COMMENTARY: "‘Let justice roll down like waters,’ by retired federal judge Mike Heavey, published by The Post-Register on April 5, 2017. (Mike Heavey, a retired federal judge is CEO of Judges for Justice, a nonprofit organization that has been investigating the Tapp conviction and Angie Dodge’s murder since January 2013.)
GIST: "Chris Tapp walked out of the Bonneville County Courthouse a free man, but justice didn’t prevail because he’s still a convicted killer, writes retired federal judge Michael Heavey. On March 22, 2017, Chris Tapp walked out of the Bonneville County Courthouse a free man. An innocent man had spent 20-plus years behind bars. In the Old Testament Book of Amos, Chapter 5: verse 24, the Bible says, “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness flow like a mighty river.”
However, “justice does not roll down like waters” today in Idaho Falls because Chris remains a convicted killer. In 1997, over a three-and-a-half week period and nine interrogations, Chris Tapp told six different stories. Before each of the five changes in story, there was a polygraph examination. When the polygraph examinations were first viewed in 2015, all could clearly see the extraordinary coercion, manipulation and brainwashing of the then 20-year-old Tapp. These coercive manipulations were “jaw-dropping.” There was no DNA evidence or witness testimony connecting the 20-year-old to the vicious murder of Angie Dodge, whose killer has never been brought to justice. However, in his May 1998 death penalty trial, the state presented videotape evidence of Tapp confessing to being at the June 13, 1996, murder. After three weeks of interrogations, Tapp said he was at the crime with Ben Hobbs and a third man, whose name he could not remember. It was potent evidence. The problem – it is not true. Tapp’s jury knew that the DNA evidence left at the scene did not match Chris Tapp or Ben Hobbs. Seven DNA tests have shown that only one man was present, and he has never been identified. Renowned polygraph expert Dr. Charles Honts, professor at Boise State, stated that Tapp’s polygraph examinations were used to coerce Tapp into implicating police suspects Ben Hobbs and Jeremy Sargis in the horrific crime. They were an unethical ruse, a sham. They were “psychologically coercive in the extreme.” In his 20-year-old mind after 25 hours of polygraphs and interrogations, Chris Tapp came to believe that the polygraph was an all knowing scientific instrument that was reading his mind. The police told Tapp that the polygraph was saying he was at the crime with Ben Hobbs. When Tapp emotionally asked why he couldn’t remember, he was told that his “subconscious” had blocked out his memory. Tapp came to believe these absurd propositions. See “Video Affidavit of Michael Heavey” at www.judgesforjustice.org. Your jaw will drop. Angie’s killer has been walking the streets for the past 21 years, free to kill and rape again. Good citizens of Idaho Falls, please demand that your government bring in an independent expert to investigate this unsolved crime. The law requires that a person’s conviction be supported by sufficient evidence. But Tapp walked out of the Bonneville County Courthouse on March 22 without any evidence to support a murder conviction. A conviction without evidence is not justice. Let us all demand that Chris Tapp’s conviction for murder be erased and an independent expert be brought in to find Angie’s killer. Only then will Idaho Falls be blessed and “justice roll down like waters.”
The entire commentary can be found at:
