Folks, Last night I watched on HBO the grisly case back in the early 90's where 3 teens murdered 3 young children, in Arkansas, in what was termed as a satanic ritual murder. I believe the show was titled "Children in Paradise." One of the prosecutions expert witnesses on the 'Occult' was quizzed by the defense during the first trial on his credentials. His master's and doctorate were from Columbia Pacific University. The defense attorney asked him what master's coursework he had completed. The expert said that he had answered that previously. He was then asked what coursework he had done for his Ph.D.. The expert responded that he had not completed any coursework. The attorney then asked if this was just a "correspondence school." Although the editing of the show may have left out more detail I was wondering if their accreditation status was brought to bear. Anyway I thought that the credibility of the expert witness was shaken due to his credentials. John
John, I didn't see the show. Was his testimony, in your opinion, crucial to the the prosecution's case? If so, one would think the defendant's legal team might have excellent grounds for an appeal. Mark
From the presentation in the show my answer would be no. However, due to television editing it is not possible to make that determination. I would guess from the legal perspective one would need to analyse the transcript from the trial to make that determination. John
I believe that was "Paridise Lost", the Robin Hood Hills murders. I thought that the expert was testifying for the defense. Very interesting case. ------------------ David
Roger Ebert's review (four stars) of the 1996 movie _Paradise Lost: the Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills_ is at http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1996/09/092703.html ------------------ Kristin Evenson Hirst DistanceLearn.About.com
You are correct it was Paradise Lost. It was the defense attorney who was ripping the CPU grad. He represented Jesse in the first trial (he was the attorney with the long blond hair). John
