To
Be Free
Cassie
Davis
BRTC
Ashley Hall
Judge
Not
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 evidence into concrete evidence, leading to a
miscarriage of justice. Damian Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin are
innocent of the murders of Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch and Michael Moore.
On
the 6th of May 1993 most of Arkansas watched the news and learned a
terrible crime had been committed. Three little boys had been found beaten,
murdered, and thrown in a ditch like trash. As the news spread of the murders
of Michael Branch, Steven Moore and Christopher Byers, details of the case
began to be leaked. Most details of a murder investigation are kept private.
This is done in an effort to keep out false confession and used in following
leads from tips. However, news that the boys were found naked, beaten, cut, and
that one of the murdered children was castrated quickly spread and became
common knowledge in the town. These leaks of information were the first in a
series of investigation mishaps.
With
rumors in their ears and a community scared, the pressure was on for the West
Memphis Police to find the monsters that did this. One would think all aspects
of case like this would be explored. However, on the night of the murders
employees at a nearby BoJangles restaurant called the West Memphis police to
report a strange incident that occurred in one of their public bathrooms. A
man, wet, covered in mud and blood had entered the restaurant women’s bathroom
and left a mess. An officer responded to the call but no evidence was collected
until the next day.(Perrusqia 1994) The evidence that was collected at the
restaurant, after the boys bodies had been found, was subsequently lost by
officer Brian Ridge, the same officer who would later interview one of the
accused. It can clearly be seen that losing evidence of any sort at such a
crucial time is an example of police incompetence.
Satanic
panic is a term mentioned a lot in this case. Damien Echols name was first
mentioned by an overzealous juvenile officer named Steve Jones early in the
investigation (the day after the bodies were found). Due to the leaks in the
press about the injuries on the murdered boy’s bodies and rumors of satanic
rituals Mr. Jones was contacted by officer Sudberry of the West Memphis police
department. During this informal conversation, Jones states he knows of a
person he believed to be not only to be involved in occult activities but that
could also be capable of this type of crime; Jones named Damien Echols. (Steel
2012) Based on this hunch, with no evidence, both officer Sudberry and Mr.
Jones went to speak to Damien Echols at his home the next day. During this
interview with Jones and Sudberry, Echols made a statement he thought one of
the murdered boys had been injured worse than the others. This statement was
later used against Echols, even though it was common knowledge in West Memphis
at the time. (Steel 2012) There was no reason at this time to suspect or
interview Echols at this time. One can clearly see that Echols was mentioned at
this point, not because of evidence, but more convincingly, because he was
different. According to Mara Leveritt,
Damian Echols stuck out in a crowd, often wearing all black along with a long
black trench coat. (Leveritt 1993)
One
would think a person would never admit to doing something so terrible such as
murdering three little boys if they had not committed the crime. But according
to Jennifer Schell, PhD. this occurs more often than once thought. In research
compiled by Schell the following statistics were given about false confessions:
93% were made by males, 81% occurred in murder cases, 74% of the time the real
perpetrator was found, 63% were younger than 25, and four out of five of the
false confessors who went to trail were convicted. (Schell 2011). Could this
have been the case with Jessie Misskelley?
Jessie Misskelley
was picked up in early June by officer Brian Ridge , the same officer who
earlier lost blood samples from the Bo Jangles restaurant. In an interview
given by chief criminal inspector Gary Gitchell, Miskelley “was only picked up
in hopes he knew something about cult activity.”(Berlinger & Sinofsky 2012)
Misskelley at the time was only 17 years old. With no parent present, without
Miranda rights being read to him, Misskelley was questioned for 12 hours of
which only the last 41 minutes were recorded. During this last 41 minutes of a
12 hour interview, Jessie Misskelley, whose IQ is 72, confessed to the murders
of the three little boys and also indicated accomplices’ Damian Echols and
Jason Baldwin. Even though his supposed
confession contained many inconsistencies such as the time of the day; Jessie originally
said the crime occurred in the morning, but investigators knew this could not
be true. Byers, Moore, Branch, and Baldwin had all attended school that day.
Misskelley stated the boys were “tied with rope”; however, they were actually
tied up with their own shoe strings. Also there are many inconsistences in
Misskelly’s confession when compared to the injuries of the boys. One can come
to the immediate conclusion that if Misskelley made this many crucial mistakes
during the 41 minutes he was recorded, even after 12 hours of interrogation, he
was lying. Gitchell’s entire case relied on this faulted confession.
Berlinger, J., & Sinoksky B.,
(Director & Producer) (2012). Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory [DVD]
United
States: Home Box Office
Leveritt, M. (1993,June 24). Can’t
Shake the Scock; The horror from three West Memphis
murders hangs on. The Arkansas Times, (12).
Retrieved from
Schell, J. PhD., A European
Association of Psychology and Law - Student Society Publication,
FACT
SHEET: False confessions,(1)
Steel, F. (2012) Crime Library
criminal minds & methods: The West Memphis Three.
Retrieved
from
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