Mindhunters | Mark Olshaker

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How Is Justice Best Served Here?

By Mark Olshaker On December 30, 2013 · 2 Comments

Austin S. Clem

I know I’m going to get some criticism for even bringing this up, but I’ve been struggling with myself over this one case and how it was handled.

Last week, a circuit court judge in Alabama handed down a completely suspended sentence – no prison time – to a 25-year-old defendant who had been convicted on three charges of rape – one Class A and two Class B – all of them against a teenaged girl, 14 and a neighbor when the first assault occurred.

Why am I struggling? Because it may be that this defendant, Austin S. Clem, a pipe-fitter and the father of three daughters, is redeemable, and that redemption could be lost if he has to spend considerable time in prison. On the other hand, the victim went through a horrible experience and is entitled to justice.

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If It Talks Like a Duck . . .

By Mark Olshaker On December 23, 2013 · 3 Comments

Phil Robertson

Ever since the A&E cable television network suspended Duck Dynasty paterfamilias and resident philosopher Phil Robertson over his announced scripture-based views of homosexuality, and the subsequent revelation about his somewhat less than progressive observations of pre-Civil Rights era African American life, the debate has raged. One side wants Mr. Robertson put away for good, while the other has forwarded a petition, now with hundreds of thousands of signatures, decrying A&E’s censorship and either supporting his views or at least defending his right to spout them.

Perhaps it is coincidental, but it seems that a lot of the folks who support a broad interpretation of the Second Amendment (including duck hunters, one might surmise) are now insisting on upholding Robertson’s First Amendment rights to say what he wants.

So let’s just take a peak at those hallowed words:

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The Wedding Gift of Murder

By Mark Olshaker On December 9, 2013 · 5 Comments

Elytte & Miranda Barbour

Adventure honeymoons are growing in popularity among newlyweds these days. They want a memorable thrill to begin their lives together. Some want to climb exotic mountains. Some want to go hang gliding. Some want to swim with dolphins.

Elytte and Miranda Barbour, married October 22 and recently moved from North Carolina to Sunbury, Pennsylvania, wanted to kill someone.

And they did. As a wedding gift to each other.

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The Passion of Michael Morton

By John Douglas and Mark Olshaker On December 4, 2013 · 3 Comments

Michael Morton & Mark Norwood

About two weeks ago, we described the historic conviction of Texas Judge Ken Anderson for criminal contempt for deliberately withholding exculpatory evidence in the murder conviction of Michael Morton when Anderson was a prosecutor. In light of the historic report by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Summit on Wrongful Convictions: Building a Systemic Approach to Prevent Wrongful Convictions, that we wrote about yesterday, we think it’s important to present the other side of the story:

The wrongfully convicted second victim’s story.

We say, “second victim” because any time there is a wrongful conviction, the number of victims grows quickly and exponentially.

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An Encouraging Step Forward

By John Douglas and Mark Olshaker On December 3, 2013 · 2 Comments

International Association of Chiefs of Police

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), in connection with the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs and the Innocence Project, is announcing new recommendations and guidelines that it says should help substantially in preventing innocent people from being convicted. The report carries the weighty title, National Summit on Wrongful Convictions: Building a Systemic Approach to Prevent Wrongful Convictions. But if the recommendations are followed, we predict it will do just that.

We heartily applaud IACP’s work on this. Many of the items on the list are practices and procedures we’ve been advocating for quite some time. If widely adopted, they should not only cut down on miscarriages of justice, but also restore public confidence to our criminal justice system in areas – both geographical and intellectual – where it is currently lacking.

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