When traveling our state I'm often asked about the disgraceful case of 16-year-old Janie Ward from Marshall who died Sept. 9, 1989, during a high school party in a wooded cabin outside that Ozarks community.
Longtime readers may recall I spent four years between 2003 and 2007 and invested more than 200 columns disclosing previously unknown facts about Janie's death, which many across Arkansas believe came at the hands of another classmate. No one has ever been charged in her death.
It was beyond reason to imagine the official version that said Janie had inexplicably tumbled 9 inches backwards off a rock porch, somehow torn her spinal cord and died.
After I began examining her case I found misdeeds by authorities including what I believe to be an obviously falsified X-ray, autopsy photos clearly showing a torn spinal cord still in her spinal canal, her wet hair, sand inside her brassiere, a likely suspect, and on and on.
The special prosecutor appointed to investigate Janie's death compiled a truly impressive stack of, well, what amounted to irrelevant paperwork over four years only to lead the case back to the "undetermined" manner where it began.
With the natural death last year of Janie's devoted father, Ron, who never stopped fighting for the justice he'd vowed standing over her coffin, Janie's biggest champion was gone. Closed is likely where it will remain with our state having drawn a gasp of relief, closed the books and wiped its hands of the wide-ranging misdeeds surrounding her violent demise.
Today father and daughter are reunited and she at least witnessed in spirit how impressively long and hard he worked to honor his pledge.
All I can say to those responsible for Janie's death and/or burying the truth is I surely wouldn't want to be in your shoes when your moment of ultimate accountability comes to pass.
There clearly is a distinct difference between good and evil in this fallen world. And, as they (whoever "they" are) say, karma is unforgiving when it comes to balancing the life book for our actions and inactions.
ANOTHER MISCARRIAGE
Speaking of flagrant miscarriages: Belynda Goff of Green Forest, who after more than two decades in prison continues to serve life without parole for the 1994 murder of her husband, which I and many others (including The Innocence Project) remain convinced she did not commit.
Those interested in learning about gross transgressions against Lady Justice should read the shameful facts about this disgrace of a case. It's well worth your time. There's plenty on the Internet about it by simply Googling her name or reading a concise summary at tinyurl.com/goff94. Be prepared to be blown away by the deceptions, distortions, omissions and malfeasance described there.
Goff's case teems with what appear to be initial police biases that locked them into a contorted and nonsensical scenario without a shred of hard evidence. I sure can't find any, but did find plenty of discrepancies, no DNA or fingerprint evidence, important witnesses not called, ineffective representation, and not even a murder weapon. Moreover, potentially vital DNA evidence inexplicably disappeared after a sheriff's deputy signed it out at the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock to return to his department. Other evidence, such as a recorded interview with Goff, also mysteriously went missing.
Plainly put, this mess of a case smells to high heaven and is unacceptable for me and others, including four jurors and the court clerk who have written to say Goff shouldn't have been convicted.
Sadly, those responsible for administering truth and justice usually are the last ones to admit when they err. There's that career and personal face-saving stigma to deal with, especially in a smaller town. It's far less embarrassing to just leave the poor lady to die behind bars. That's certainly how I'd bet the deed to my house.
My hope remains that Gov. Asa Hutchinson and others in position of power these many years later, like Carroll County prosecutor Tony Rogers, will closely and impartially review just how bad this conviction was, apply justifiable compassion and empathy, and move to finally free Goff through clemency so she might at least be able to spend her last years with her grown children and now grandchildren.
ECONOMIC ENGINE
So where would you say the two highest percentages of people in the labor force exist in our state? How about in the top five?
It may not surprise many of you that rankings based on the latest Census Bureau data for cities of at least 60,000 population list Rogers at the top with 72.3 percent employed, followed by Springdale at 69.4 percent.
Little Rock was in third place with 67.6 percent, followed by Jonesboro at 66.5.
Fayetteville was fifth at 64.5 percent, just ahead of Conway with 64.1, and Fort Smith at 62.8 percent.
There's clearly a reason Northwest Arkansas is called the economic engine of our state.
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Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.
Editorial on 01/13/2019