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Finally, the testing and use of a polygraph examination of Fritz was inexcusable. It was based on the results of this test that the police ultimately decided to arrest Fritz and then they set about building their case. In reality, the results of the polygraph were not definitive and merely indicated that Fritz was being possibly evasive. Under normal circumstances, such results would have not motivated an arrest.
The failure of the prosecution to share vital Brady material with the defense and the trial court's failure to properly rule on the state's failure were a severe violation of the defendants' constitutional rights. The defense in both cases should have been granted, at a minimum, a request for a new trial and the prosecution should have been sanctioned for their failure to share the information with the defense. The forensic evidence as to the hair samples and the palm print should have likely been excluded and, as the trial proceeded, it was not only not excluded it formed a major portion of the state's case.
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Williamson would have undoubtedly been put to death and Fritz would have spent the remainder of his life in prison. In the end the legal system worked as it was supposed to as both men were exonerated but it took considerable resources for the right result to be reached and two innocent men lost a significant portion of their lives to incarceration. An interesting antidote to the entire case is the fact that Glen Gore's DNA was identified as being inside the victim and, based at least partially on this evidence, Gore was eventually convicted of Carter's rape and murder. He was initially sentenced to death for his crime but the sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment.
Criminal Procedure
Murder Trial of Phil Spector In the 1960s, Phil Spector achieved legendary status as the visionary behind countless pop music classics. The famed 'Wall of Sound' produces helped to create immortal hits with girl groups like the Crystals and the Ronettes. But he achieved a different kind of notoriety when his oft-acknowledged erratic behavior and affection for firearms culminated in the 2003 death of Lana Clarkson. The actress, whose body was
He admits that he killed her but he states that it was an accident. In an event in which the result is death the defense of involuntary manslaughter is available if the defense can show that it was not an intentional killing. He also used a partial wrestling defense. He was not allowed to use a complete wrestling defense because the professional wrestlers who were asked to testify to the
Matthew Baker Murder Case In Waco, Texas former pastor Matthew Baker was convicted of the murder of his wife in early 2010. In 2006, Baker's wife Kari was found dead in what looked like a suicide. However, it soon became apparent that Baker's accounts of his and Kari's movements during the day of her death were inconsistent with the forensic evidence discovered at the scene. It took some time before prosecutors
Menendez Brothers Case The Menendez murder case happened more than a quarter century ago but it is still one of the more notorious murder cases in the United States. It was the case of two men that were barely adults and how they shot and killed their parents. There are so many themes that could be looked at when assessing this case including affluence, child abuse, murder motives and the proper
IC 18-4003 lays out the elements needed for a first-degree murder conviction, and many of those do not require aforethought. Further, IC 18-4001 does not state the definition is for first degree murder only, and thus, simply adds to the ambiguity of the law. Still another change may need to be a redefining of phrase "an abandoned and malignant heart" in IC 18-4002. This phrase is not legally clear, and
" (Lebsock 80). This ordering of events makes more sense, but the evident fluctuations from one moment to the next make the validity of his testimony highly suspect. If these events had actually transpired, Marable should have no trouble remembering when and where Mary Barnes communicated with him. Apparently, this account takes into consideration Edward Pollard's testimony that Mary Barnes soon followed him into the fields. Later Solomon Marable contends, "Mary Barnes