dreamdancer 0 #1 January 31, 2011 how many more were 'broken' - and are still locked up... QuoteWhen Jerry's mother, JoAnn Hobbs, first saw her incarcerated son back in 2005, he greeted her by blurting out, "Mama, they broke me." He was referring to the grueling 20-hour interrogation, which took place after his sleepless 48 hours of searching and the traumatic discovery of the bodies. Hobbs, like so many others before him, succumbed to the mysterious suggestibility of sleep deprivation, desperation and fear. He confessed to murdering his daughter and Krystal Tobias. Our common sense still rejects the notion that you could ever falsely admit to killing your own daughter. And yet, case after case illustrates surprising levels of psychological breakdown and manipulation under certain interrogation scenarios. Jerry became an easy scapegoat for the murder because he fit three common suspect criteria. First, he found the bodies. That looks bad to law enforcement - how could he find them when no one else could? In point of fact, he didn't find the bodies directly, but found the bicycle and worked a search in the vicinity until the final dread discovery. Two, Jerry had a previous criminal record. In addition to a variety of drug and domestic violence charges in Texas, Jerry had been arrested for chasing a man with a chainsaw during a trailer park argument in Wichita Falls. That also looks bad. But as bad as it looks - and it was widely reported in 2005 media accounts - the guy he chased explained it differently. My brother Dave found and interviewed the chased guy, who had relocated to Wausau, Wisconsin; he shrugged it off, bearing Jerry no ill will. It was a fight, apparently. "Jerry brought a chainsaw to the fight," the guy explained, "I brought a gun." Third, and perhaps most damning, Jerry was a family member of the murdered girl, having rejoined the family after a release from a short Texas prison stay on a parole violation. That alone, given the sad facts of domestic violence, is enough to make any relative a suspect in a crime. http://www.alternet.org/rights/149727/media_frenzy_aids_wrongful_jailing_for_child_murder%3B_%27miracle%27_exoneration_5_years_later/stay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doughboyshred 0 #2 January 31, 2011 This happens all too often. There should be some sort of retribution for the officers that obtain false statements and then run with them. In many instances a little bit of common sense shows that the statements are false, but the cops and the prosecutors don't give a fuck. This is also another example of why the death penalty should probably not be used. We just can't be 100% sure that we are only executing the guilty. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Butters 0 #3 January 31, 2011 QuoteVirginia just happens to take DNA samples when you're arrested, whereas Illinois takes the samples after you're convicted." Does this make anyone else concerned?"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Niki1 2 #4 January 31, 2011 It looks like prosecuters and police have an even lower standard than news organizations. The news people try for at least 2, hopefully 3, coroborationg statements. Apparently, police can jrst go after the statement they want and go with that. It clears the books of a crime and looks good on their records. That an innocent person is convicted and the actual perpatrator is stll out there is not as important as clearing the case. To the police and prosecuters.Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done. Louis D Brandeis Where are we going and why are we in this basket? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
