When Innocence Is Not Enough

Julie and Joel

by Diane Fanning

If your child were murdered and you were charged with committing that homicide but you knew you were not the perpetrator, how do you cope with knowing that your innocence simply was not enough to pull you out of the vortex of a criminal justice system operating in an alternative reality?

Can you imagine anything worse ever happening to a parent?  I can't.

It is what happened to Julie Rea after the murder of her ten-year-old son Joel Kirkpatrick.  She described the intruder in her home.  She suffered injuries that the emergency room doctor said could not have been self-inflicted.  She passed lie detector test.  Law enforcement did not believe her. 

Represented by an inexperienced, court-appointed attorney, she was convicted and sentenced to 65 years in prison.

Initially, I did not believe her, either.  I did not place any credibility in what was said by Julie, her friends, her family or her attorneys.   Then, I heard the prosecutor speak.  He said that there were no stranger fingerprints in the house; that no stranger would come into the house to kill a child; that the violence of the crime proved the perpetrator was someone very close to the child; and that a person does not come into someone's home without a weapon and pull a knife out of the kitchen drawer and use it to kill.

That's when I knew Julie Rea might not be guilty because I'd been interviewing serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells for my book Through the Window.  He did all those things at crime scenes.  I didn't suspect him then but thought someone just like him could have committed the crime. 

When I wrote to Sells about what the ridiculous things the prosecutor said, without any details of names, places or dates, he wrote back asking if the crime was committed a couple days before his murder of Stephanie Mahaney in Springfield, Missouri--maybe on the 13th.  That was how his confession began.  Still, I was skeptical until Bill Clutter, investigator for the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project, found corroborating testimony in the town of Lawrenceville, Illinois.



Julie Rea and Diane Fanning

From that moment on, I was convinced and was determined to do what I could to help find justice for Julie Rea.  The Center for Wrongful Convictions and an extraordinary Chicago defense attorney, Ron Safer, became involved.  Julie got a new trial and was acquitted of the crime.  Just last month, she received a Certificate of Actual Innocence from the State of Illinois. Julie handed me the Defender of the Innocent Award from the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project--definitely the highlight of my career as a crime writer.

Whenever anyone maligns the True Crime genre or is dismissive of my writing, I will always think of Julie and the role my book played in her tragic story.  It is just one example of why I think the genre makes a significant contribution and why I feel compelled to keep writing it.

But still something was missing and that was Justice for Joel.  After his murder, if the sheriff's office would have paid any attention to reports of a suspicious stranger in town, maybe deputies could have found Tommy Lynn Sells before he killed again.  But, instead, they myopically focused on proving Julie's guilt, hid some evidence from the defense and ignored anything that did not fit their theory of the case.

Today, even though the state has completely exonerated Julie Rea, the State's Attorney's Office refuses to investigate further--refuses to find Justice for Joel.

This Sunday night, on the Investigation Discovery channel, at 10 pm Eastern, On the Case with Paula Zahn presents A Mother's Nightmare, the story of Julie Rea, her son Joel and the many people including me, who stood up to find Justice for Julie and Joel.

Throughout the trial of Casey Anthony, Diane Fanning, author of Mommy's Little Girl, writes daily about the the pursuit of Justice for Caylee Anthony on her blog, Writing Is a Crime.

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Interview with Diane Fanning, Author of Casey Anthony Book

As the jury selection in the Casey Anthony trial came to a screeching halt this week, WCI's own Diane Fanning sat down with us for a question-and-answer session. Diane authored Mommy's Little Girl, a critically acclaimed, serious look into the disappearance of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony. When court adjourned May 18 in the midst of jury selection, Diane shared her insights about the murder that grabbed the nation's attention as Caylee's mother Casey was charged with the death of her little girl.

Q: Diane, what's your take on the difficulty in seating jurors in this case?

DF: The latest is that Judge Belvin Perry suspended jury selection at lunch time on Wednesday, May 18. Many in the jury pool say she's guilty. One potential juror was released because he posted on Facebook that he was writing a book; another, because she admitted watching Nancy Grace's daily TV [case] coverage. 

The Casey Anthony case has received more pre-trial publicity than any case, including the O.J. Simpson trial. Surprisingly, though, Mommy's Little Girl has been the only book published on this case. This widespread publicity has made it difficult to find jurors who have not already reached a conclusion in this case. I think the judge would have had a bit easier time if he had paid attention to the media survey that showed the least media coverage in the state was in the Pensacola area. I think he made a mistake going just 100 miles away in Clearwater for the jury panel.

Q: Do you think the media attention in this case has tainted potential jurors?
 

DF: I think it has had an impact on some, but it is still possible to find people who have not been as absorbed in this case and are still capable of making a decision based on the information presented in the courtroom. Personally, if I were on Casey's defense team, I would challenge strongly for cause against any juror who has read my book.

Q: A cottage industry -- mostly T-shirts with a variety of sayings, good and bad, key chains, coffee mugs -- has exploded. Have you seen anything like this before?

DF: Certainly not to this extent. The products started coming out within a month after Caylee was reported missing by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony. Early products included voodoo dolls with Casey's face on them. Now they are everywhere. The two most common you see are ones that say "Justice for Caylee" and others with "Casey Did It." If I were Casey's parent, I would not be bothered by the former, but I would by the latter.  For some reason, though, it is the "Justice for Caylee" merchandise that has raised the Caseys' ire and legal action.

Q: Given your book, Mommy's Little Girl, and your probe, what is the most damning evidence against Casey?

DF: I do not think the jury can ignore Casey's lies or her behavior after Caylee's disappearance. She partied like a single 21-year-old without a care in the world. She never reported her child missing.  Forensically, I think the combination of the testing in the trunk of her car, the anecdotal remarks like the spontaneous utterance of Cindy Anthony ("It smells like a dead body in that car") and the response of the cadaver dogs definitely placed the blame for the death on Casey. The duct tape around Caylee's skull proves murder with malice. Casey's computer searches on ways to kill a child months before Caylee's death seal the premeditation.

Q: As Casey sits through the jury selection process each day, she fusses with her hair, flexes her hands, smiles and jokes with her team of attorneys. What do you make of her behavior?

DF: She is obsessed with herself and she is nervous. Can you imagine sitting in a courtroom looking into the faces of people who say to the court they are capable of sentencing you to death? Casey's stress must be over the top, as well it should be for any guilty person.

Q: Cindy and George lost their granddaughter, but, with the trial and a possible conviction, they face losing their only daughter, should the death penalty be handed down. Do you think that's why they're supporting Casey?
 

DF: They should not abandon their daughter no matter what she has done. But they have gone beyond that by proclaiming her innocence and even obstructing justice when you consider the hair brush incident.  Cindy intentionally gave law enforcement a hair brush that had been used by Caylee and others instead of giving them the one that was Caylee's alone. I think they have adopted the idea that they have lost a granddaughter and now do not want to lose their daughter, too.

Q: Casey refused to see her parents before the jury selection began. Why do you think that is?
 

DF: Only her mother asked for a visit and she did so on the day before Mother's Day.  I think it was heartless to deny that to any mother. But I think the reason Casey did it is because her legal team told her to do so. They knew Casey could not control her temper, could not control her mouth, and was incapable of doing anything during that visit that would not place her in a bad light.

Q: In your in-depth coverage of this case, what was your experience like when dealing with police, private investigators and contacting the family for interviews?

DF: I was knocked into a concrete wall by a member of Jose Baez's entourage. I was threatened by private investigator Dominic Casey. George and Cindy refused to speak to me. The State's Attorney Office was very helpful, and interviews with relatives outside of the immediate family and with friends and neighbors were very worthwhile.

Q: What was the family's response to your book?

A: The family has made no response to the book. I do know from someone who was close to them that they read the book, but I know nothing more. However, I am fairly certain that they did not like it at all.

Thanks, Diane!

Watch for updates about the Anthony case on Diane Fanning's blog, Writing is a Crime, as well as here on WCI.

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MISTAKEN IDENTITY Hits the Stores

by Kathryn Casey

You know Women In Crime Ink’s Diane Fanning best for her ten true crime books, but she also writes fiction novels that have been praised by Kirkus Reviews, Booklist and Library Journal. Now, fresh from her overwhelming success with her latest true crime book, MOMMY’S LITTLE GIRL, Diane announces the release of a new novel, MISTAKEN IDENTITY. I wanted to know more about it, so I interviewed the author about her latest publication.

Kathryn Casey: Obviously, since MISTAKEN IDENTITY is the third book in the Lucinda Pierce mystery series, Detective Pierce is the main character of this novel. What other characters from the first two books appear again?

Diane Fanning: A number of them are back: FBI Special Agent Jake Lovett returns, and the attraction between him and Lucinda heats up. Charley Spencer, who is now ten years old, is back interacting with Lucinda, as well as helping out the newly orphaned Freddy Sterling. Lucinda’s siblings, Maggie and Ricky, have expanded roles in this book, revealing more details about their current relationships and their family’s past. Returning in less prominent roles are Charley’s father, Dr. Evan Spencer, Dr. Rambo Burns, Ted and Ellen Branson, Dr. Audrey Ringo, Officer Robin Colter, District Attorney Michael Reed, forensic specialist Marguerite Spellman, defense attorney Stephen Theismann and Lucinda’s supervisor Captain Holland.

KC: Aside from the characters, what are the similarities between MISTAKEN IDENTITY and the other two books in the series?

DF: Each of my books developed a focus on a particular problem in our society. THE TROPHY EXCHANGE explored the cost of domestic violence through the murder of Lucinda’s mother and the suicide of her father, as well as the ugly incidents that impacted her professional life. PUNISH THE DEED looked at people who refuse to accept responsibility for their actions and instead place the blame on others — the most striking example being the serial killer who hunted down the heads of non-profit organizations. MISTAKEN IDENTITY continues in this tradition by taking a look at the damage of childhood scars and the consequences of irresponsible parenting.

KC: Is there anything that makes MISTAKEN IDENTITY different from its predecessors?

DF: Most definitely. In the first two books, Lucinda tracked down serial killers — in each one, the offender had a different motivation and method of operation but still both were homicidal psychopaths with blood lust. In MISTAKEN IDENTITY, the homicides are far more personal. Instead of leaving a string of bodies for Lucinda to connect and follow, this perpetrator leaves a trail of contradictory clues.

KC: Your first two true crime books were about serial killers, too, weren’t they?

DF: You know, until this moment, I hadn’t thought about that, but you are right. I wrote about Tommy Lynn Sells and Richard Marc Evonitz and their strings of murders before turning to the far more personal homicide committed by Michael Peterson in WRITTEN IN BLOOD. I knew writing true crime had provided me with a lot of knowledge and information that helped add to the credibility of my fiction, but I guess writing about real crimes had more of an impact on my fiction than I knew.

KC: What are your plans for the future? Will you be writing true crime or fiction?

DF: Actually, I plan to do both. Fiction it very solitary work that makes me appreciate the places researching true crime takes me, as well as the interaction with people I get from doing interviews and visiting courtrooms. On the other hand, it is a nice escape from reality to write fiction, shape a story the way I want it to go and kill off whoever needs killing without causing any grief to real people.

KC: So what are you working on now?

DF: I have two books in progress. One is a true crime about Raynella Dossett Leath. Her first husband was thought to have died in a cattle stampede. She claimed her second husband’s death was suicide. Now, she has been convicted of the murder of her second husband and is facing trial for killing her first husband. I am also working on a fourth Lucinda Pierce novel. And I need to get both manuscripts completed this year.

KC: My friend, you are going to be busy!

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Diane Fanning and True Crime Facts

by Andrea Campbell

Sometimes the best things are right in front of us. Today I am sharing an interview with our own WCI writer, Diane Fanning. There are some forensic science details, but I thought you might be interested in how a true crime book is created (I know I have always been). Diane is a good friend of mine as well as an interesting writer and person.

Q.: Diane, for WCI readers who don’t know you, please tell us a little about your background.

A.: I’m the author of 10 true crime books and three mystery novels and the editor of an anthology of Texas women writers. One of my true crime books, Written in Blood, was a finalist for an Edgar Allen Poe Award.

I was born and raised in the Baltimore, Maryland, area, moving to Virginia for college. I never left that state until I moved to Texas. I now live in New Braunfels, situated in between Austin and San Antonio, Texas.

Q.: Is it unusual to go to press even if the case has not come to resolution? I thought publishers preferred to go to print after the sentencing phase of the trial.

 A.: It depends on the publisher. Some do, some don’t. Often the verdict or sentencing can be anti-climactic, causing a lower volume of sales. This happens often when the case actually does not go to trial because of a plea bargain. While the story is still on-going, it grabs far more media attention which churns up more interest in a case. But, essentially, it’s the publisher who calls the shots here, not the writer.

Q.: You’ve written quite a few true crime books now. How did you first find the genre as a viable category?

A.: Not until after I got my first contract. I didn’t go after the first true crime book thinking of it as viable or sensible or a good thing for my writing career. I went after that story because I was passionate about it. Ten-year-old Krystal Surles was my new hero, and I simply had to write her story of survival and courage. 
   
Q.: Does it take a lot of gumption to write about crimes that affect many people’s lives, especially the victim’s family? Do you ever get emotionally involved?

A.: Any time you write about real people, you are treading on potentially treacherous ground. I approach each member of a family with respect and assure them that, to me, the victim is the most important person in the story. I ask them to help me to allow my readers to understand the great loss suffered when this person’s life was stolen in an act of violence.

I love it when they share their happy memories with me — the simple stories told with love. But this is the worst time in the life of this family and they cannot always be positive. At those times, I sometimes find myself crying with them.

Q.: How do you begin a true crime book? Please share some of your methodology.

A.: The first thing I do is scan through all the media I can find, looking for the names of the players in the case. Then I plan my approach based on the individual dynamics of each story.

Q.: Your book, Mommy’s Little Girl, is a true crime about what event?

A.: The book concerns the death of little Caylee Anthony shortly before her third birthday, and her mother, Casey Anthony, now charged with her murder.

Q.: In Mommy’s Little Girl, you didn't have access to the principle characters, Casey, Cindy, George or Lee Anthony, yet fully two-thirds of the book is dialogue between these people. Can you speak to that?

A.: The dialogue of these four people is taken directly from official documents or tape recordings or is a re-creation given to me by another person who was present during the conversation. None of it was a product of my imagination. Even when you read what one of them was thinking at a particular point in time, that information was provided by the subject to another person in the story.

 Q.: How did you find out about the forensic science evidence in Florida, and can you tell us what that is for this particular case?

A.: An extensive amount of documents have been released prior to trial because of the Sunshine Law in the state of Florida. More than 9,000 pages have been made public by the State Attorney.

There are items at the location where Caylee’s body was found that link to the Anthony home. Cadaver dogs hit on spots in the family’s back yard and in the car that Casey drove. Air analysis of the car indicated the presence of decomposition and chloroform. Coffin flies were found in the trunk of the car. A forensic analysis of Casey’s computer uncovered suspicious searches.

Q.: When you begin to examine a true crime, how do you approach the various people? Do you try to enter the case without any bias? Is that even possible?  

A.: Essentially, I approach them honestly, telling them upfront that I am writing a book about the case. The approach then differs depending on the individual. Victims’ family members, perpetrators’ family members, law enforcement, attorneys and others all require a different approach that reflects their reason for involvement in the case. I try to enter each and every case without bias because I know that what I read and what the general public believes is not always objective, evidence-based fact — sometimes even the jury can get it wrong.

I have started on some projects thinking the defendant was innocent and changing my mind mid-stream, as I did with the Michael Peterson case when I wrote Written in Blood. I have seen a crime as justifiable until I learned more. Mary Winkler, The Pastor’s Wife, was a case in point there. I thought that she was driven to her acts by brutal abuse by her husband. I came to the conclusion that the abuse was exaggerated and some fabricated after the fact. Matthew was a controlling spouse, but nothing he did was to an extreme that warranted the death penalty. 

Q.: If law enforcement has made mistakes, or even the prosecution for that matter, do you write about that as well? How do you feel about exposing that?

A.: Yes, if I am aware of errors in the investigation or the prosecution, I do point them out. No case is handled perfectly. Some are botched on the law enforcement or prosecution side resulting in an inadequate presentation leading to a lower sentence that is deserved; others result in wrongful convictions. Then there are some errors that are simply mistakes that are insignificant when you view the totality of the evidence.

Q.: Have the people involved ever harassed you? What about readers?

A.: It comes with the territory. Some people are not happy with the verdict in a case and take it out on me. Other readers feel I was too harsh in my portrayal of someone in the book—usually, but not always the perpetrator. But, this is offset by the thank-you notes and pleased e-mails I have received from many members of victims’ families. I also have a copy of one of my books, hand-delivered to me, that contains the signatures of every Texas Ranger in the state.

Q.: You have also written fictional mystery novels. How have you found crossing over genres? Please give a brief synopsis of the titles.

A.: Writing true crime has informed my fiction. Authoring fiction has improved my non-fiction writing. My current fiction focus is on the novels featuring Homicide Detective Lucinda Pierce and is based in Virginia. Pierce faces challenges in her professional and personal lives because of physical and emotional scars. She is tough and self-aware as she fights through the battles of her present and her past.

 Q.: What are your plans for the future?

A.: In general, I would like to continue writing both fiction and true crime. Both satisfy different needs for me. In particular, I am currently under contract to write a true crime book about Betty Neumar, the elderly woman arrested for the murder of the fourth of her five dead husbands. I also have a contract from my fiction publisher to write a fourth book in the Lucinda Pierce series.

Q.: Is there anything else you would like to tell WCI readers?

A.: On my web site, I have a page called the “Reading Room.” On it, there are links to a sample chapter from each one of my published books. It’s a great way to determine which one of them you would like to read. I just started a blog: Writing is a Crime, http://www.dianefanning.blogspot.com, and would love to read your comments.

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CRASHING OUT OF THE PARTY

by Lisa R. Cohen

Everybody is busy obsessing about the glamorous White House dinner crashers this week, but I'm still shaking my head at the reverse party crash in Philadelphia over the weekend. It was a daring prison break on Thanksgiving day, right from under the officers' noses. A 27-year old accused murderer named Oscar Alvarado took advantage of the holiday crowds and hubbub in the visiting room at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, aka Holmesburg prison. It's the first time anyone has made it out in the facility's 15 year history.

Other inmates later told authorities Alvarado may have been planning this for at least 10 days. How did he do it? Alvarado somehow got his hands on civilian clothes and wore them under his prison garb. Between his cell and the visiting room, he changed, not into the mandated orange jumpsuit inmates must wear in the visiting area to stand out amongst the public, but a light colored T-shirt and dark pants.

He also acquired a pass to the area even though he didn't have a visitor scheduled. Sounds like he had a little help. Then he just walked out with the other guests. He's still on the loose, and Philadelphia authorities believe he's skipped town.

But, it turns out, that's nothing in the history of daring escapes. There are real-life tunnel departures, a pontoon-raft that floated away from Alcatraz, and one Florida mother who "rescued" her child by heading up a small team that drove an 18-wheel truck through the four separate prison fences.

Mom followed in a second car to pick up her convicted murderer son, then sped off. They were pursued and caught soon afterwards, but not before killing a 55-year-old man in a head-on collision during the high speed chase.

Brit murderer Mark Ryder (photo left) escaped twice after two separate off-site expeditions. In 1991, he bolted from the first, a boating trip, and was on the run for more than a year before shooting a rival for his wife's affections -- which landed him back in prison with a 15 -year sentence.

Years later, remarkably, he was taken on another day trip, this time to the university town of Cambridge, to familiarize him with life on the outside in preparation for his eventual release. There he gave his minder the slip inside the British equivalent of a Nordstroms. Ryder was seen on surveillance video dodging customers as he ran down the escalator and out into the larger mall. It took three months before he was caught - in Spain - despite one big tip-off: a cross etched deep into his forehead.

Spain seems to be a popular destination for escape artists. That's where they finally found Frenchman Pascal Payet (below right), one of the most daring and prolific of the repeat bust-out offenders.

Payet's preferred escape route - by air. He caught his first helicopter out in 2001 and remained at large for six years. When he saw how well it worked, he went back IN via helicopter in 2003, to fly out three friends, all of whom were soon re-captured. Payet himself remained at large until his capture and conviction in early 2007.

Not for long, though, because by October of that year, four armed men hijacked this single-engine chopper from the tony seaside resort town of Cannes. They forced the pilot to land behind prison walls, where they picked up Payet yet again, flew off and disappeared. Spanish authorities finally recaptured him months later.

We should be encouraged that most of these men are eventually caught and returned back behind bars. Oscar Alvarado, who made himself blend into the crowd so successfully last week, may not be able to shuck his more identifying characteristics as easily as his blue prison uniform.

Like cross-bearing Mark Ryder, he's wearing multiple, distinctive tattoos, including this one on his upper left arm (photo right), and another on his forearm that reads: "NEVA FALL IN LOVE WIT LIFE CUZ U HAVE A PROMISE WIT DEATH"

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Shaniya Davis: A Case of Domestic Human Trafficking

By Robin Sax

Human trafficking is one of the most hidden crimes. A lack of understanding encourages many to deny the existence of and doubt the magnitude of this horrific crime.

The most prevalent misconception is that human trafficking is only a problem in other countries. That this abomination is happening right here in the U.S. simply doesn't seem possible. The reality is very different. In the U.S. alone, the sex-slavery trade is a multi-million dollar industry. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that each year 200,000 U.S. citizens, mainly children and young women, are at high risk of being trafficked for sexual purposes. Nevertheless, the perception of human trafficking as an “overseas” issue persists.

To put it bluntly: We need to get the word out that human trafficking for sex is a problem not just in Thailand or Cambodia, but right here at home.

The only way for our nation to begin to understand that human trafficking is occurring in our own country, even in our own communities, is for prosecutors to label these crimes for what they are: human trafficking. When that happens, not only will the jurors and judges seated in the courtroom become educated but so will the community through news reports and community chatter.

A first step was the shocking case of Shaniya Nicole Davis. Finally, human trafficking went public. As you've undoubtedly read or heard, North Carolina police allege that Shaniya's mother sold the five-year-old as a sex slave. According to arrest documents, Antoinette Davis “knowingly provided Shaniya Davis with the intent that she be held in sexual servitude” and that Davis "permitted an act of prostitution.”

Human trafficking is not new to the Charlotte area. In fact, the FBI has a team specializing in human trafficking positioned in the city. In addition, a Durham County department of social services report from this past April reads: "Baltimore police closed down a brothel that used Mexican women imported into the country through Durham County.” The report also cautions: “we cannot ignore this issue locally.... North Carolina has been identified as among the eight most common destination states for human trafficking, due in part to its location along I-85 and I-95 highways.” This acute awareness to the problem by local officials may have contributed to the swiftness of the charge brought against Davis.

Police spokeswoman Teresa Chance said after Davis's arrest that she was “prostituting her child.” The implication with these words was that the act was for commercial sex purposes, that Davis was trying to make money from selling her daughter for sex. It's the monetary motive that separates trafficking from other sex crimes against children. While any sex crime involving a child is horrendous, it is additionally horrific to think that a mother would hand over her daughter to someone like Mario McNeill in exchange for drugs, cash, or to payoff a debt.

I applaud the prosecutors in the Davis case for calling this crime what it is and not labeling it as another offense. In legal terms, in North Carolina the charge of human trafficking is equivalent to a felony child abuse charge for prostitution, a class E felony, with a conviction carrying a minimum sentence of 98 months in prison.

In the chain of law enforcement command, prosecutors decide what charges (if any) apply to a certain set of facts in any given case. They have tremendous discretion in deciding which charges to file. It's not unusual for prosecutors to decide against human trafficking charges in favor of other types of charges, including kidnapping or prostitution. Why?

Prosecuting human trafficking cases can be more difficult to prove. One problem is that many of the victims live on the fringe of society, such as prostitutes and illegal immigrants. Sometimes officers are reluctant to intervene in sex and labor trafficking situations due to a belief that victims were complicit. That, of course, isn't an issue in Shaniya’s case. How could a 5-year-old be complicit? But there can be other concerns. For instance, in Shaniya's case, it may be difficult for jurors to believe any mother would sell her young child for sex.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, many are still reluctant to accept that evil can lurk in women. That reluctance is multiplied when the accused is a mother. But not all women are true mothers, nurturing and caring for their children. Some women are willing to victimize their own children.

Perhaps Shaniya's tragic death will open eyes and minds, forcing law enforcement and society to realize that human trafficking isn't an issue reserved for other countries. It's right here, in our own cities and towns, and the first step toward stopping it is to acknowledge that it exists.

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It Is Happening Today, Robin Sax Releases Second Book

by Women in Crime Ink

Bestselling author, former prosecutor, and Women in Crime Ink contributor Robin Sax has a new book. It Happens Every Day: Inside the World of a Sex Crimes DA is in bookstores now. With a foreword by famed defense attorney Mark Geragos, the book promises to be another big hit for Robin!

According to Department of Justice crime statistics, in 2008, 67 percent of sexual assault victims were juveniles and an astonishing 93 percent knew their attackers. This is far from news to veteran prosecutor Robin Sax. As an attorney who specialized in sex crimes against children, she personally reviewed at least five new cases every day.

What really happens when law enforcement decides to prosecute a child sexual assault case? In this revealing, informative, and disturbing book, Sax shows readers how the criminal justice system works, in terms you rarely hear about on the news. She candidly assesses what’s right about the system and what needs to be changed. Her hope is that, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of our current judicial system, we’ll all be in a better position to protect our children.

Dividing the work into three parts, she begins with “Behind the One-Way Mirror,” which deals with the investigation portion of child sexual assault. She defines exactly what constitutes sexual assault and then presents the ingredients of what makes a case “fileable.” She also explains why some cases never get filed.

In the second part, “Behind the Counsel Table,” Sax sheds light on the whole court process. She discusses a range of issues, including mandatory sentencing, plea bargains, unsupportive parents, using children’s testimony to prosecute the perpetrator, DNA evidence, the importance of corroboration, and the weaknesses of the jury system.

In the final section, “If We Could Change the Law,” she identifies aspects of the criminal justice system that should be changed. Besides her own perspective as a prosecutor, she shares the valuable insights of a detective, a judge, a therapist, a juror, and a victim, to learn how each would legislate if they were judge, jury, and lawmaker.

This gritty, in-depth discussion from an insider on the front lines of law enforcement’s campaign against child sexual assault makes an important contribution toward protecting society’s most vulnerable citizens from a crime that is reaching near-epidemic proportions.

It Happens Every Day is available in bookstores and online. For more of Robin’s books, see her web site.

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Baby Grace: A Postmortem

by Kathryn Casey

Some news stories touch the heart, staying with us long after they've disappeared from the headlines. The ones that never leave me are those involving children. There's a reason I haven't written about murdered kids. I've considered it off and on, but some crime scene photos I don't want imprinted on my brain, invading my sleep and keeping me awake at four a.m.

Every once in a while, I reconsider my situation, wondering if it's time to make an exception. For instance, when her body was found in July 2007, I thought about writing a book on Houston's Baby Grace case. Something about the original sketch of the two-year-old pulled at me. Those wide set eyes, the baby teeth visible through her smiling lips, the long blond hair that fell in waves. Even after a couple of decades writing about crime, I have a tough time understanding how some murders are possible, why someone would kill a small child.

When Baby Grace was found in Galveston Bay and the drawing of her face proliferated across the nation, I wanted to turn away from the images flashed on television and front-page in the newspapers. It all seemed too awful. Another child brutally murdered, this one beaten to death, then left to rot in a box thrown into the water, callously discarded like so much garbage. More evidence that mankind is capable of the worst acts.

Of course, before long we slowly learned the truth. Sheryl Sawyers from Ohio came forward and claimed Baby Grace, introducing her to us as her granddaughter, little Riley Ann Sawyers. Since that day, Riley Ann's mother, and I do use the word very loosely, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, and her husband, Royce Clyde Zeigler II, have been found guilty of the child's murder. According to a statement by Trenor, Riley Ann died during a day-long session in which Zeigler stayed home from work in order to make sure his stepdaughter was properly disciplined. Throughout that horrific day, Riley Ann was repeatedly beaten with leather belts and her head held underwater. The autopsy pegged the fatal blow as any one of those resulting in three skull fractures.

Once the child was dead, Zeigler and Trenor went to Wal-mart, where they bought the plastic container the body was found in. They then wrapped Riley Ann's small corpse in garbage bags. For the next two months, before throwing it in Galveston Bay, the container with the body inside sat in their garage.

Earlier this month, on November 6th, the Baby Grace case officially ended. That was the day that Zeigler, like Trenor before him, was sentenced to life in a Texas prison. There may be appeals ahead, since Zeigler is maintaining that he's really a nice guy, and it was Trenor who beat her daughter to death, not him. But the likelihood is that the case is over. There seems little left to say, except to trust that Riley Ann is now in a better place. For her, the nightmare has ended.

We now know why and how Riley Ann died, but I'm left wondering if there's anything to be learned from this horrible case. It seems that something good should come from all this, that we should learn something about the human condition, why these horrible tragedies happen and how to prevent them. Yet, as often as I've considered this case, it has given me absolutely no sense of redemption, no hope that it has revealed anything that could save another child's life.

I wonder at times if there's anything to be done, or if we simply have to learn to accept the fact that there will always be those who don't appreciate the great gift of a daughter or son, and a small percentage who will commit the ultimate crime, murdering a vulnerable child who looks at them with love.

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Shoe Prints Make Good Impressions

by Andrea
Campbell

Criminals think they’re clever by not leaving fingerprints, but they may neglect another area: shoe prints. Shoe prints—or footprints, as they’re usually called—are the most common impression left at or near a crime scene.

Stepping Up

Prints are found outside in dirt, mud, clay, and snow. In urban areas they’re left on the rooftops of apartment buildings. Sometimes they are found inside when the perpetrator tracks dirt into the house—or when they have walked through something like paint, dirt, or blood. If investigators can use footwear or tire tread evidence to show that a person was at the crime scene, the suspect will have to have a good explanation for being there. If the impression found is created from blood, the suspect will need a really good explanation!

Comparisons: Start with Characterizing

Since shoe types and styles number in the thousands, comparisons are first narrowed down by size, type, brand, design, and shape. Then individual characteristics are studied such as nicks, cuts, or wear patterns. Perhaps a stone wedged into the tread. Even with flat-bottomed deck shoes, the stitching in soles is unique, and no two will look alike in a print.

When footwear impressions or tire tracks are found at a crime scene, they’re photographed. If a depression is left in mud, for example, a cast or moulage (French for casting/moulding) is made.

How to Make a Plaster Cast
Some special equipment is needed to make a perfect plaster cast. Here’s how the pros do it:

•  Clean out any loose material without disturbing the impression. 
•  Spray a fixative onto the surface.
•  Build a portable frame or wood ledge and place it around the track mark.
•  Mix plaster of Paris or dental stone casting material and pour it over the marks.  Another product, Snow Print Wax, can be used for impressions found in packed snow.
•  Place reinforcement sticks or cheesecloth into the mixture.
•  When casting is hard, carefully lift it out and put it in a cardboard box upside down to dry.

Gait Patterns, Too

Casts are used for identification, and they also provide clues to the movement, direction, and speed of the person who made them. For instance, the cast of a runner’s footprint will differ from that of a walker—a running foot will sink deeper in front, with less weight distributed to the heel upon landing. Analysts can also answer such questions as: Was he was carrying something heavy? Was he wounded? Did he carry soil away on his shoes as he left? (Soil samples are usually taken in case they are needed later, to match such soil.)
 
Latents (Not Readily Visible)
Latent shoe prints are found on counter tops, staircases, and walls, and footwear impressions can be lifted just like fingerprints using chemicals and powder. One bank robber climbed over the counter during a holdup—and his shoes matched the print made on the surface perfectly.

But for the flimsiest of all evidence, shoe prints found in dust, another system is needed. The best way is to turn out the lights and shine a light—a flashlight will do—against the hard, dusty surface and document that with a photograph. In order to preserve these footprints, analysts use an electrostatic dust lifter. A sheet of black lifting material, like foil, is laid over the surface. A high-voltage charge is run through the material. The electricity makes the dust stick to the sheer, and voilà—an image! The process is nondestructive and works on just about any surface.

Unusual Prints: A Case Story
A state trooper in Alaska was called in to investigate several cases of moose poaching. (Bet you didn’t know that moose poaching is a crime.) Some earlier cases had been solved due to the carelessness of the criminals, who had left behind incriminating evidence such as a boot print and, in one memorable case, a wallet complete with the poacher’s driver’s license! One culprit, though, seemed to have left no clues at all—until police discovered a clear print of his license-plate number where he had backed his vehicle up against a snow bank. 

Photo courtesy of ©Ron Roberts 

 Excerpt from Andrea's Detective Notebook: Crime Scene Science (available on CD)

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