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Documents & Resources
The Course
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Background: In the Spring, 2006, I taught a course called Advanced Criminal Law at the College of Law, West Virginia University. The focus of that course was the jury instructions used in homicide cases in West Virginia. The course was taught as a "workshop." Students in the course worked in teams, researched the legal doctrines reflected in West Virginia's "proposed" jury instructions, and presented recommendations for revisions. A substantial part of the course was based on class presentations by students. [West Virginia Homicide Jury Instructions Project] The second offering of Advanced Criminal Law was in the Spring, 2007. The course focused exclusively on the Jeffrey MacDonald murder case. [Advanced Criminal Law: Jeffrey MacDonald Case] In this Sping, 2009 version of Advanced Criminal Law, the focus is on the trials and murder convictions of the West Memphis 3: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley. Purpose of the Course: The purpose of the course is to fully explore the West Memphis 3 murder case. In law school, we typically, in criminal law as well as other courses, read appellate court opinions which review a trial judge's decisions for legal errors and the jury's determination of guilt (e.g., on grounds that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction). In this course, we want to begin, not with an appellate opinion, but with the actual case, the trial transcript of the pretrial and trial proceedings that resulted in the conviction of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley. In this course, we're going to look at a criminal case from the "bottom-up," rather than from the more typical "top-down" approach. Method: The course will basically follow a "workshop" method. We will read the trial transcript (and pre-trial and post-trial proceedings) and evaluate the decisions of the trial judge, the prosecutors, and defense counsel in what has become known as the West Memphis 3 case (WM3). Course Materials & Course Readings: For legal documents we will rely upon the West Memphis Three Case-Document Archive website.
"Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" (Homebox Office, 1996)
"Paradise Lost 2: Revelations" (Homebox Office, 2000) Collaborative Work: In this "workshop" course you will be asked to work in teams. Consequently, you may form a team of two, three, or four persons. If you are part of a work group, all your work for the course will be done as a member of the group, submitted and evaluated as a group. (All members of the group will receive the same grade unless there is a grade reduction for unexcused or excessive absences, or other reasons.) If, for any reason, a member of a work group does not, or can not, for any reason, share fully in the work of the group, then it is the responsibility of the other team members to report the problem to the instructor on a timely basis. The inability, failure, or unwillingness to fully participate in the work group, if confirmed by the instructor, may result in your being asked to withdraw from the course, or a failing grade for the course. All work teams should be formed and ready to begin work by the second week of classes. You may, for personal reasons, chose not to participate in a work group. There are any number of sound pedagogical reasons for you to join others in your work for the course, but if you decide to work alone we'll make appropriate accommodations for you to do so. Obviously, work groups will be expected to produce work proportional to the number of members in the group. Course Evaluation: Your grade for the course will be based on full participation in all aspects of the course, including: (1) in class presentations during the course of the semester, (2) a group portfolio of writings about the West Memphis Three case. (You might think of at least some part of your your writings in the portfolio as a "briefing notebook.") Since the course depends upon class participation, any unexcused absences will be figured in your final grade. (An appreciable number of absences may result in your being asked to withdraw from the course.) |
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Advanced Criminal Law :: West Memphis 3 
For commentary on the case, we'll read: Mara Leveritt, Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three (New York: Atria Books, 2002) [
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