It's only right that the first post on this new false confession blog is about a false confession from a teen blogger who was tried for murdering her mother. 16 year old Rachelle Waterman was arrested for the murder of her mother under a theory that she lured two former lovers to commit the crime by telling them that she had been abused by her mother. Attention to her case mushroomed when it was learned that Rachelle maintained a blog, entitled "My Crappy Life: The Inside Look of an Insane Person." The blog was replete with swear words, sexual innuendos, and smirking accounts of being an outcast. Her website also detailed minor complaints with her parents but also chronicled happier moments she spent with them. In a trial that was covered gavel to gavel by Court-TV with riveting daily coverage by reporter Harriet Ryan (whose work on another false confession case involving Kenzi Snider, was stellar, and is being published as a book, see http://www.courttv.com/room_103/chapter_six/page1.html), defense attorney Steven Wells shredded the two jilted lovers on cross-examination and raised concerns about Rachelle's vulnerabilities to police pressure through the testimony of a clinical psychologist. The jury did not believe that the State proved that Rachelle knew her mom was going to be killed and voted 10-2 to acquit her. But the biggest surprise was yet to come. After reflecting on the trial, the trial court held that Waterman's videotaped confession was involuntary and false with respect to several key facts needed to convict her. She tossed the confession and barred the State from using the confession in any retrial of Waterman. Could Rachel go free? Stay tuned on Court TV's website for the next chapter in this drama. http://www.courttv.com/trials/waterman/photogallery/index1.html
