A Formal Review: A Paradise Lost

This review was done for a composition class about the West Memphis Murders in 1993.

The West Memphis Murders are a unique brand of horrifying. In May of 1993, three boys named Michael Moore, Christopher Byers and Steven Branch were brutally raped and murdered. One of the boys was hogtied with parts of his genitals missing. Damien Echols, Jesse Misskelley Jr and Jason Baldwin were all found guilty of three counts of murder. The rhetorical situation leads you to believe they were guilty, however there was a lack of facts to prove their guilt. 

Jesse Misskelley has an IQ of 72. That makes him, by definition, a handicapped individual. Jesse went under twelve hours of interrogation, but only 43 minutes of it was recorded. The court has no idea what happened in the interrogation room outside of those 43 minutes. An interrogation expert says during the time we do see, Jesse changes his story several times. First, he says it was in the morning, but then the officer interrogating him asks, "It happened around noon, right?" And Jesse agrees. A few minutes later, the question is repeated, but the officer asks if it was at night. Jesse begins to say they were at the creek bed at night. The expert says this disproves his confession, but the court still uses it. 

The officers that interrogated him admitted to using scare tactics on Jesse, someone who was already easily convinced of facts that weren't true due to persuasion techniques. The officers are recorded manipulating Jesse into saying things that he never would've thought on his own.  Without knowing what was said in the whole two hours of interrogation, there is not enough evidence to convict Jesse. The jury sentences him to life in prison anyway. 

Jesse Misskelley refuses to testify against Damien and Jason, which would've been the key to convicting all three boys. Even though the confession was fake and Jesse was persuaded into saying those things, the lawyers believed Jesse's testimony would've raised the chance of convicting them. They can't use Jesse's confession in the other boys' trial, though, which puts a strain on the lawyers trying to convict them. Despite everything working against the lawyers, they are able to still convict them. 

 According to the Rule of Law, our actions are only criminal if they are prohibited by laws that have been made public by following a proper process. (Trials, 1) The court provided hear-say about how Jesse, Damien and Jason dressed, what they listened to, and what they studied. This surely persuaded the feelings of the jury, unjustly. The judgement on their character because of those characteristics does not incriminate them. Most of the jury seemed convinced they were studying Satanism and sentenced them based on a belief. God fearing people decided to send two boys to prison for life and one boy to death because of judgements they claim their God would never make. Without any solid evidence to prove or disprove innocence, the boys remain innocent until proven guilty. 

It seems that there is no presumption of innocence in either trial, which is an essential aspect of a fair trial. (Pejic, 15) Everyone gives off the vibe that they're convinced they're guilty. The first thing brought up is the jar with testicles they found in Damien's room. Damien denies having the jar, and suggests the police had something to do with it. During the documentary, they never show us a picture of the jar, or show that they have the jar in evidence. They also found a knife in the lake behind Jason's house, but because it was in water, there are no fingerprints. Nobody knows who put that knife there. The knife did match the cuts on one of the young boy's face, but who used it? Nobody can prove it belonged to Jason. The lack of evidence is astounding. 

Previously, while Jason was in a correctional facility, another inmate said Jason confessed to him. While under oath, Michael Carson said Jason denied it at first, but admitted to the crime, in detail, the next day. The opposition told the court that Michael's drug and alcohol counselor had previously told him a lot of the details from the case, and that was how he knew what to say on the stand. Yet, they wouldn't let the drug and alcohol counselor testify to that.  

A professional dermatologist takes the stand. He tells the court it is almost impossible to commit this crime where the bodies are found. He says that it would take a considerable amount of time to remove skin and testicles, in his lab with a scalpel. Given the time of the murder, it was dark, they would've been surrounded by bugs and they were in water, made it impossible for these untrained teenagers to commit this crime. It was made a point to ask the dermatologist how much blood is in human bodies- five pints. There was no blood at the crime scene. Five pints is a lot of blood. Multiply that by three, and you've got a rather big mess on your hands. This confirms that they were murdered elsewhere, and the bodies moved to the creek bed post-mortem. There were no questions brought up as to how they got the boys to the creek bed.  

Three years later, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Woods Hills, a HBO documentary, drew interest back into the case. Celebrities like the Dixie Chicks funded a new legal team though concerts. (Ebert, 1) In late 2010, the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered new hearings when questions about DNA evidence and witnesses arose. Suddenly, a plea deal turned up. The state wanted to avoid a court hearing on the appeal because the evidence was so flawed. As long as all three men signed an admission of guilt, a technicality protecting the state, they were free to go. They could even state their innocence. On very simple terms, Damien Echols, Jesse Miskelley and Jason Baldwin were released on August 19, 2011. (Nuss, 1) 

This case left a lot of questions unanswered, which makes it seem a lot less of a fair trial. Solid evidence is required to convict people of crimes. There is absolutely no trace of undisputable evidence in the court.  The final verdicts put them all in prison for life. Damien Echols was sentenced to death by lethal injection. They ended up serving 17 years. Damien was 3 weeks away from his lethal injection date when they were released.  

The men are now in their 30's. Damien toured the country promoting his book "Life After Death" in 2012, and doesn't remain in contact with Jason or Jesse. Jason spent time on the set of Devil's Knot and met the actor who plays him. Jesse is the only one who remains in West Memphis, Arkansas, in the trailer park where he grew up. (Nuss, 1) 

The state of Arkansas wrongly imprisoned three young men who will never get back those 17 years. The people of West Memphis wanted to blame someone for the murders, and fast. They made quick judgements based on how the boys looked, rather than their actions, in order to incriminate them. The West Memphis 3 were not served justice. 

Author's Note

I am not allowed to post links in this work to credit sources. All credit is due to where I got the information. I have no claim to any gathered information.