Fiber Evidence: The Wayne Williams Case

A key factor in the case of Walter McMillian was that he was an African American man who at one point was respected by his community. However, an extramarital affair with a white woman is what crossed the line. Affairs were not out of the norm in the Monroeville community, but given the fact that McMillian was black dramatically changed what was perceived as socially acceptable behavior. The significant questioning of McMillian’s character came into play when a young woman, Ronda Morrison was murdered. The profound change in the community’s view toward McMillian was an incentive to point to him as the mastermind behind the murder. The police were unable to produce any viable suspects which led to pressure from the community to find and convict a killer – even if the person accused was innocent. The interrogation tactics used during the questioning of suspects and witnesses produced false allegations. Tactics such as intimidation and bargaining. These practices encompassed covert operations that allowed the law enforcement – police, district attorneys, judges – to navigate the case. Several people were instrumental in concocting the false story placing McMillian at the center of the crime. After his initial lie, Ralph Myers’s was pushed by police to produce additional information which although false, was used by police to arrest McMillian. As the story gained traction in the town,

When Wayne Williams was trialed for the death of two victims, DNA testing was not a reliable source in courtrooms as evident (Polk, 2015). A conviction could have been rendered without the fiber evidence in this case. The prosecution had a strong case in providing the evidence from the DNA of the hair obtained from the crime scene. On February 13, 1981, when Patrick Baltazar's body was found dumped down a wooded slope behind an office park (Polk, 2015). A forensic scientist discovered two human scalp hairs inside Baltazar's shirt. The DNA sample was tested under a microscope by both the FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Polk, 2015). The hair sample was consistent with Wayne William's DNA. This placed William at the scene of the crime. The

21). Initially the district attorney was hesitant to prosecute Williams, feeling the evidence that the FBI had collected was too weak to obtain a conviction, but after Williams failed three polygraph tests administered by the FBI and multiple eyewitnesses emerged that confirmed that Williams was seen with several of the victims prior to their disappearance, the district attorney decided to indict Williams on the murders of Jimmy Payne and Nathan Cater. (trutv 25) The prosecution’s main evidence were fibers and dog hairs collected from the bodies of the victims that matched samples taken from Williams’s home. Ultimately, Williams was found guilty for the murders of the two men (Bardsley & Bell, n.d., p. 32), and was also linked to ten other “pattern killings” that were part of the spree (Bardsley & Bell, n.d., p. 28). Although he still claims that he is innocent of the murders, the Atlanta Child Murders came to an end after he was stopped on that bridge.

We are so accustomed to waking up every day without a care in the world. We can basically go wherever we like, eat wherever we like, sit wherever we like, and not have to worry about another person controlling our every move (unless it’s our parents of course)! Imagine a time, not too long ago, when just because of the color of your skin, you had an “owner” and were treated as a piece of property, instead of another human being. A time where you couldn’t go into certain places, sit in certain areas, let alone use the restroom, unless it was in a designated place for your particular skin color. You weren’t labeled as people, but as black or white. Dred Scott was born a slave in Virginia and had to face these hardships his whole entire life. When he finally walked on to free soil where slavery was prohibited, he stayed and chose to still be with his owner. Once his owner died, he and his wife decided to sue for their freedom. Little did they know, that the rules only applied to certain people when they wanted them to.

Outside the courthouse in Newton, Georgia, in the early hours of January 30, 1943, Robert “Bobby” Hall was beaten unconscious by M. Claude Screws, Frank Edward Jones, and Jim Bob Kelley[1] while in their custody for the alleged theft of a tire;[2] Screws, Jones and Kelley were, respectively, Baker county sheriff, night policeman, and a civilian deputized specifically for the arrest.[3] Without ever recovering consciousness, Hall died as a result of a fractured skull shortly after his arrival at an Albany hospital that morning.[4] The NAACP and FBI investigated Hall’s death in the following months and federal charges were brought against Screws, Jones, and Kelley for violation

The Dred Scott case was a large part of the Debates of 1858. This was a case about a slave named Dred Scott who lived in a free state (slavery was prohibited) but was not entitled to his freedom. The Dred Scott decision was that blacks could not sue in the U.S courts and that congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories of the west. Lincoln was opposed to the Dred Scott decision and would not submit to it because it “deprives the negro of the rights and privileges of citizenship.” (book). He openly criticized the decision and stated that blacks were entitled to the same freedom whites have. He did use this opportunity to endorse his colonization idea though. Douglas’s view on this case was a bit different. Douglas supported the Dred Scott decision but advocated popular sovereignty which contradicted one another. Douglas responded to accusations of this contradiction by reformulating his popular sovereignty idea. His reformulation became known as the Freeport Doctrine which stated that settlers would exclude slavery from a territory by not adopting local legislation. What he meant is that even if territorial governments supported the supreme court decision in the case of Dred Scott and did not prohibit slavery, municipalities could still do so by failing to support government. In the first debate on August 12th Douglas supported his supporting of the Dred Scott case with this statement: “I ask you, are you in favor of conferring upon the negro the rights and

The Cherokees provided the best example of Native Americans who understood their rights most clearly as they demonstrated in their plight objecting the Cherokee removal and as they exhibited in the construction of a constitution strikingly similar to the United States constitution as well as those of the states, carefully outlining their rights in an organized coherent manner. Consistent with the federal and state constitutions, the Cherokee constitution reflected a profound belief in republicanism, a representative form of government in which those eligible to vote elected individuals to make laws to protect their life, liberty, and property.

The case I chose is about a man named Barry Gibbs. He was convicted of a crime he did not commit in New York City. On November 4, 1986, a body of an African American woman was discovered under a blanket. She was found near a Brooklyn highway and was strangled to death. A man named Louis Eppolito was the lead investigator in the case. He interviewed a man that had been jogging near the scene of the crime. The jogger told the investigator that he observed a white man pull out the African American woman out of a car, laid her on the ground, and put a blanket over her.

In Jayson Williams by rick riley, the author opined that Williams’s court ruling was unjust and so was Gus Christofis’s death. Riley believes that Gus’s death was morally wrong. He describes Gus as “well-liked” and a “changed man”. 10 years before Gus’s death he had recovered from heroin and alcohol addiction. This author also writes how other heroin addicts who were with Gus relied on him to help during times of need. Many people who came to the poor limousine driver’s funeral mentioned how Gus had saved lives for example in Riley’s article he quotes from Anthony Christofis, Gus’s nephew, “I can’t even tell you how many people came up to me and said ‘your uncle saved my life.’” Riley also believes that the court ruling for Williams was unjust

In my opinion, I do not think Wayne Williams would have gotten caught without Fiber Evidence. However, Wayne father testified stating that carpet squares used to link Wayne to the slaying of a young black man were not purchased until after the victim's body was found. Also, a defense fiber expert testifying that the fibers used to link the defendant to the slayings of two young blacks matched fibers taken from a lawyer's office and a fabric store. Wayne’s farther stated, while Wayne was home there was very little privacy at home and could not have done anything wrong there without his knowing it.

Sunday, April 9th, 2017 at approximately 10:50 p.m., I Detective L. Donegain of the Fayetteville Police Department Homicide Unit conducted a noncustodial interview of Cecil Hanna (white male, 1/23/1993 of 2009 Biltmore Drive, Fayetteville, North Carolina 28304 (910) 424-5501). The interview was conducted in my Patrol Car. The following is a summary of Cecil Hanna interview:

Defendant Layla Williams was charged with DUI, reckless driving, and voluntary manslaughter after a hit and run on December 26, 2015 3:00am that left 24 Jeremy Hicks dead. The defendant contends that at the time of the crash her BAC levels were under the legal levels of 0.08 and that her BAC has a slower metabolism rate due to hyperthyroidism. Yet, later on that morning at 8:00am Layla Williams was stop and arrested by Sergeant Donald for reckless driving and he was able to administer a blood test, the results came up with a BAC level of 0.05. As a toxicologist I can use the retrograde extrapolation method, to determine the BAC level around the time of the crash. "The elimination rate of alcohol from blood is usually not known in any individual

In the case of The United States vs. John White, a U.S. Citizen named John White was charged with being part of a conspiracy to defraud investors by convincing them to buy into a fictitious entrepreneurial venture selling coffee and greeting cards. The scam operated out of call centers in Costa Rica, but also utilized facilities in Southern Florida as part of the operation. White pleaded guilty to wire and mail fraud, and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz on August 12, 2015 to 70 months in jail, five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $6,412,006.19 in restitution.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and analyze the practices conducted by law enforcement during the investigation of the murder of Ashley Smith. The following pages will discuss the crime scene investigation, the evidence collection, the investigative steps following the initial crime scene investigation, the interviews of witnesses and suspects, and other strategies performed by the acting case investigators. Constitutional challenges have surfaced regarding specific pieces of critical evidence and a section of this paper will analyze the admissibility of this evidence. Lastly this case’s law enforcement processes will be contrasted with textbook processes in an effort to determine the validity of the case’s outcome.

The case of Wayne Williams accused of killing two adults in Atlanta, Georgia. Wayne Williams was the only child of Homer and Faye Williams who were both educators in Atlanta. He, himself went and moved on from Fredrick Douglas Secondary School with honors, however, Wayne went to Georgia State College for a year prior dropping out. He was impressed with gadgets and endeavored a plans on getting rich, which cost his folks a considerable amounts of cash. Showcasing his own radio station, which he began when he was 16, he likewise longed for making it in the music world and solely set out to seek young teenage talent. Sad to say, he could not accomplish this dream of spotting great talent, regularly spending lots of money on local artists with