Reaction To The Frontline Confession Video By PBS Essay Example

The case against the Norfolk four depicted a total failure of the justice system of the state of Virginia. The justice system which involves the police department, the Norfolk Commonwealth system, the judiciary of the state of Virginia all failed to deliver a fair judgment in all the stages of the case. The following is a reaction paper that will critically analyze the situation of the case and support the prior statements.
It all starts with the rape and murder of Michelle Boscow. The linked suspects are Daniel William, Joe, Erik Wilson, Derrick, and John Dancer. One of the questions is that how did they all come to be linked to the rape and murder of Michelle Boscow? Well they all came to be linked to the case due to intimidation and constantly being threatened by the interrogators. The interrogator and detective on the case was a Mr. Ford. Mr. Ford used extreme interrogation methods to intimidate scare the suspects to the point of confessing that they committed the alleged crime. It was not Mr. Ford’s first time to do so since he had gained a reputation of making most suspects crack and give in to the confessing they committed crimes. If all interrogators failed he was last option of retrieving information out of a suspect regardless of which method he used even though it was instill fear or pain into the suspect whether mental, physical, or emotional.
The techniques that he used include polygraph tests, intimidation, threatening, applying pressure on the suspects, and denying the suspects the right to lawyers. This was in a bid to make them say what he wanted to hear in order to solve the case quickly. Daniel Williams even says that Ford was like a bulldog, relentlessly going at him with the motive of making him confess that he did rape and kill Michelle. The same comments that Daniel made about ford were also made by Joe, Derrick, and Jeffrey. Ford’s aim was you confess you did it even though you did not and he did not want to carefully investigate and make rational decisions about a case. Well is this the exact opposite of what a police detective should do.
Moreover, he lied or even did not release the results of the polygraph tests the suspects took which further shook them and tore them apart. He did this to Daniel and his fellow suspects. Apart from the tests, he also ignored the results from any autopsy and DNA tests that were conducted in a bid to prove the suspects were linked to the rape and murder. An example is first when an autopsy conducted on the body of Michelle Boscow and they found out that she had been stabbed by a knife which was the only weapon used and it was contrary to the statement Daniel made that he used a shoe to hit her several times until she died. Second, is the DNA tests confirmed that the semen found in the body of Michelle did not much the ones provided by the four suspects.
Later on after the actual criminal, Omar Abdul Ballard sends letter confirming that he raped and murdered Michelle and his semen tests positive for the one similar to the one in Michelle’s body, the justice system denies Omar’s confession. They insist that Omar coordinated with the other four to gang rape the victim despite the fact that they know through reason that the four were not involved. Others like Mr. Ford deny Omar’s claim and they insist that they gang raped and killed the victim. They deny the truth as a way of protecting their reputation in the law enforcement field. The case is appealed some years later and the governor of Virginia still claims he cannot set the suspects free despite the clear evidence that came up years before. Even more disappointing Virginia has been known to be that state that sentences a high number of felons to death in a year in the states. This tells a lot about the state itself meaning it has a liking for sentencing people to death that may be as a result of false judgment.
In conclusion the legal system in the state of Virginia is corrupt and is not as fair as the citizens think. Judgments are made based on irrational thought; there is solid evidence of a crime but ignorance prevails in all the legal systems with emphasis based on reputation rather than the truth. This is a norm that should be done away with since it will break down the confidence of the citizens to trust the persons involved in the execution of the law.