Betty Ann Waters: Conviction

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Recommended: Problems with the criminal justice system

Contrarily to many children, Betty Anne Watters and her brother Kenneth Waters did not have an insouciant and happy childhood. They had a negligent mother and went from one foster house to another. They learned to lean on each other and developed a strong connection. Kenny grew up to be a troublemaker well known by the police. In 1982, he is arrested and convicted of murder. Kenny troubled past and his violence when he is drunk aggravated his case in front of the judges. Everybody knew him for being aggressive and impulsive. Despite the witnesses’ testimony and a blood proof, Kenny swore his innocence. Kenny’s conviction started Betty Anne’s fight to save him. Her strong belief in her older brother innocence pushed this work class mother to go back to school. She figured out that if she could became a lawyer she would be able to free her brother. Not only did the verdict changed Kenny’s life, it also affected Betty Anne. She started by getting a high school diploma and studied for more than a decade to graduate from law school. Betty Anne lost on her way her husband. Luckily, she made a friend, Abra that would help her throughout her quest. When Betty Anne heard about the possibility to use DNA as a mean to prove convict prisoners innocence, she was sure she found her brother’s ticket out. Betty Anne eventually got the help of Barry Scheck. Scheck is an attorney running an organization that help overturned wrongful conviction with the help of DNA test. Once more, Betty Anne had to fight the judicial system to get the blood proof which at first she was told were destroyed. The blood proof were found and the DNA test came to prove Kenny’s innocence but the judge ask for more proofs. There was still two testimonies alleging that Kenn...

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...e prosecutor interrogates the witnesses and tries to convince the jury that beyond any doubt Kenneth Waters committed the crime. During the deposition of one of the witnesses, the judge applied the rule of evidence by asking the prosecutor to rephrase a question. The text says that “The law of evidence determines what questions a lawyer may ask and how the questions are to be phrased, what answers a witness may give, and what documents may be introduced”(64). In this scene we see an example of adversary system. Both lawyers take the stand one after the other to question the witnesses. Finally, the jury announces the verdict recognizing Kenneth Waters guilty of first degree murder and armed robbery.

Works Cited

Beatty, Jeffrey F., Susan S. Samuelson, and Jeffrey F. Beatty. Business Law and the Legal Environment. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western/West, 2004. Print.

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