West Memphis Three

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.

Like the police investigation, there was a lack of forensic involvement in this case as well. Brenton Butler was solely charged based on the fact that, an eye witness, Mr. Stephens identified Brenton as the murderer. Many will declare this case to be racial discrimination and racial profiling, due to the fact that Brenton was a black male like the murderer. Brenton just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the forensic investigation, after finding Mrs. Stephens' stolen purse in a garbage container a mile away from the murder, they should have tested the purse for DNA and finger prints. If they had done this, they would have seen that Brenton Butler's finger prints were in fact not to be found on the purse, instead they would have those of another man and Butler would have been instantly proven innocent.

The Prosecution relied mainly on evidence from both the police and unsworn (meaning the witnesses were not put under oath at the time their knowledge of the events occurred) testimony of three young children. The first child was a 6 year-old boy who was thought to be with Corey and the accused at the

You're not gonna tell me you believe that phony story about losing the knife, and that business about being at the movies. Look, you know how these people lie! It's born in them! I mean what the heck? I don't even have to tell you. They don't know what the truth is! And lemme tell you, they don't need any real big reason to kill someone, either! No sir! [Juror 10, page 51] This type of prejudice offended many of the other jurors, especially Juror 5 who is of similar race to the accused.

(117 book) Numerous celebrities sought the freedom of the “West Memphis Three” as they came to be called after their imprisonment (Robertson 1). These celebrities were putting their face out there by attaching it to a cause. This is advertisement for them.

In October of 2001 John Taylor was arrested for the murder of Leanne Tiernan due to the abundance of evidence that was found in regards to her murder. Due to the study of the pollen they were able to clearly say Leanne was at John Taylor’s place for certain. John Taylor was later given 2 more life convictions for 2 rapes he committed and they were able to say that he did them because of DNA

Everyone was subjected to security including the lawyers and employees of the court house. Everyone was either in some type of uniform or dressed extremely formal, even if they were just spectators. Few people were in the court room, but not many. The judge, lawyers and people that were being represented had not still entered the building. Moments later the plaintiff, Dawn-Evans Donahue, and the defendant Joseph Donahue with their lawyers Michael Morris and John M. Makowski, entered the court room. They had taken their place on each of the court room to make their cases in front of the judge. The bailiff then told us to all rise for their entrance of Judge Polansky. We all rose and took our seats. The court had now been set in motion for deliberation. The judge was wearing the standard gown that is portrayed in films and in real life, there was no jury because this was not a trial court, this was a family matters case.

As I entered the court, the trial has already commenced so I did not really know how a real trial started. I sat in the back where the public sits, facing the judge bench. The courtroom was cold and quiet. Especially it was very small, much smaller and less impressive than I expected.. Everyone was in formal dressing code. There were just a few number of spectators and family members in the court room. There was a clerk who was typing everything what was happening during the court time. Judge Krocker appeared to have things under control and had the proceedings moving forward smoothly. She was a very friendly lady with short blonde hair. She was listening attentively. She spoke clearly and distinctly so that everyone in the courtroom could hear. Samuel Gallegos is a white man about 5 '8 tall. He looked quite nervous while some police officers were standing behind him. From what I understood, this case was really happening back in 2014 and the suspect has criminal history relating to assault of child and another related case to this case. On my left hand side were the bailiffs while some others stood observed

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 this documentary, the viewers get an inside look at how criminal proceedings work. In the courtroom, the most important players are the prosecution, defense, and judge. The judge is in the room to make sure the proceeding runs smoothly and to settle any arguments that arise. The prosecution is there to accuse the defendant for whatever crime he or she has been convicted of. The defense is there to defend the person being convicted of the crime. There is also a bailiff who is there to oversee the court and make sure everyone there is safe. The bailiff will bring evidence form the defense or prosecution to the judge, as nobody is to approach the bench without the judge calling attorneys to the

On October 16th in Mississippi a teenager was burned to death. The suspected person was a 29 year old man named Quinton Tellis. If persecuted he would be faced with life in prison. The verdict was a hung jury. The jury consisted of 6 African Americans and 6 white jurors. The jury had some confusion and after a retry with the poll of votes they couldn’t come up with verdict. The teenager's name was Jessica chambers. She died on December 6th due to the 3rd degree burns all over her body. During the trial eight persons on site testified that she said "Eric set me on fire". There was debates on what she meant to say. The way they found out is that they tracked Quinton's phone records. He had deleted all conversations with her but had been talking

I was still filled with anticipation and was quite surprised at the differences between my first and second experience. I was formally dressed and did not really blend in with anyone else sitting in the courtroom. The attorneys seemed to come and go as they pleased, with no deference or respect for the proceedings in session.

Sorry I wasn't able to tell you where I was yesterday because I was at a jury and you know they don't let you tell anything about it to anybody. I feel like a burden has been lifted of my shoulders. We came up with the verdict after a vicious and exciting debate. Let me tell you what happened.

In 1993, in West Memphis, Arkansas, three eight year old boys, Chris Byers, Michael Moore, and Stevie Branch, were killed. The local police handled it and three teenagers were accused, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin. In Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, the documentary filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky purpose was to show what happened not only in the courtroom, but also what the victims’ families, the whole community, and the accused were going through. They accomplish this through the several scenes of the trial and doing interviews with the families of the neighborhood and with Damien. They never did a real interview with Jason or Jessie they just showed them talking to either the police

On September 27th I went to Branch 6 to watch the criminal trial of the defendant Lord Wilson. It was making out to be a weeklong trial and I made it on the second to last day. All I knew was that it was a case involving drugs and had been in the making for a while. When I arrived at the public safety building to listen to the criminal trial taking place I learned firsthand that things never seem to stay on schedule. A recess was taking place when I walked in. While I was sitting there I overheard another person in the courthouse talking about how they heard testimonies from witnesses the day before. That’s what I was looking forward to and now I was worried that I wouldn’t get to observe anything