West memphis three
...because he never responded to the press, and never testified. It was almost as if he was hiding something, and his lawyers knew that if he did make a statement, he might make the wrong one. Jason Baldwin on the other hand, did act different. In the HBO film “Paradise Lost- The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills,” it shows Jason in the courtroom smiling, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Damien Echols was to be seen as the “ring leader”, and the one who had it most together. Damien spoke to the press, on a more intellectual level. It seemed that he knew what to say, and when to say it. But at the same time, when being questioned in the courtroom, he put up no defense. He is supposed to be showing the jury he is innocent, isn’t he? Confession On June 3, 1993 Jessie Misskelley was interrogated and finally confessed that himself, Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin were involved in the murder of the three boys. (www.wm3.org, Case Information) Jessie sat with the police for twelve hours, but only a small segment of the confession was recorded. No one still knows what went on when the recording was off. Jessie was questioned by Gary Gitchell and Bryn Ridge, who assumed Jessie’s IQ was lower than the average. Jessie gave them the story that they were clearly looking for, and Police thought they had a strong case. Although in Jessie’s trial Dr. Richard Ofshe, who is an expert on false confessions was brought to the stand and stated that is was a “classic example” of manipulation of police officers. He explained to the court that the police basically put thoughts into Jessie’s head, and interrogated him until he was on his last nerve, and just stated what the police wanted to hear. (www.wm3.org, Sauls Synopsis). If you think about it, who confesses to a crime that he/she did not do? Evidence In this case, there was no strong evidence to prove that Damien, Jessie and Jason did this, but there was enough to show that they had the most involvement. The first bit of evidence was Jessie Misskelley’s confession. Although Jessie has an IQ of 72, and the recording of the twelve hour interrogation was only the part where he confessed, who confesses to something that they had no part in. The confession was definitely the strongest piece in the case. In addition, two teen girls were at a softball game that Damien allegedly was at, and overheard him saying he killed the three boys, and was going to kill two more and already picked out one. No one else heard this except the two girls, which does seem a little strange. Maybe they were asked to lie and make up this story, or maybe they were telling the truth. No one knows. This piece of evidence was not significant but still helped to convict Damien. Another piece of evidence was the knife found behind Jason Baldwin’s home in his lake. The knife...