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Answer & Explanation:Essay guide2015 Fall Philosophy 110 Hybrid Essay 3 Assignment.pdf Essay need to parapharse and proofreadEssay 3.docx
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Philosophy 110
Santa Ana College
Fall 2015
Essay 3 Assignment
Essay 3 is a 5-7 page minimum (typed and double-spaced) paper about the trial of Damien
Echols and Jason Baldwin, as told in “Devil’s Knot” by Mara Leveritt. (Longer than 7 pages is
acceptable.) The essay, to be submitted electronically, is due by 11:59 pm on Sunday, 12/6/15.
Present the key elements of the prosecution’s case – the evidence and witness testimony –
against Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin at their trial, including: the lake knife, the fiber
evidence, the testimony of Dale Griffis, the testimony of Michael Carson, the testimony of the
girls from the softball game, plus any other evidence or testimony that appears to you to be
central to the prosecution’s case. Next, provide an analysis of each of these elements. Then,
discuss and analyze two elements of the defense’s (specifically Echols’) case: the John Mark
Byers knife and the incident at Bojangles restaurant. In your judgment, did the jury reach the
correct verdict? Provide a well-reasoned defense of your judgment. What other information or
specific aspects of the case helps support your judgment?
Remember that the analysis portion of the essay is just as important as the summary, so be sure
to spend sufficient time making sure that both portions of the essay are well-developed.
Pham 1
Surrounding the murdering case of three eight-years-old children in West Memphis, after
the first trial of Jessie Misskelley, it was Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin’s turn to attend their
trials. In this trial, there was previous evidences along with a few more new ones that were found
to go against them. Although these accusations were not strong, the jury still came to a
conclusion that guilt was established.
For the resumption of the Jessie Misskelley’s trial, the judge consider the previous and
new evidences that made all three (Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley) be
arrested and charged with the crime, such as the testimony of Vicki Hutcheson, Narlene
Hollingsworth, Dale Griffis, Michael Carson and girls at the softball game, Jessie’s confession,
and the fiber evidence.
To begin with, Vickie Hutcheson’s witnessed Echols and Misskelley took her to an
Esbat. However, when she contacted private investigator Ron Lax and writer Burk Sauls, people
had their doubts about her testimony. She contacted private investigator Ron Lax in April 1994 a
few times, and said she was “bothered” about the investigation of the case. She also asked him
about the reward money, and she said that she should have received the reward since her son’s
voice was what “broke the case.” She continuously mentioned about her son’s interview which
they had no right to interview him without her approval, and she had in mind to sue the city.
Furthermore, she said that she did not sign any releases to have the tape recorder which was
installed in her trailer and said Glitchell was lying about releases. She kept changing her claims
back and forth. She talked about the hot check and Bryn Ridge who would take care of them for
her. She also contacted writer Burk Sauls. In her interview with the writer, she said, “basically I
said what the West Memphis police wanted me to say. And that was that I went to the meeting.
The esbat meeting. It was all their stories.” She said the police overreacted. She confessed, “I
Pham 2
want to say that I’m sorry. I just want to tell Jessie and Jason and Damien that I’m sorry.” If the
jury had knew this in the trial, their point of views would have changed a lot which might be
beneficial to defendants.
Second, Narlene Hollingsworth, aunt of Domini Teer (Echols’ girlfriend), testified that
she saw Echols and Teer walking near the wood with mud on their pants on the night of May 5th
1993. However, it was not one hundred-percent proof that she had given the correct evidence.
Third, Dale Griffis claimed himself as a Ph.D. “cult expert” from Columbia Pacific University,
Tiffin, Ohio which he did not attend to take any of the classes. Nevertheless, he was allowed to
testify in the area of the occult by Judge Burnett. He said the crime appeared to be cult related to
the number of the victims ( 3 children), the age of victims (only 8 years old), the nature of the
injuries (destroyed genitals), the time of the crime (full moon), the lack of blood (saving for other
events), the incident’s date which was near occult related holidays. In addition, he testified that
Echols appeared to be involved in the occult by cause of his “dark theme” writings and drawings.
Griffis’ testimony indicated the strong possibility that the incident was caused for the will of an
occult in which Echols was the most suspicious person relating to Satanism. He distinguished
occult and cult, by believing that cult were groups breaking laws. He also connected number
three to the satanic belief, but he couldn’t explain the relationship of number three to beliefs
from other religions such as Christian, the Trinity, and the Three in One. In short, his fake Ph.D.
title in this case should have been eliminated at the first sign, but the negligence judge still let
him testify, which made the jury fell for his faulty satanic theory.
Fourth, Michael Carson, a 16-year-old burglar, who was in serious trouble – someone that
should not be trusted, said that Jason gave him the “gory detail” of the murders. In addition, he
said that Jason told him to take care of Jessie for revealing the involvement of the trio. Also, he
Pham 3
mentioned about the part that Jason had sucked blood from the penis. Besides, girls at the
softball field said that Damien had claimed the responsibility for crimes, and he was going to kill
two more. There were two girls who both confirmed that they never saw Damien in the previous
game. The strength of this testimony is it could be guaranteed by the majority of people at the
softball game if it is true. On the other hand, the two girls could have lied because they hate
Echols’ personality, or they went with the hatred of people all the time. Also, one of them
mentioned about “six or seven” people who went there with Damien, but she could not recognize
any of them to confirm her statements.
Next, it was Jessie Misskelley’s confession. Jessie’s lawyer believed that his confession
was a false statement. To prove his belief, Dr. William Wilkins, a local psychologist, was invited
to help him. Then, Wilkins affirmed that Misskelley’s IQ was at borderline mental retardation
level. In addition, a nationally recognized expert on polygraph exam and interrogation methods,
Warren Holmes stated that Misskelley’s polygraph indicated no deception about the crime and
the polygraph test could have covered Misskelley in misinformation. He also pointed out the
inconsistencies in statements such as the time of the crime, the ligature used to tie the victims
and the nature of the injuries. The type of person most falsely confess was low IQ, or low selfesteem. Therefore, it seemed that his confession was not a very strong statement against the
three, although it still hurt others’ impression toward them.
Lastly, fiber evidence, which was found on the shoelaces of the victims, was considered
as secondary transfer evidence: red fiber that could be from Baldwin’s mother’s bath robe and
green fiber that could be from Echols’ sister’s shirt. Moreover, a knife was discovered
incidentally after about six months after the crime and right before the trial at the bottom of the
lake behind Baldwin’s house in an over one hour search. It was perfectly fitted with the
Pham 4
description of the kind of knife that Echols used to carry around. The most important evidence
was some of the victim’s wounds could been caused by this kind of knife. However, these
secondary transfer evidences could not be considered as strong evidences because there was no
strong indicator that the fiber evidence belonged to relatives of defendants, and also no any
fingerprints that could be found on the knife.
According to these abnormal evidences, the defendants introduced their two elements of
the defense: John Mark Byers knife and the incident at Bojangles restaurant. John Mark Byers,
Christopher Byers’s father, jailed for 8 years because he convicted of felony terroristic
threatening, admitted guilt in the $20,000 Rolex fraud, drug and weapons arrests, hot-check
convictions, and a conviction for contributing to the misbehavior of a minor. Before he was
charged with these crimes, he was also guilty with the charge relating to the boys’ fight which he
should have served in prison for a year. In fact, he posted an appeal bond of $1,000 to walk free.
He secretly gifted a member of HBO filming team a folding knife, which had a dent of blood
inside. This evidence provided a strong possibility that the three defendants were not actually
guilty because of the strange actions of Byers. This could be seen as a way to get rid of the
murder’s weapon, although there was one thing that would make any of us rethink about his case.
If he had done this perfect crime and got rid of other evidences, why would he had to wait for
that long just to throw away the murders’ knife in a stupid way? What type of criminal would
wait that long just to dispose the key evidence when he or she was smart enough to get rid of all
evidences (even blood of the victims could not be found at the crime scene).
…
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