Exonerate the WM3 Official Blog

Jason and Jessie's Rule 37 Hearings Resume October 1 & 2

Even though the State promised to have their witnesses present in August, it asked for a continuance on Day 5 in order to call at least two witnesses on October 1 & 2nd in Jonesboro AR. One of their experts is said to be Dr. Joshua Perper, a medical examiner from Broward County FL, who will contradict Dr. Werner Spitz's conclusions that the wounds on the little boys were caused by animal predation, not knives. (Dr. Spitz literally wrote the book on forensic pathology.) Also expected to appear is Dr. William Q. Sturner, then Chief Medical Examiner with the unaccredited Little Rock crime lab in 1993. He claims to have supervised Dr. Peretti's autopsies the Friday he performed them even though Sturner was documented as being in Memphis TN inspecting its Medical Examiner's office that day. Jason and Jessie's San Francisco attorneys, John Philipsborn and Michael Burt, will be present to cross examine whichever witnesses do take the stand on Thursday and Friday.

We urge all supporters that can make it to attend what we hope are the final two days of Jason and Jessie's Rule 37 hearings!

Damien Echols' Adoptive Father Passes Away

Andy Jack Echols, Sr.
April 28, 1938 - September 21, 2009 

Andy Jack Echols, Sr., 71, of Marion, AR, passed away Monday September 21, 2009 at his residence. He was of the Church of God faith and was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Louis Echols and Olive Vivian Allen; his brother, Johnny Echols and his sister, Carol Foster. He is survived by two daughters, Sharon Embrey of Batesville, MS and Michelle Wells of West Memphis, AR and his step-daughter, Carmella Elinburg of West Memphis, AR; five sons, Jack Echols of Memphis, TN, Keith Echols of West Memphis, AR, Craig Echols of Janesville, WI, Owen Echols of Janesville, WI, Michael Wayne Echols of Grady, AR and his step-son, Mike Elinburg of Proctor, AR; four sisters, Betty Everetts of Middleburg, FL, Joyce Spicher of Decatur, MI, Elzie McLaughlin of St. Augustine, FL and Pam Marshall of Grand Island, NE; seven brothers, Larry Echols, Jr. of Texas, Louis Echols of Orange Park, FL, William Echols of Sunbright, TN, Howard Echols of Utah, Church Echols of Utah, Ken Echols of Montana and Dan Echols of San Marcos, TX; 31 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. The visitation will be Wednesday September 23, 2009 from 6:00-8:00 P.M. at Roller-Citizens Funeral Home in West Memphis, AR. The service will be Thursday September 24, 2009 at 11:00 A.M. in the funeral home chapel and interment in Crittenden Memorial Park following the service.

WM3 Defense Funds Needed!

While our site-- wm3.org-- is being worked on (hence why you were forwarded to this blog), the real action defending the WM3 still goes on. Since Jason and Jessie's hearings in Jonesboro, the coffers are empty. Much needed funding is still needed to help these men get the defense and justice they deserve. The Defense Fund Paypal is still functioning so go here to help out! Use Lorri Davis' email [[email protected]] when sending funds. Thank you!

WM3 DEFENSE FUND
[email protected]

You can mail checks here:

Damien Echols Defense Fund
c/o Lorri Davis
PO Box 1216
Little Rock AR 72203

Joe Berlinger's new film CRUDE

Joe Berlinger, one of the director's of Paradise Lost 1 and 2, �has a new film out that is equally compelling and disturbing. It's only in most theaters this week so everyone should go and support this incredibly moving film. This is not strictly WM3 news but considering Joe's contribution to the case and what amazing works the WM3 films are I thought supporters would find this of interest.�

A must see film!

CRUDE

NATIONAL LEGAL GROUPS ASK ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT TO GRANT DAMIEN ECHOLS NEW TRIAL

Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law, and the
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Cite “Confession” and Juror Misconduct in Amicus Brief

(Little Rock AR, September 17, 2009) – The Arkansas Supreme Court today received the completed appeal from Damien Echols requesting the court overturn the lower court’s decision and grant him a new trial based upon new DNA and forensic evidence, as well as recently uncovered evidence of shocking juror misconduct that took place during the original trial.

Two prominent national legal organizations jointly presented an Amicus Curiae brief to the court asking the justices to set aside Echols’ conviction, citing the original jury’s violation of the constitution and the judge’s instructions by openly discussing and considering Jessie Misskelley’s false confession during the trial. The “confession,” which was barred from the Echols trial because Jessie had immediately recanted and refused to testify against Damien and Jason Baldwin, was nevertheless purposefully introduced to the jury by Kent Arnold, the jury foreman, who admitted that he was trying to convince other jurors to convict based upon news reports of the so-called confession.

“Compounding the jury foreman’s misconduct is the fact that the Misskelley confession is highly unreliable,” said Steven Drizin, Legal Director of Northwestern University School of Law’s renowned Center on Wrongful Convictions, who co-authored the amicus brief. “Juveniles and the mentally retarded are much more likely than adults to falsely confess when pressured by police, and Misskelley’s confession bears all of the hallmark traits of a false confession.”
According to the amicus brief, “It is now known that Echols’ jury violated the constitution and the judge’s instructions by discussing Misskelley’s confession during deliberations, not long after one juror told his attorney that he was growing frustrated by the State’s weak collection of circumstantial evidence and that if prosecutors did not present something powerful soon, it would be up to him to secure a conviction."

“Echols’ conviction and death sentence have been gravely tainted by the jury’s improper consideration of the extraordinarily prejudicial - and extraordinarily unreliable -confession of Jessie Misskelley. If any reasonable juror were confronted today with evidence of the Misskelley confession’s unreliability, along with the petitioner’s DNA evidence that excludes Echols as a source, he would surely conclude that Echols is not guilty. Accordingly, Amici hereby request this Court to grant petitioner Damien Echols a new trial. Failure to do so could bring about a terrible injustice: the execution of an innocent man.”

Crime Scene DNA Does Not Match Echols, Baldwin or Misskelley

In addition to the juror misconduct and Misskelley’s false confession, new evidence presented to the court includes DNA and forensic findings that link others to the crime scene. Dozens of pieces of evidence found at the crime scene conclusively show that no DNA from the murders matches Echols or the other two men. DNA testing, however, links Terry Hobbs, stepfather of one of the murdered children, to the crime scene. A hair found in the knot used to bind the victims matches Terry Hobbs. DNA testing linking Hobbs to the crime scene was not available at the time of the trial.

Scientific evidence from the nation’s leading forensic experts also demonstrates that most of the wounds on the victims were caused by animals at the crime scene, after their deaths – not by knives used by the perpetrators, as the prosecution claimed and was the centerpiece of the prosecution’s case. Moreover, evidence presented that a knife recovered from a lake near one defendant’s home caused the wounds was completely discredited by the pathologists. As well, these forensic scientists deemed the testimony of a jailhouse informant and a faux “expert” who testified that the knife wounds were part of a satanic ritual, incredulous.

Unprecedented Legal Support

The Center on Wrongful Convictions Youth (CWCY) is part of Northwestern University School of Law’s Bluhm Legal Clinic and is a joint project of two of the Clinic’s highly acclaimed Centers: the Children and Family Justice Center and the Center on Wrongful Convictions. The CWCY’s unique mission is to uncover and remedy wrongful convictions of youth, as well as to promote public awareness and support for nationwide initiatives – such as efforts to reform juvenile interrogation techniques – aimed at reducing the frequency of wrongful convictions.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) is a non-profit organization with a national membership of over 12,000 attorneys. Its membership also includes more than 35,000 affiliate members from 50 states, including private criminal defense lawyers and public defenders, as well as former U.S. attorneys, prosecutors and judges. One of the NACDL’s critical missions is to ensure justice and due process for the accused, and seeks to promote the proper and constitutional administration of justice, and to that end concerns itself with the protection of individual rights. NACDL routinely files amicus curiae briefs on various issues in the United States Supreme Court as well as other federal and state appellate courts.

Steven A. Drizin and Laura H. Nirider from the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth, Northwestern University School of Law, and Barbara Bergman, Co-chair Amicus Committee, of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, submitted the amicus curiae brief. Drizin, who has studied hundreds of false confessions and recently co-edited a new book, entitled “True Stories of False Confessions” filed on behalf of a new project he founded – the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth (CWCY). The CWCY, the sole organization in the country dedicated to exonerating youth who were convicted of crimes they did not commit, felt compelled to submit an amicus curiae brief after learning that Misskelley’s confession was used to convict Echols.

The Arkansas Supreme Court is expected to hold oral arguments in Echols’ request for a new trial this fall. Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley’s Rule 37 hearings resume in Jonesboro, before Judge David Burnett on October 1st and 2nd, 2009.

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, www.NACDL.org
Center on Wrongful Convictions,      www.law.northwestern.edu/cwc/

"The records are sealed."

Arkansas Times
by Mara Leveritt

ABOVE THE LAW

Add another cynical twist to the farce masquerading as justice in the case of the West Memphis Three. And jot up another reason to distrust Arkansas's Supreme Court.

As those who've followed the West Memphis case are aware, the high court ruled unanimously that there was nothing legally amiss in the two 1994 trials that led to the convictions of Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin, who were 18, 17, and 16 years old at the time.

Echols was sentenced to death, Misskelley and Baldwin to life in prison. All are now middle-aged men.

The justices were willing to accept Misskelley's so-called confession, in which almost every detail he offered police was something they knew to be wrong. The court was not troubled by the fact that a minor had been questioned for hours and allowed to make a statement without a parent or lawyer present.

They also had no problem swallowing the testimony of a self-proclaimed “expert in the occult,” whose testimony supported the state's theory that the murders were part of a satanic ritual, despite his admission that his Ph.D. came from a mail-order university.

On the other hand, the justices dismissed defense arguments that the state had produced no weapon, no eyewitness, no sign of a satanic ritual, and no credible physical evidence linking the three to the murders.

Because of his death sentence, appeals for Echols have proceeded faster than for the other two. Affidavits filed earlier this year allege that serious juror misconduct occurred during the trial of Echols and Baldwin; specifically, that the foreman discussed the case outside of court, in violation of the judge's orders.

Judge David Burnett ordered the affidavits to be sealed. The documents were supposed to have been sent to the Arkansas Supreme Court as part of Echols' final state appeal. But, to the surprise of Echols' lawyers, they were not.

When the lawyers complained, the Supreme Court ordered Burnett to forward the affidavits. In June, a clerk for Burnett told me, “We searched for them and eventually found them. We didn't realize we had them.”

In July, I contacted Leslie Steen, the clerk for the Supreme Court, and asked to see all the documents recently filed on behalf of Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley. It was a reasonable request. With few exceptions, court records are supposed to be public.

Steen told me that I could see none of them. He explained that, because some of the documents for Echols had been sealed by Burnett, he had taken it upon himself to seal the filings of all three men in their entirety.

I was under the impression that only courts have the power to seal records. I asked Steen to cite the statute that granted that power to a clerk.

“There is none,” he said. “This is just one of our internal procedures.”

I asked if there was a written policy or even a memo from the Supreme Court to that effect. “No,” he said. “It's not in writing.”

Steen continued: “The court understands how we do things down here, and it seems to meet with their approval.” He said that in the 29 years he'd worked for the court he had been sealing records as he saw fit, that the justices were aware that he was, “could have stopped me but they haven't.”

I then filed a written Freedom of Information request with Steen for the records. He called me the next day to say my request was denied “because the records are sealed.”

In February 2007, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued an administrative order addressing public access to court records. It says that, “Public access shall be granted to court records,” subject to certain limitations, such as for records that have been “rendered confidential by protective order, by this order, or otherwise by law.”

Nowhere does the order mention that records may be sealed and barred to public access by a clerk. To the contrary, the Supreme Court's Administrative Order Number 19 declares:

“This order recognizes there are strong societal reasons for allowing public access to court records, and denial of access could compromise the judiciary's role in society, inhibit accountability, and endanger public safety.

“Open access allows the public to monitor the performance of the judiciary, furthers the goal of providing public education about the results in cases, and, if properly implemented, reduces court staff time needed to provide public access.”

I believe that the Arkansas Supreme Court is in violation of this state's Freedom of Information Act and that its own clerk is violating an administrative order that every other court clerk is obliged to obey.

Like so much about this case, it's a shame.

 

Mara Leveritt, senior editor of the Arkansas Times, has written extensively on the West Memphis Three, including the book, “Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.”