Rivers are out there. According to the Washington Post, the National Registry ha logged 1,733 exonerating cases of false confession. In one case, a man by the name of Ricky Jackson spent four decades for a crime he did not commit, only to be exonerated by DNA evidence after 40 years. To emphasize, few states, if any at all, courts provides information to the jury regarding how to assess voluntariness, nor do
Wrongful convictions in Canada is a very sensitive and disturbing topic that has created concerns as to why individuals are being wrongfully convicted. As people in Canada read about cases involving wrongful conviction, such as Guy Paul Morin, Rubin Carter and David Millguard, it often undermines their faith in the criminal justice system. Tunnel vision, the use of questionable DNA evidence, and eyewitness misidentification are the three main causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. Recognizing and addressing these concerns has led to a reduction in cases of wrongful convictions in Canada.
criminals escape justice, whether it is because of a cold case or botched police work, and hunts
There are many different reasons associated with the fact that there are still innocents being convicted with crimes they did not commit. At Northwestern Law School, in 2001, the Center of Wrongful Convictions studied the individual cases of 86 death row exonerees. Five top components were included: eyewitness error, where people have a faulty memory or are confused by the incident. Government misconduct, exemplified by the justice system(both police and the prosecution). Junk science, evidence being mishandled or studied by those who are unqualified in a trade where precision is of the utmost importance. A snitch testimony which is a trick and is normally given to those believing it is a reduction in their sentence. A false confession prompted by a mental illness or of those being clinically retarded, also stemming from police torture. Hearsay and circumstantial evidence also top the list as well.(2) When the irreversible sanc...
Some of those reasons are eyewitness identification, false confession, and police investigation, according to the Innocence Project (Cordazo 5). About 80% of wrongful convictions happen due to eyewitness mistake. According to psychology, the human brain cannot record all the information it takes, leading to a high level of uncertainties when it comes to identifying the right criminal. Further factors of eyewitness mis-identification include extreme stress, which can also decrease a person’s recall memory, causing the witness to recognize the face of a well-known memory but not actual criminal. These are some of the problems with eyewitness identification and this makes matters worse. Police procedures have loopholes and they often rely on “ suspect lineups”. Sometimes even lineups are wrong because research shows that errors happen and a suspect might be selected based on the facial similarity, instead of victim report. A false confession is the second and most harmful evidence that a victim can confess to. In the U.S, false confession results in nearly 200 felony convictions every six months. Therefore, to improve the accuracy of convictions, all interrogations should be thoroughly examined and recorded as evidence. Police investigation is another cause that leads to wrongful conviction. In most cases, there is little investigation done because of the limited fund, and this makes the police report the final copy
It has been demonstrated the one in seven people, or fourteen percent, who are put on death row were innocent of their convicted crimes. The American society is outraged when an innocent person is killed, the fourteen percent would not have to suffer if the death penalty was illegal throughout the country. There is no way to tell how the more one thousand people, possibly more, executed since 1976 may also have been innocent, courts do not generally entertain claims of innocence when the defendant is dead. Wrongful convictions and executions can be made from many of the following factors: mistaken eyewitness testimony, faulty forensic science, fabricated testimony or testimony from jailhouse informants, grossly incompetent lawyers, false confessions, police or prosecutorial misconduct and racial bias. Many of the people who are resentenced from death to life imprisonment may be innocent and rotting behind bars, since without the imminent threat of death, no one will take up their case to exonerate them. Along with the con of the death of innocent people, the elimination of the death penalty proves as a more effective way to deter
Eyewitness misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful conviction. It played a role in 75% of convictions that have been overturned since 1989 based on DNA evidence. Thousands of studies have confirmed that eyewitness testimony is shockingly inaccurate, with a mistaken identification rate of roughly 40%. This has led several courts to lament that eyewitness testimony is “hopelessly unreliable.” The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has even concluded that “mistaken eyewitness identifications are responsible for more wrongful convictions than all other causes
...st side. I do plan to be present when the last appeal goes before the judge later this year to show my support against this injustice that has occurred. These three convicted young men could be anyone of us if the judicial system allows personal prejudices to sentence people to death. How can someone's own beliefs interfere with a matter of life and death? This tragedy never should have occurred. The real West Memphis Three that need the attention are Michael Moore, Chris Byers, and Stevie Branch. The rest of the attention needs to focus on finding out what actually happened on the evening of May 5, 1993. The new evidence that does implicate possible suspects needs to be investigated by professionals who are experienced with crime scene evidence. By doing this, the future of these three young men might possibly be a little brighter than they are right now.