It's December 6, 1991, the police found 4 young girls gagged, shot, and burned inside of a yogurt shop in Austin, Texas. 13-year-old Amy Ayers, 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, and 17-year-old Eliza Thomas lost their lives way to soon. This awful crime was and is now known as “I cannot believe it is yogurt murders” For 8 years, Austin Police interrogated suspects trying to get some leads to arrest the murderers. Some denied it while others admitted to the killings but were then released. The evidence that could have been used was destroyed by fire and water from the fire department.
8 years has gone by till Austin Police Department arrest 2 men, Robert Springsteen IV and Michael Scott, for confessing to the murder.
Michael Scott received life in prison while Robert Springsteen received the death penalty. Fortunately for Robert Springsteen, the Supreme Court found his case unconstitutional since juveniles at the time of the murder is not allowed to receive the death penalty.
Now it’s October 29, 2009 and on Thursday, both Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott were set free after prosecutors dismissed their case because of new evidence was found. The evidence was another man’s DNA in the vaginal cavity of the females.
Upon reading this, I asked myself, “Is our justice system really fair? Why do innocent people go to jail while others are set free?”
My heart goes out to not only the families that has lost their daughters in this tragic incident but also to the families that lost their sons for 18 years. Because of Detective Hector Polanco, the man that made these men confess with a coercive manner, Robert Springsteen IV and Michael Scott lost 18 years of their lives to the justice system. I also found out that Detective Hector Polanco lost his job for what he has done.
Because of the unfair justice system, the families of the four young girls are back to square one with pain in their hearts, knowing that the man that killed them is still out there.
Because of the unfair justice system, the man who is really responsible for this murder is still out there lurking in the darkness.
Because of this justice system, we now need to come up of a new way to stop putting innocent people in jail and letting the wrongdoers go free!
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In the article Blog Stage 5: Is Our Justice System Fair? written by John A M, he indicates about our unfair justice system. The case he mentions is an unfortunate even that took place in our local city. Unfortunate unfair jail time is something that happens all over the World. It happens because the cops, media, judges, prosecutors, and even then family of the slain want to put blame on someone weather they did the crime or not. Our justice system is not always fare in my opinion because the decision of whether one is innocent or not is made by human and not by evidence. The article LOS ANGELES TIMES: Innocent but executed? (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091027/OPINION/910269953?Title=LOS-ANGELES-TIMES-Innocent-but-executed-) proves that no matter how much evidence one has to prove their innocence there is still a human behind the decision. This article also hits home because it’s a Texas case and it involves our own Governor Rick Perry. This article clearly shows what I have stated, that decisions are not based on the evidence but on image. Gov. Rick Perry is concerned for his image and not concerned that an innocent man might have been executed. This is unfortunate and we can only hope that events like this will never happen again. Unfortunately events like this will continue to happen until the people who run the justice system do right the right thing and use the justice system right.
ReplyDeleteResponding to your article headline “Is the justice System Fair?” Generally speaking, no it isn’t. Convicted criminals rarely get what they deserve. When one actually gets sentenced, you can take their sentence and divide by 3 and that’s the time they will end up serving assuming they don’t get paroled earlier. There aren’t enough bed spaces to hold all the convicts that should be incarcerated, so the prisons turn into revolving doors as the State attempts to maintain the appropriate balance of garbage in/garbage out.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically speaking about the Yogurt shop murders, I would like to point out some things:
1.For the time being, Springsteen and Scott both got away with murder. A careful examination from District Attorney Lehmburg’s statement is that they have dropped charges at this time, not forever. She said “I remain confident that both Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott are responsible for the deaths at the Yogurt Shop but it would not be prudent to risk a trial until we also know the nature of the involvement of this unknown male.” She’s saying she wants to find out whom that DNA belongs to because she realizes it’s going to be a sticking point with the jury.
2.DNA found on one of the teens could mean anything. For example, it could mean she had willing sex with a known partner prior to entering the yogurt shop. It could also mean that an unknown suspect was with Springsteen and Scott during the crime. Just because the DNA is not theirs doesn’t mean they weren’t involved.
3.The fact that Springsteen and Scott knew details about the murder that only someone at the scene would know is very incriminating. Didn’t Scott confess to the whole thing??
For those wanting objective information about this case, please don’t go to Wikipedia. For one thing, Hector Polanco didn’t force confessions from Springsteen or Scott. He coerced them from a couple of Mexican nationals who later recanted their confession. Also, he wasn’t fired for his involvement in this case. He worked for many years at APD afterwards and got a fat, healthy retirement package. The Austin Chronicle mentions his retirement in this article http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A82897 Oh yes; he also sued the City on an unrelated discrimination case and won about $300,000. I’m sure he’s somewhere on a sandy beach knocking backing cold ones laughing at the whole thing. I’m not saying its right, I’m just sayin’….
Also, I wouldn’t consider some of thee Wikipedia’s references as exactly unbiased, especially the Texas Justice external link, whose website was designed by the defendant’s wife. I’m not saying Wiki is all wrong, but if they got the part about Polanco getting fired wrong, what else is incorrect information?
One thing I do agree with you is that the families of these young girls are suffering and that is a shame. The police investigators assigned to the case succumbed to immense public pressure and some of them acted shamefully which tainted a good portion of this investigation. Most juries would be justified in casting a wary eye at the police after some of the shenanigans they pulled. However, Springsteen and Scott are guilty as sin. Now that they're free, maybe they can team up with O.J. and look for the real killers.