A Summary Of The Cotton Case

I don't think the officers had any other suspects, even before the lineup. All of the men who stood in the lineup were stand-ins other than Cotton. It's a story we hear often; officers focusing so much on one individual that their investigation comes short of considering the true suspect. If Poole would have been included in the photo or in-person lineup, it's hard to say how the Cotton case would have played out.

One problem was that Cotton had also been accused of similar crimes. After a night of drinking at age 16, Cotton walked into the house of a girl he had been "messing around" with and "slipped into bed with her." He was charged and served time for breaking and entering with intent to rape. Detectives took the information they