GUILTY LA - Three children die in arson fire, Tioga, 9 Jan 2001

The Louisiana Supreme Court will decide whether a woman accused of setting fire to her house with her children inside can use a polygraph test as evidence that she should be let out of jail while awaiting trial.

Amanda Gutweiler Hypes is charged with first-degree murder for all three deaths.

Attorney J. Michael Small has been trying to have bail set so Hypes might get out of jail.

He wants to have a polygraph expert testify that Hypes passed a lie detector test.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louis...s-18/1123962663300750.xml&storylist=louisiana

Again, I will say that a lot of people can pass a LDT. This woman has other issues and they don't include her children's lives. In Louisiana, more crimes are commited and so little follow up it is incredible. Breeding ground for rapists and serial killers. Think Derrick Todd Lee, Sean Gillis, Danny Rollings etc. I can post ad infinitem about the crimes and you would be amazed.But I am only speaking to myself at a certain point. I hope some bloggers are watching as LE likes to have things go away...think Aruba!

I am hoping this gets denied too. Because if they allow the polygraph to be used in court in this case, it could set a presidence (sp) that could be used in other cases.
And I know that my ex took a couple of polygraphs in his job and passed them, much later he made some admissions to me, I found out he was guilty.

I very much doubt that the polygraph can be used in a court case, as it is generally accepted(and rightl so) that this is unscientific.

It can notbe conclusivly proved the results are accurate and it generally accepted in the scientific community as an "aid" but not evidence.

June 29, 2006 11:37 pm
Mullens resident Iris Maynard first lost three grandchildren in 2001. Then her daughter was jailed in Louisiana for four years, accused of killing her own children — and facing the death penalty.

<snip>

A Louisiana judge freed Maynard’s daughter, Amanda Gutweiler Hypes, 34, formerly of Mullens, on $150,000 bond Wednesday, according to the Town Talk of Alexandria, La.

Hypes had been in the Rapides Parish Jail since May 2002, accused of setting fire to her family’s Tioga, La., residence in January 2001 and causing the deaths of her three children: Sadii Plumm, 10; Luke Hayden, 6; and Jessica Gutweiler, 3.

Hypes’ bond conditions allow her to travel outside the state, although she must keep the courts informed of her correct and current address.

Hypes was indicted in April 2002, but indictments were dismissed in April of this year after Judge Donald Johnson said prosecutor Tom Walsh turned over grand jury testimony to an arson expert and a sheriff’s detective in violation of the Louisiana Constitution.

An appeals court is expected to decide whether Johnson’s ruling will stand, the Town Talk reported.

Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty against Hypes.
Hypes said she was innocent, reportedly telling police she had left the children at home while she ran an errand, according to a previous Register-Herald story. She said she returned less than an hour later to find the residence burning.

Neighbors reported she was lying in the road outside the burning house in shock while the wood-frame structure burned.

She was hospitalized five days following the incident.

Police alleged she left the children inside the house before deliberately setting it ablaze.

“My daughter has maintained her innocence from the beginning,” Maynard said. “She still does, and that’s the truth.”

Maynard said Hypes’ brother left for Louisiana Wednesday to pick her up and bring her back to Mullens. She said her daughter plans to stay in West Virginia. Despite Johnson’s ruling being appealed, Maynard said her family is confident the case against Hypes will end.

more at the link http://www.register-herald.com/apstorysection/local_story_180233746.html


I had never heard of this case until today. Hypes is from a little town about 15 miles from where I grew up and that is where she is returning to. Interesting case for sure.

http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060629/NEWS01/606290316


I used to work in LE with the Great Aunt mentioned in this article.

From May 2010:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/arson-ca...lty-charges/story?id=10573263&singlePage=true

We asked DeHaan why, when he made the decision that his original conclusion of arson fire might be wrong, he didn't call the prosecutor... "Well, because I was unaware of what was going on, this case had been under judicial review for years," DeHaan said. "I respond to the requests of my clients. I don't just invent reasons to go off and create new materials..."

We asked DeHaan if he didn't think that a death penalty case required maybe a higher degree of vigilance on his part. "All cases deserve my vigilance," he said. We noted that, had her case gone to trial, she could have been executed on bad science. "That is possible, yes," DeHaan said...

Shannon decided there was negligence on her part for leaving the kids alone during the time the fire broke out. She finally decided to plead guilty to a lesser charge of negligent homicide with the agreement that she serve no further jail time.

Click to expand...