WM3 Press Conference
Kat
Posts: 4,907
Update:
There will be a press conference this morning during which the new forensic evidence surrounding the cases of the West Memphis 3 will be announced and explained.
You can tune in live from 10am-noon Central Time today at http://www.wm3.org.
The first hour of the conference will be a presentation detailing the latest news featuring Dennis Riordan, John Douglas and the forensic team. The second hour will be a Q&A session with members of the press.
If you are unfamiliar with the case, this article from the New York Times will help.
Thank you.
Defense Offers New Evidence in a Murder Case That Shocked Arkansas
By SHAILA DEWAN
ATLANTA, Oct. 29 — In 1994, three teenagers in the small city of West Memphis, Ark., were convicted of killing three 8-year-old boys in what prosecutors portrayed as a satanic sacrifice involving sexual abuse and genital mutilation. So shocking were the crimes that when the teenagers were led from the courthouse after their arrest, they were met by 200 local residents yelling, “Burn in hell.”
But according to long-awaited new evidence filed by the defense in federal court on Monday, there was no DNA from the three defendants found at the scene, the mutilation was actually the work of animals and at least one person other than the defendants may have been present at the crime scene.
Supporters of the defendants hope the legal filing will provide the defense with a breakthrough. Two of the men, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, are serving life in prison, while one, Damien W. Echols, is on death row. There was no physical evidence linking the teenagers, now known as the West Memphis 3, to the crime.
“This is the first time that the evidence has ever really been tested,” said Gerald Skahan, a member of the defense team. “The first trial was pretty much a witch hunt.”
Brent Davis, the local prosecutor, did not respond to requests for comment about the new evidence and the case, but in general prosecutors and investigators have continued to express confidence in their investigation.
The story the defendants’ supporters have presented — of three misfits whose fondness for heavy-metal music made them police targets — has won the men the support of celebrities like Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Marilyn Manson and the creators of “South Park.” Many learned of the case through an HBO documentary, “Paradise Lost,” and a sequel.
The prosecution hinged on a confession riddled with factual errors and a Satanic cult expert with a mail-order degree. Mr. Echols’s own lawyer called him “weird” and “not the all-American boy.”
Many viewers who watched the sequel, in fact, concluded that the police should have been investigating John Mark Byers, the stepfather of one of the children, who made seemingly drug-addled, messianic speeches on camera, gave the filmmakers a blood-stained knife, and had a history of violence and run-ins with the police. His child, Christopher Byers, was the most badly mutilated of the three.
But there was a surprise in the new forensic report filed by Mr. Echols’s lawyers: a hair found in one of the knots binding the children belonged most likely to the stepfather of another of the victims, not to Mr. Byers.
The three victims — Christopher, Steve Branch and James Michael Moore — were last seen riding their bikes on May 5, 1993. They were found the next day in a drainage ditch in Robin Hood Hills, near West Memphis, a low-rent town across the Mississippi River from Memphis. The boys were naked and hogtied with shoelaces.
The police quickly zeroed in on Mr. Echols, then 18, who was familiar to them because he was on probation for trying to run away with his girlfriend. They also believed he was involved in cult activities.
But they could find little evidence against him until Mr. Misskelley, mildly retarded and with a history of substance abuse, came in to speak with them. At the time there was a $30,000 reward.
After hours of questioning, Mr. Misskelley, 17, gave the police a taped statement that implicated himself, Mr. Baldwin, then 16, and Mr. Echols, then 19. Despite coaching by the investigators, Mr. Misskelley was incorrect in several significant details, including the time of the crime, the way the victims were tied and the manner of death. He said the children had been sodomized, an assertion that even the state medical examiner’s testimony appears to refute.
The team of forensic experts assembled by Mr. Echols’s lawyers, which included Dr. Michael Baden, the former medical examiner of New York City, also said there was no evidence of sexual abuse. Many of the wounds sustained by the victims were caused by animals, they said, including the castration of Christopher.
As for the stray hair, the West Memphis Police Department and the stepfather it appears to belong to, Terry Hobbs, have discounted the finding, saying it could easily have been picked up at home by his stepson, Steve Branch. But Dennis P. Riordan, a lawyer for Mr. Echols, said the hair was found in the shoelaces tying Michael Moore, not Steve Branch.
Further, Mr. Riordan said, a hair was found at the scene that most likely belongs to a friend of Mr. Hobbs who was with him for part of the evening.
The court filing also argues that jurors relied on the statement Mr. Misskelley gave the police to convict Mr. Echols and Mr. Baldwin, even though it was deemed inadmissible except in Mr. Misskelley’s trial. Several jurors have acknowledged that they knew about the confession before the trial, though they did not say so during jury selection.
The passing of time has not only allowed the defense to gather new information, but has also softened the public’s belief in the guilt of the convicted men, said Mara Leveritt, the author of “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.”
“What I’ve seen in the past 14 years has been not quite a 180-degree, but maybe a 170-degree turn,” Ms. Leveritt said. “It all comes down to, ‘Where’s the evidence?’”
We are including this letter from the WM3 legal team. Please help if you can. Thank you again.
Dear Friends & Supporters:
I have waited a long time to write you this note.
Just hours ago, our attorneys filed a SECOND AMENDED PETITION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS proving that three innocent men were wrongfully convicted of murder in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993. Citing DNA testing and evidence from several witnesses and leading experts, the nearly 200-page writ asks the court to order a new trial for my husband, Damien Echols, or release him.
In short, DNA testing has been conducted on dozens of pieces of evidence. The DNA results show no link whatsoever to Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley or Jason Baldwin – and all of the experts agree that, under the prosecution theory of how the crime was committed, their DNA would be present at the crime scene if they were guilty. Instead, the DNA results match Terry Hobbs, the step-father of one of the victims. Our new filing also includes strong evidence from Pam Hobbs (the ex-wife of Terry Hobbs and the mother of one of the victims) implicating her former husband in the murders.
The writ includes scientific analysis from some of the nation’s leading forensics experts, stating that wounds on the victims’ bodies were caused by animals at the crime scene – not by knives used by the perpetrators, as the prosecution claimed. These wounds, and evidence about knives, were the centerpiece of the prosecution’s case.
Beyond writing to share this exciting news, I want to thank you for your support. Each person who spoke out about this case or donated money – each person who refused to let the world forget about three men locked away forever, one on death row, for a crime they so clearly did not commit – made this week’s filing possible. Without you, we could not have made it this far, and we cannot thank you enough.
I am not an expert on science or the law. But I know that the writ that we just filed in federal court completely undercuts every argument and piece of “evidence” that was used to convict Damien, Jessie and Jason. Our lawyers and other legal experts say that any one piece of evidence in our filing, by itself, would be enough to overturn these convictions – and that, combined, all of the evidence makes it clear that this was a grave injustice that the federal court must step in and correct.
That won’t happen easily.
In the weeks ahead, the court will review the writ we just filed, and the Arkansas Attorney General will file a response. We will then reply to that filing, and the court will rule. We hope and believe that the court will rule to overturn these convictions, but we still have a lot of work to do to get there. I am also writing to ask for your help – which we need now more than ever.
You and I know that Damien, Jessie and Jason would not have been convicted if they weren’t teenagers without more than a few dollars to their name, who were perceived to be “different” than other kids. They did not have the resources to fight a zealous prosecution in a poisonous atmosphere, and so they were convicted. The state still has millions of dollars at its disposal to defend these convictions. Despite all of the evidence we have uncovered and filed in court this week, the state is going to fight us in federal court. No matter what, they will have more money than we do. But with your help, we can follow up on this unprecedented court filing and secure justice.
We only have a few weeks to gear up for the next phase. Our experts, investigators and attorneys need to refute everything the state will throw at us, and we need to keep the court focused on the scientific truth in this case. Please make checks payable to the Damien Echols Defense Fund, PO Box 1216, Little Rock, AR 72203.
You can also donate online, through PayPal. It's easy, free and allows you to use your credit card. We also suggest that International Supporters use this option. Click this LINK to find out more. Please use LDavis11@hotmail.com as the "recipient" address. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR NAME & ADDRESS TYPED IN YOUR MESSAGE! The button you can click to include your address does not always work.
I cannot overstate how important it is that you donate now. Damien, Jessie and Jason were convicted more than 12 years ago based on nothing but fear, hysteria and innuendo. We now have the evidence we need to overturn these convictions based on cold, hard science – but we need your help today.
We are close to overturning these convictions – if we have the money it will take over the next few months to pursue this appeal. Go HERE to read the writ we just filed in federal court, and you’ll see that we are at a critical juncture in this case, and that your help and support has gotten us here. Please help us, and please know that your support has already gotten us farther than many people thought possible.
Thanks very much,
Lorri Davis
and the Damien Echols Legal Team
There will be a press conference this morning during which the new forensic evidence surrounding the cases of the West Memphis 3 will be announced and explained.
You can tune in live from 10am-noon Central Time today at http://www.wm3.org.
The first hour of the conference will be a presentation detailing the latest news featuring Dennis Riordan, John Douglas and the forensic team. The second hour will be a Q&A session with members of the press.
If you are unfamiliar with the case, this article from the New York Times will help.
Thank you.
Defense Offers New Evidence in a Murder Case That Shocked Arkansas
By SHAILA DEWAN
ATLANTA, Oct. 29 — In 1994, three teenagers in the small city of West Memphis, Ark., were convicted of killing three 8-year-old boys in what prosecutors portrayed as a satanic sacrifice involving sexual abuse and genital mutilation. So shocking were the crimes that when the teenagers were led from the courthouse after their arrest, they were met by 200 local residents yelling, “Burn in hell.”
But according to long-awaited new evidence filed by the defense in federal court on Monday, there was no DNA from the three defendants found at the scene, the mutilation was actually the work of animals and at least one person other than the defendants may have been present at the crime scene.
Supporters of the defendants hope the legal filing will provide the defense with a breakthrough. Two of the men, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, are serving life in prison, while one, Damien W. Echols, is on death row. There was no physical evidence linking the teenagers, now known as the West Memphis 3, to the crime.
“This is the first time that the evidence has ever really been tested,” said Gerald Skahan, a member of the defense team. “The first trial was pretty much a witch hunt.”
Brent Davis, the local prosecutor, did not respond to requests for comment about the new evidence and the case, but in general prosecutors and investigators have continued to express confidence in their investigation.
The story the defendants’ supporters have presented — of three misfits whose fondness for heavy-metal music made them police targets — has won the men the support of celebrities like Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Marilyn Manson and the creators of “South Park.” Many learned of the case through an HBO documentary, “Paradise Lost,” and a sequel.
The prosecution hinged on a confession riddled with factual errors and a Satanic cult expert with a mail-order degree. Mr. Echols’s own lawyer called him “weird” and “not the all-American boy.”
Many viewers who watched the sequel, in fact, concluded that the police should have been investigating John Mark Byers, the stepfather of one of the children, who made seemingly drug-addled, messianic speeches on camera, gave the filmmakers a blood-stained knife, and had a history of violence and run-ins with the police. His child, Christopher Byers, was the most badly mutilated of the three.
But there was a surprise in the new forensic report filed by Mr. Echols’s lawyers: a hair found in one of the knots binding the children belonged most likely to the stepfather of another of the victims, not to Mr. Byers.
The three victims — Christopher, Steve Branch and James Michael Moore — were last seen riding their bikes on May 5, 1993. They were found the next day in a drainage ditch in Robin Hood Hills, near West Memphis, a low-rent town across the Mississippi River from Memphis. The boys were naked and hogtied with shoelaces.
The police quickly zeroed in on Mr. Echols, then 18, who was familiar to them because he was on probation for trying to run away with his girlfriend. They also believed he was involved in cult activities.
But they could find little evidence against him until Mr. Misskelley, mildly retarded and with a history of substance abuse, came in to speak with them. At the time there was a $30,000 reward.
After hours of questioning, Mr. Misskelley, 17, gave the police a taped statement that implicated himself, Mr. Baldwin, then 16, and Mr. Echols, then 19. Despite coaching by the investigators, Mr. Misskelley was incorrect in several significant details, including the time of the crime, the way the victims were tied and the manner of death. He said the children had been sodomized, an assertion that even the state medical examiner’s testimony appears to refute.
The team of forensic experts assembled by Mr. Echols’s lawyers, which included Dr. Michael Baden, the former medical examiner of New York City, also said there was no evidence of sexual abuse. Many of the wounds sustained by the victims were caused by animals, they said, including the castration of Christopher.
As for the stray hair, the West Memphis Police Department and the stepfather it appears to belong to, Terry Hobbs, have discounted the finding, saying it could easily have been picked up at home by his stepson, Steve Branch. But Dennis P. Riordan, a lawyer for Mr. Echols, said the hair was found in the shoelaces tying Michael Moore, not Steve Branch.
Further, Mr. Riordan said, a hair was found at the scene that most likely belongs to a friend of Mr. Hobbs who was with him for part of the evening.
The court filing also argues that jurors relied on the statement Mr. Misskelley gave the police to convict Mr. Echols and Mr. Baldwin, even though it was deemed inadmissible except in Mr. Misskelley’s trial. Several jurors have acknowledged that they knew about the confession before the trial, though they did not say so during jury selection.
The passing of time has not only allowed the defense to gather new information, but has also softened the public’s belief in the guilt of the convicted men, said Mara Leveritt, the author of “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.”
“What I’ve seen in the past 14 years has been not quite a 180-degree, but maybe a 170-degree turn,” Ms. Leveritt said. “It all comes down to, ‘Where’s the evidence?’”
We are including this letter from the WM3 legal team. Please help if you can. Thank you again.
Dear Friends & Supporters:
I have waited a long time to write you this note.
Just hours ago, our attorneys filed a SECOND AMENDED PETITION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS proving that three innocent men were wrongfully convicted of murder in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993. Citing DNA testing and evidence from several witnesses and leading experts, the nearly 200-page writ asks the court to order a new trial for my husband, Damien Echols, or release him.
In short, DNA testing has been conducted on dozens of pieces of evidence. The DNA results show no link whatsoever to Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley or Jason Baldwin – and all of the experts agree that, under the prosecution theory of how the crime was committed, their DNA would be present at the crime scene if they were guilty. Instead, the DNA results match Terry Hobbs, the step-father of one of the victims. Our new filing also includes strong evidence from Pam Hobbs (the ex-wife of Terry Hobbs and the mother of one of the victims) implicating her former husband in the murders.
The writ includes scientific analysis from some of the nation’s leading forensics experts, stating that wounds on the victims’ bodies were caused by animals at the crime scene – not by knives used by the perpetrators, as the prosecution claimed. These wounds, and evidence about knives, were the centerpiece of the prosecution’s case.
Beyond writing to share this exciting news, I want to thank you for your support. Each person who spoke out about this case or donated money – each person who refused to let the world forget about three men locked away forever, one on death row, for a crime they so clearly did not commit – made this week’s filing possible. Without you, we could not have made it this far, and we cannot thank you enough.
I am not an expert on science or the law. But I know that the writ that we just filed in federal court completely undercuts every argument and piece of “evidence” that was used to convict Damien, Jessie and Jason. Our lawyers and other legal experts say that any one piece of evidence in our filing, by itself, would be enough to overturn these convictions – and that, combined, all of the evidence makes it clear that this was a grave injustice that the federal court must step in and correct.
That won’t happen easily.
In the weeks ahead, the court will review the writ we just filed, and the Arkansas Attorney General will file a response. We will then reply to that filing, and the court will rule. We hope and believe that the court will rule to overturn these convictions, but we still have a lot of work to do to get there. I am also writing to ask for your help – which we need now more than ever.
You and I know that Damien, Jessie and Jason would not have been convicted if they weren’t teenagers without more than a few dollars to their name, who were perceived to be “different” than other kids. They did not have the resources to fight a zealous prosecution in a poisonous atmosphere, and so they were convicted. The state still has millions of dollars at its disposal to defend these convictions. Despite all of the evidence we have uncovered and filed in court this week, the state is going to fight us in federal court. No matter what, they will have more money than we do. But with your help, we can follow up on this unprecedented court filing and secure justice.
We only have a few weeks to gear up for the next phase. Our experts, investigators and attorneys need to refute everything the state will throw at us, and we need to keep the court focused on the scientific truth in this case. Please make checks payable to the Damien Echols Defense Fund, PO Box 1216, Little Rock, AR 72203.
You can also donate online, through PayPal. It's easy, free and allows you to use your credit card. We also suggest that International Supporters use this option. Click this LINK to find out more. Please use LDavis11@hotmail.com as the "recipient" address. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR NAME & ADDRESS TYPED IN YOUR MESSAGE! The button you can click to include your address does not always work.
I cannot overstate how important it is that you donate now. Damien, Jessie and Jason were convicted more than 12 years ago based on nothing but fear, hysteria and innuendo. We now have the evidence we need to overturn these convictions based on cold, hard science – but we need your help today.
We are close to overturning these convictions – if we have the money it will take over the next few months to pursue this appeal. Go HERE to read the writ we just filed in federal court, and you’ll see that we are at a critical juncture in this case, and that your help and support has gotten us here. Please help us, and please know that your support has already gotten us farther than many people thought possible.
Thanks very much,
Lorri Davis
and the Damien Echols Legal Team
Falling down,...not staying down
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
thanks for the info
i have gladly supported this cause, becoming aware of it through the band and happily donating $ from various concerts i have attended through the past few years. Boston 1 04 comes to mind as does Camden 1 06.
Thanks for the info, Kat.
I watch the whole thing. damn, how anyone could now doubt the innocence of these 3 men goes way beyond any kind of reason or logic
angels share laughter
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That may be a crazy thought, but then again---how could anyone doubt the guilt of Mumia Abu Jamal???