Omar Abdul Ballard had admitted the rape and murder of Michelle Bosko; his was the only sperm found. Furthermore, Ballard tried to tell the police that he alone had committed the crimes. Yet despite the physical evidence and Ballard's statements, the courts decided to pursue the case against the other four men. Even the lawyers who were supposed to defend the Norfolk Four did little to defend them from the charges and instead opted to try to get them a lighter sentence. Their own lawyers seemed unable to get over the fact that the men had confessed to the crime. Even with explanations of lengthy police interrogations, threats and lies, these lawyers were unwilling to believe that innocent men would confess to such a heinous crime. Instead, they were urged to “cooperate” with the police and tell the “truth”. With this type of advice the men took the witness stand and committed perjury by lying under oath and reporting their false confessions to the jury. The problem seems to be that the police and courts are not interested in truth or justice, they are looking for an easy way to close a case. They looked for someone to blame and were unwilling to admit they were wrong when the evidence seemed to show they had made a mistake.