user created polls & quizzes

Rate this ballot.

crime : FREE THE WEST MEMPHIS 3?

[+] ballot by RunsWithScissors

Three eight-year-old boys — Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore — were reported missing on May 5, 1993. The first report to the police was made by Byers' adoptive father, John Mark Byers, around 7:00 pm. The boys were last seen together entering Robin Hood Hills around 6:00 pm by a neighbor. Initial police searches made that night were limited. Friends and neighbors also conducted an impromptu but unsuccessful search that night, which included a cursory visit to the location where the bodies were ultimately found.

The West Memphis 3 is the name given to three teenagers who were tried and convicted of the murders of three children in the Robin Hood Hills area of West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993. Damien Echols was sentenced to death. Jessie Misskelley, Jr., was sentenced to life in prison, plus 40 years (he received two 20-year sentences in addition to the life sentence). Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment.

There has been widespread criticism of how the police handled the crime scene. Misskelley's former attorney Dan Stidham cites multiple substantial police errors at the crime scene, characterizing it as "literally trampled, especially the creek bed." The bodies, he said, had been removed from the water before the coroner arrived to examine the scene and determine the state of rigor mortis, allowing the bodies to decay on the creek bank, and to be exposed to sunlight and insects. The police did not telephone the coroner until almost two hours after the discovery of the floating shoe, resulting in a late appearance by the coroner. Officials failed to drain the creek in a timely manner and secure possible evidence in the water (the creek was sandbagged after the bodies were pulled from the water). Stidham calls the coroner's investigation "extremely substandard." There was a small amount of blood found at the scene that was never tested. After the initial investigation, the police failed to control disclosure of information and speculation about the crime scene.

Guilty
Not guilty
Not sure
SORRY, THIS POLL IS NOW CLOSED.

Ballot #136436 :
Voting Finished : SEE RESULTS

Comment:

show your vote with comment?

v 2.0

Vote on the ballot listed to the left, and rate the ballot below.

You are about to rate this ballot for quality.
Remember, this is for the ballot itself, NOT the choices in the ballot.
Individual ballot choices can be rated by clicking on the choices.

Submitted by : RunsWithScissors
Submitted on : Feb 28,2010 10:27:41 pm
ballot title:

Free the West Memphis 3?

ballot number:136436

COMMENTS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_3

by RunsWithScissors [+]

Voted : Not sure
Well, if I remember, the victims were sexually abused in addition to being murdered. Whoever did it belongs in jail for life.

by Mr_Spleen [+]