West Memphis Three Case

A 911 call was placed shortly after midnight. When paramedics arrived, Tammy was unresponsive. Paul and Karla claimed they had fallen asleep downstairs in the rec room and were awakened by the sounds of Karla’s 15 year old sister Tammy “choking”. Tammy was taken in an ambulance to the hospital, and Karla’s parents rode along with her. Karla, her sister Lori, and Paul stayed at the house, and were questioned by a rookie who had been on the job for less than two months, David Weeks.

14 year old Steven Truscott gave his classmate Lynne Harper a ride on his bicycle on June 9, 1959. Truscott had dropped her off before they parted ways. Lynne was reported missing later that night, and two days later, her body was found on a nearby farm. She was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. The community was horrified by what happened to this young girl and everyone was determined to find the killer. Immediately, investigators became fixated on Truscott as the prime suspect since he was the last person to see Lynne. They didn’t consider any other suspects, even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the murder. He was arrested 24 hours later, and stood trial as an adult. (Steven Truscott |

The Salem Witch Trials happened in 1692 when twenty women and one man were killed in Massachusetts Bay. The victims were believed to be consulting with Satan due to them going into the forest at night to presumably practice medicine with the natives. However, the forest was “Satan’s territory,” so those who willingly walked through it were considered evil. Because there were such high tensions, such as the continuous defense from the natives, before anyone

There was no evidence collected and tested at the crime scene which could have proved who committed the murders. A lieutenant who contacted a juvenile officer in Memphis both agreed that the murders had to have been done by someone in a cult. The juvenile officer quickly knew of someone who was involved in a cult and said this juvenile could be capable of a crime like this. The accused, Damien Echols, was immediately interviewed and asked questions that the police believed no one but the killer would know the answers to. The answers that were given by Damien Echols were known answers throughout the community and this made Damien look guilty. Damien’s appearance was very strange and different and he was not considered “normal” in the communities beliefs. He was considered guilty by his Wiccan beliefs and his gothic appearance. Not only was Damien deemed guilty of this crime, but two other boys were also accused of these murders. There are many inconsistencies with the case. The police did not collect all evidence in the woods that could have been collected to possibly link the murders to someone. According to TruTV Crime Library, there was a boy who claimed he saw who committed the murders. He claimed he even saw men who spoke Spanish commit the murders. He later changed his story and said he saw one of the victim’s fathers killing the three boys. This same boy could not even identify two of the boys

During the early nineteen hundreds many people especially in the south were often convicted of crimes for no other reason than their skin color and contrary to many ideas about our court system, we have not always been the most honest and unbiased people. One prime example of this is the case of the Scottsboro Boys and how they were accused of rape and had to go to court numerous times, almost everytime ending in the death sentence. The evidence in the case clearly points towards the innocence of the Scottsboro boys, evidence such as unclear stories from the girls, lack of bruises and marks indicating assault as well as a previous history of prostitution from both of the girls. This evidence helps to prove that Charles Weems and the Scottsboro boys were innocent and wrongly accused and convicted.

In Vicksburg Mississippi, Friday Feb. 10 4:22 pm, two bomb threats — one to Vicksburg High School and another to District Attorney Ricky Smith’s office — made police/students evacuate the school and the Warren County Courthouse Friday afternoon.The threat at the high school was received by workers at the Vicksburg Warren E911 Communications Center about 1:55 p.m., workers received the threat to the district attorney’s office about three minutes later. Both areas were cleared about 40 minutes later. The bomb threats were similar an incident that occurred almost a year ago on Feb. 17,

Jessie was a 17-year-old who was described as having a low IQ of 72 and was considered to be borderline mentally retarded (Lohr, 2012). His father pulled him from school in the 9th grade and taught him how to be a mechanic. Misskelley initially confessed to the murders after a 12-hour interrogation without proper legal representation or parental supervision. Misskelley recanted his story a few hours later but his confession was still allowed as evidence (Davis, n.d.). Misskelley was found guilty on one count of first degree murder and two counts of second degree murder, and sentenced to life plus 40 years, he was also released in 2011. The errors within the legal system failed these three teenagers, costing them over 18 years of their lives. John Fogleman, deputy prosecutor, tied the defendants to a cult as motive for the killings. Chief detective Gary Gitchell interrogated Misskelley and has been noted to have coerced Misskelley’s confession by telling him what to say. Brent Davis was the prosecutor in the trial of Echols and Baldwin, along with, John Fogleman, Scott

Wrongful convictions occur every day. With a legal system that is at times dependent on eyewitness accounts and hearsay there is room for error. Sometimes these errors of justice are quickly rectified, but at other times the process can be long and drawn out. In the case of the West Memphis three: Damian Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, were teenagers when they were arrested for the murders of three young boys: Chris Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch. For nearly two decades, although convicted of the crimes, the West Memphis three denied any involvement in the murders. The West Memphis three case is a prime example of how small town misconceptions and rumors can take hold of a criminal case and twist non-existent

The Atlanta missing and murdered children case is a progression of murder cases which occurred in Atlanta, Georgia between the eras of 1979-1981, which was a period of twenty-two months initial starting in July of 1979 There were twenty-nine African American kids and young men in Atlanta whom either vanished or were discovered killed (Nickell, 2011). The casualties, generally black African Americans were discovered suffocated. This frightening series of homicides left the city of Atlanta shocked and on high ready. The series of senseless killings also made national and worldwide headlines (Nickell, 2011).

The Case of Emmett Till Discrimination has been a problem in America since before we were a country. The murder of Emmett Till one of the first racial hate murders that took the nation and had helped them open their eyes to see what was truly happening around them. Emmett Till was just a young boy visiting some family who had suffered from an act of racism. Due to the large amount of publicity about the horrific death of young Emmett Till it caused a spark in the Civil Rights Movement. The murder of a young African American boy caused by an act of racism caused the black community to rise together and demand justice for Emmett and to be treated equally.

You probably never heard of Don Henry and Kevin Ives. Don was 16 when he was murdered and Kevin was 17. These boys had family and friends that probably will ever know who killed them. On Sunday, August 23, 1987, at around 4:00 a.m. Don and Kevin was spotted by the crew of a Union Pacific train near Alexander. The bodies were lying between the tracks, wrapped in a pale green tarp; there was a gun nearby. The train was unable to avoid running over the bodies. The train’s crew immediately reported the incident to railroad officials and to local law enforcement at benton. Around 4:40 a.m local and state police had arrived at the scene and begun investigating. At first, local officials treated the incident like a suicide.

Q1: With regards to the serious flaws in the police investigation of the West Memphis Three, the police investigation was heavily militarized as the cops were inconsistent. They did not focus on the guilty or innocent. Instead, the police concentration was on the enforcement practices and neglects the deep implications. During the police investigation, the police would not chase up any pieces of evidence that could implicate someone else in the crime other than those who already conducted some form of crime or were arrested in the past. This is displayed prominently when the police refused to further pursue the blood evidence found on the knife, who was previously owned by John Mark Byers. This is because if the police misrepresent a crime or are exposed for making mistakes such as apprehending innocents they could easily lose the public's opinions in police protection.

I believe that the main reason that this case is so important is that The Heart of Atlanta Motel felt that by forcing them to provide involuntary servitude to a race that they did not want to serve under interstate commerce laws, their power to make private discrimination was being infringed upon. The Plaintiff tries to prove this by using the end of the fifth amendment where it states: “…nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”. Article 1, Section 8, clause three states: To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes. (Cornell, 1992). The argument that was being made was that the business was local and had nothing to

Tammy had made her way upstairs as she approached his bedroom she had saw the child tangled in its own bed sheets, grasping for air to breath and appeared to be in distress from lack of air. Tammy shocked, tried to free Kenneth but was very unsuccessful. She then tried calling 911 for an ambulance. The 911 operators to preform CPR but Tammy instructed she unstable could not bring herself to calmingly follow the instructions given. Later the ambulance had shown up and had taken Kenneth to the hospital where he was revived and given air. Kenneth had suffered too much brain damage, which lead him to be taken off life support three days later. The relationship between Tammy and Kenneth was a mother and son bond which in their case was stable because even though Rick was abusive she did not let him harm Kenneth where when things got bad she became in contact with the Children’s Aid Society where she was willing to put him into care for three months in order to protect him when she felt their living situation became unbearable. Tammy became a suspect in 1993 when Charles Smith concluded that Kenneth’s death was no accident after preforming a detailed autopsy of the two year-olds body. Tammy became a suspect because she was the only one in relation to Kenneth and she was the only one who had reported the murder and claimed it was an accident.

The investigator called on the Sara Martin, and Roberta Campion case would try to piece together who wanted two young girls dead, and why. He/she would probably start by getting alibis from the other participants involved in the séance that left two citizens dead. He/she would piece together