Big Mistakes
The Palm Beach Post has featured two stories recently about mistakes with terrible consequences. "When Shaken Babies Grow Up" by Christine Evans shows us the world of Michele Poole, whose 13-year-old daughter Gabriela was damaged forever when her father shook her as an infant. Evans does a great job describing the devastation of Shaken Baby Syndrome through the daily routine of the Poole family. Sharp details, like the ones in this scene, make the story compelling:
Gabbi's room is bright yellow, a delicate marriage of normal little-girl things — 122 stuffed animals at last count — and a variety of technical contraptions to make her life easier and more interesting: a specially outfitted bathroom, a sea of ceramic tropical fish rigged from the high ceiling, the lift, the shower table, the wheelchair that tips back when Michele inserts a tube into Gabbi's stomach and pours in the green liquid that looks like cactus juice. Her food.
palmbeachpost.com/accent/content/accent/epaper/2007/09/06/a1e_gabbi_0906.html
In "Witness ID Makes, Breaks Case," Susan Spencer-Wendel deftly dissects a murder case to reveal how unreliable eyewitness testimony can be. She recounts how Kendra Freeman was positive she saw Brandon J. Williams shoot a man in West Palm Beach, leading to Williams' arrest on charges of first-degree murder. But Freeman changed her mind once she saw Williams in court, forcing prosecutors to drop the case after he spent six months in jail. Spencer-Wendel uses the case to examine the growing trend of suspects being found innocent despite witnesses who say they did it. Thank you Brian Summers for suggesting both these stories.
Thank you Brian Summers for recommending both of these stories.